Introduced By: Representatives Fox, Slater, Costantino, Giannini and Palangio
Date Introduced : May 5, 1999
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 45-32-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-32 entitled "Redevelopment Projects" is hereby amended to read as follows:
45-32-5. Corporate powers of agencies. -- (1) Each redevelopment agency shall constitute a public body, corporate and politic, exercising public and essential governmental functions, and shall have all the powers necessary and convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions of chapters 31 -- 33, inclusive, of this title, including the powers enumerated in this section in addition to others granted by these chapters.
(a) To sue and be sued; to borrow money; to compromise and settle claims; to have a seal; and to make and execute contracts and other instruments necessary or convenient to the exercise of its powers.
(b) To make, and, from time to time, amend and repeal bylaws, rules, and regulations, consistent with chapters 31 -- 33, inclusive, of this title, to carry into effect the powers and purposes hereof.
(c) To select and appoint such officers, agents, counsel, and employees, permanent and temporary, as it may require, and determine their qualifications, duties, and compensation.
(d) Within the redevelopment area or for purposes of redevelopment: to purchase, lease, obtain an option upon, acquire by gift, grant, bequest, devise, or otherwise, any real or personal property, or any estate or interest therein, together with any improvements thereon; to acquire by the exercise of the power of eminent domain any real property or any estate or interest therein, although temporarily not required to achieve the purposes of chapters 31 -- 33, inclusive, of this title; to clear, demolish, or remove any and all buildings, structures, or other improvements from any real property so acquired; to rehabilitate or otherwise improve any or all substandard buildings, structures, or other improvements; to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or personal property or operations of the agency against risk or hazard; and to rent, maintain, rehabilitate, improve, manage, operate, repair, and clear the property.
(e) To develop as a building site or sites any real property owned or acquired by it.
(f) To cause streets and highways to be laid out and graded, and pavements or other road surfacing, sidewalks, and curbs, public utilities of every kind, parks, playgrounds, and other recreational areas, off street parking areas and other public improvements to be constructed and installed.
(g) To prepare or have prepared all plans necessary for the redevelopment of blighted and substandard areas; with the consent and approval of the community planning commission, to carry on and perform, for and on behalf of the commission, all or any part of the planning activities and functions within the community; to undertake and perform, for the community, industrial, commercial, and family relocation services; to obtain appraisals and title searches; to make investigations, studies, and surveys of physical, economic, and social conditions and trends pertaining to a community; to develop, test, and report methods and techniques and carry out research and other activities for the prevention and the elimination of blighted and substandard conditions and to apply for, accept, and utilize grants of funds from the federal government and other sources for those purposes; and to enter upon any building or property in any redevelopment area in order to make investigations, studies, and surveys, and, in the event entry is denied or resisted, an agency may petition the superior court in and for the county in which the land lies for an order for this purpose. Upon the filing of such a petition, due notice thereof shall be served on the person denying or resisting entry, and after a hearing thereon, the court shall enter an order granting or denying the petition.
(h) To undertake technical assistance to property owners and other private persons to encourage, implement, and facilitate voluntary improvement of real property.
(i) To undertake and carry out code enforcement projects pursuant to the provisions of appropriate federal legislation.
(j) To invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, in property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest funds subject to their control; and to purchase its bonds at a price not more than the principal amount thereof and accrued interest, all bonds so purchased to be cancelled.
(k) To {ADD lend money, and to ADD} sell, lease, exchange, subdivide, transfer, assign, pledge, encumber (by mortgage, deed of trust, or otherwise), or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property or any estate or interest therein acquired under the provisions of chapters 31 -- 33, inclusive, of this title, to the United States, the state government, any state public body, or any private corporation, firm, or individual at its fair value for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan, irrespective of the cost of acquiring and preparing the property for redevelopment. In determining the fair value of the property for uses in accordance with the redevelopment plan, the agency shall take into account, and give consideration to, the uses and purposes required by the plan, the restrictions upon, and the obligations assumed by the purchaser or lessee of the property, and the objectives of the redevelopment plan for the prevention of the recurrence of blighted and substandard conditions. Any lease or sale of the property may be made without public bidding provided, however, that no sale or lease shall be made until at least ten (10) days after the legislative body of the community has received from the agency a report concerning the proposed sale or lease.
