By: Jackson S.B. No. 1836

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the management and control of certain port improvements and facilities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 54.053, Transportation Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:

(b) A board may:

(1) manage, control, maintain, and operate each port improvement or facility constituting a port or harbor of the municipality;

(2) employ a general manager and any other officer, employee, or representative the board considers appropriate;

(3) notwithstanding any law or charter provision to the contrary:

(A) prepare and adopt a budget for the operation of a port or harbor of the municipality;

(B) set charges for a service or facility;

(C) authorize an expenditure; and

(D) manage and control the income and revenue of each port or harbor of the municipality;

(4) determine policies and adopt rules and procedures for the operation of each port or harbor of the municipality;

(5) acquire property or an interest in property for any purpose set forth in Section 54.003 in the manner provided by this chapter and construct a port improvement or facility on the property;

(6) contract in its own name, but not in the name of the municipality;

(7) sue and be sued in its own name;

(8) adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal;

(9) establish a port security force, employ public security officers licensed by the Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education, and commission employees of the force as peace officers;

(10) own, establish, construct, improve, equip, maintain, operate, regulate, protect, or police any transportation facility and any necessary appurtenance to that facility; [and]

(11) construct, lease, improve, enlarge, extend, repair, maintain, replace, develop, or operate a port improvement or facility;

(12) exercise all powers of a municipality relating to the creation of an economic development program under Chapter 380, Local Government Code, for the purpose of making grants and loans; and

(13) exercise any additional power granted by the ordinance or charter.

(c) A board has the power to construct a port improvement or facility on land acquired by purchase, lease, or otherwise, and a board may convey by lease, sublease, or sale by installment or otherwise, on the terms the board determines to be advantageous, the land, interest in the land, or port improvement or facility.

(d) Each power provided by this section is a public and governmental function, is exercised for a public purpose, and is a matter of public necessity.

SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 54.054, Transportation Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) Except as otherwise provided by this chapter, the board may award a contract involving the expenditure of more than $25,000 [$15,000] only by competitive bidding.

SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 54, Transportation Code, is amended by adding Section 54.056 to read as follows:

Sec. 54.056. BOARD ACT OR PROCEEDING PRESUMED VALID. (a) A governmental act or proceeding of a board is conclusively presumed, as of the date it occurred, to be valid and to have occurred in accordance with all applicable law if:

(1) the third anniversary of the effective date of the act or proceeding has expired; and

(2) a lawsuit to annul or invalidate the act or proceeding has not been filed on or before that third anniversary.

(b) This section does not apply to:

(1) an act or proceeding that was void at the time it occurred;

(2) an act or proceeding that, under a statute of this state or the United States, was a misdemeanor or felony at the time the act or proceeding occurred; or

(3) a matter that on the effective date of this section:

(A) is involved in litigation if the litigation ultimately results in the matter being held invalid by a final judgment of a court; or

(B) has been held invalid by a final judgment of a court.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.