(l) To obligate the purchaser or lessee of any real or personal property or any estate or interest therein to:
(i) Use the property only for the purpose and in the manner stated in the redevelopment plan;
(ii) Begin and complete the construction or rehabilitation of any structure or improvement within a period of time which the agency fixes as reasonable; and
(iii) Comply with such other conditions as in the opinion of the agency are necessary to prevent the recurrence of blighted and substandard conditions and otherwise to carry out the purposes of chapters 31 -- 33, inclusive, of this title. The agency, by contractual provisions, may make any of the purchasers' or lessees' obligations, covenants, or conditions running with the land, and may provide that, upon breach thereof, the fee shall revert to the agency.
(m) To exercise all or any part or combination of the powers herein granted.
(2) Nothing herein contained shall authorize an agency to construct
any new buildings for residential, commercial, {ADD or ADD} industrial,
{DEL or other DEL} uses contemplated by the redevelopment
plan.
(3) Nothing herein contained shall authorize an agency to retain for a period in excess of five (5) years from the date of acquisition, or within such other additional period of time as the legislative body fixes as reasonable, the fee or any estate or interest therein to any building, structure, or other improvement, not demolished or otherwise removed, which has been acquired by the agency in accordance with the redevelopment plan.
SECTION 2. Sections 45-33-5 and 45-33-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-33 entitled "Redevelopment Financing" are hereby amended as follows:
45-33-5. Power to issue bonds -- Revenue and mortgage bonds. -- An agency shall have power to issue bonds from time to time in its discretion, for any of its corporate purposes. {ADD The term "bonds" shall mean and include the notes, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness which an agency is authorized to issue pursuant to chapters 31-33, inclusive, of this title. ADD} An agency shall also have power to issue refunding bonds for the purpose of paying or retiring bonds previously issued by it. An agency may issue such types of bonds as it may determine, including bonds on which the principal and interest are payable:
(a) Exclusively from the income and revenues of the development project or projects financed with the proceeds of those bonds, or with the proceeds together with financial assistance from the city, state, or federal governments in aid of the projects;
(b) Exclusively from the income and revenues of certain designated redevelopment projects whether or not they were financed in whole or in part with the proceeds of the bonds;
(c) From its revenues generally;
(d) From any contributions or other financial assistance from the city, state, or federal governments; or
(e) By any combination of these methods. Any of the bonds may be additionally secured by a pledge of any revenues or by an encumbrance (whether by mortgage, deed of trust, or otherwise) of any redevelopment project, projects, or other property of the agency.
45-33-7. Terms and form of bonds. -- Bonds of an
agency shall be authorized by its resolution, and may be issued
in one or more series, and shall bear such date or dates, mature
at such time or times, bear interest at such rate or rates, {DEL not
exceeding six percent (6%) per annum, DEL} be in such denomination
or denominations, be in such form, either coupon or registered,
carry such conversion or registration privileges, have such rank
or priority, be executed in such manner, be payable in such medium
of payment, at such place or places, and be subject to such terms
of redemption (with or without premium) as the resolution, its
trust indenture, or mortgage may provide. {ADD Bonds of an agency
may be sold at public or private sale at such price or prices
as shall be determined by the agency. ADD}
SECTION 3. Section 45-33-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-33 entitled "Redevelopment Agencies" is hereby repealed in its entirety.
{DEL 45-33-9. Sale of bonds. -- DEL}{DEL The bonds, issued as
fixed rate bonds, may be sold at not less than par, at public
sale held after notice published once at least five (5) days prior
to that sale in a newspaper of general circulation published in
the community, or, if no such newspaper be published in the community,
then in a newspaper of general circulation published in the county;
provided, however, that the bonds may be sold at not less than
par to the federal government at private sale without any advertisement.
Bonds issued at fixed rates for a term of not more than one year
from their date and bonds issued as "variable rate bonds"
which provide for a variable, adjustable, convertible or other
similar rates of interest shall be excepted from the requirement
of this section for public advertisement and may be sold at public
or private sale. DEL}
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect upon passage.
