Section 578. Powers of the authority

The authority shall have power and is
  hereby authorized:
    1. To sue and be sued  in  courts  of  general  jurisdiction,  whether
  federal,  state,  or  foreign,  including but not limited to the supreme
  court of the state of New York;
    2. To have a seal and alter the same as its pleasure;
    3. To  acquire  real  property  or  rights  or  easements  therein  by
  condemnation,   pursuant  to  the  condemnation  law,  and  to  acquire,
  purchase, hold, dispose of and use any real or personal property or  any
  interest  therein  necessary,  convenient  or desirable to carry out any
  purpose described in this title and to sell, at public or private  sale,
  convey, transfer, assign and dispose of any property or interest therein
  at  any time required by it in the exercise of its powers or when it may
  determine it no longer needs the same for its corporate  purposes,  upon
  such terms and for such consideration, if any, as it shall deem fit;
    4.  To lease, as lessor or as lessee, any real or personal property or
  any interest therein for  any  purposes  consistent  with  any  purposes
  described  in  this title or with the appropriate use of the authority's
  facilities or with the convenience of the public using such  facilities,
  upon  such  terms  and  for such consideration, if any, as it shall deem
  fit, provided, however, that no lease shall be made for a term  of  more
  than ten years, including all renewal options, without the prior express
  and formal approval and consent of the supervisors;
    5.  To  make by-laws for the management and regulation of its affairs,
  and to establish and  change  a  fiscal  year  for  its  operations  and
  financial reporting purposes;
    6. To determine as matters of policy what courses of action are in the
  best  interests of any bridge complex or other authorized purpose and to
  pursue the same;
    7. To appoint and remove such officers, agents and employees as it may
  require for the performance of its duties,  and  to  fix  and  determine
  their  qualifications,  duties, and compensation and to retain or employ
  and discharge  counsel,  auditors,  engineers,  architects  and  private
  consultants  on a contract basis or otherwise for rendering professional
  or technical services and  advice.  To  establish  a  practicable  merit
  system  for  the appointment and promotion of its employees. Neither the
  authority nor any of its officers, employees, or agents shall be subject
  to the provisions of the civil service law nor be under the jurisdiction
  or subject to the rules of any civil service commission;
    8. To use the agents,  employees,  facilities  and  equipment  of  the
  county  or  of any town or political subdivision within the county or of
  any board,  agency  or  department  thereof,  to  the  extent  agreement
  therefor  may be reached with the appropriate governing body, and to pay
  such county, town or political subdivision its agreed proportion of  the
  compensation or costs;
    9.  To  make  contracts  and agreements and to execute all instruments
  necessary or convenient;
    10. To construct, maintain, repair and operate the  following  bridges
  and  approaches  thereto  and  roads:  One  or  more  bridges across the
  easterly or American channel of the Saint Lawrence river at a  point  at
  or near Collins landing in the town of Orleans, in Jefferson county, New
  York, from the mainland to Wellesley or Wells island.
    One  or  more  bridges  across the westerly or Canadian channel of the
  Saint Lawrence river at a point at or near Ivy  Lea  in  the  county  of
  Leeds, in the province of Ontario, from the mainland to Hill island.
    One or more bridges across the International rift from a point on such
  Wellesley or Wells island to such Hill island.

    One  or  more  roads  on such Wellesley or Wells island connecting any
  bridge  across  the  American  channel  with  any  bridge   across   the
  International rift.
    One or more roads on such Hill island connecting any bridge across the
  Canadian channel with any bridge across the International rift.
    The approach roads connecting any of such bridges and tunnels with the
  state  highway  system  in  New York and with the nearest highway in the
  province of Ontario.
    Any road connecting any of its facilities with any other or  with  any
  state, county or town road, or any public highway, or any road providing
  access for vehicles or pedestrians from one part of its real property to
  another;
    11. To construct and maintain over, under, along or across the bridges
  and  roads hereby authorized, telephone, telegraph or electric wires and
  cables, gas mains, water  mains,  and  other  mechanical  equipment  not
  inconsistent  with  the appropriate use of the bridges and roads or such
  other facilities. To contract for such construction and maintenance  and
  to  lease  the  right to construct, maintain and/or use the same on such
  terms and for  such  consideration  as  it  shall  determine,  provided,
  however,  that no lease shall be made for a term of more than ten years,
  including all renewal option,  without  the  prior  express  and  formal
  approval and consent of the supervisors;
    12.   To   construct   and   maintain   such   buildings,  structures,
  improvements, roads, parking and other facilities as may be necessary or
  convenient, to contract for such construction  and  maintenance  and  to
  lease  the  right  to  construct, maintain and/or use such facilities on
  such terms and for such considerations as it shall determine,  provided,
  however,  that no lease shall be made for a term of more than ten years,
  including all renewal options, without  the  prior  express  and  formal
  approval and consent of the supervisors;
    13.  To  fix, charge and collect tolls for traffic across its bridges,
  subject  to  any  approval  thereof   or   limitations   or   regulatory
  restrictions  thereto  as  required, fixed, or imposed by federal law of
  either the United States of  America  or  Canada,  which  shall  in  the
  opinion  of  the authority be adequate to provide complete operation and
  maintenance of all its facilities and programs, repay  any  indebtedness
  of  the  authority  as scheduled and agreed, establish and fund reserves
  for the repair,  improvement  or  replacement  of  any  or  all  of  its
  facilities  or  the  construction  of  any  new facility which it may be
  authorized to construct under this title, or which shall  accomplish  as
  many  of  the  foregoing  purposes as may be practicable, and at a level
  which shall not jeopardize or be unreasonably competitive with any other
  similar toll charging facilities within  a  radius  of  fifty  miles  of
  Collins Landing, New York;
    14.  To  construct, maintain, repair and operate within the county one
  or more facilities for the performance or display of any medium  of  the
  arts, including but not limited to concerts, plays, exhibitions, and any
  activity  which  could reasonably contribute to the cultural improvement
  of the communities in the area of its influence;
    15. To construct, maintain, repair and operate within the  county  one
  or  more  facilities  for  conventions, meetings, sporting events of all
  kinds, museums, any activity which could reasonably  contribute  to  the
  attraction  of  tourists and recreational development and industrial and
  commercial developments;
    16. To cooperate with the Watertown airport commission,  the  city  of
  Watertown,  the county and any other agency or agencies to assist in the
  improvement, enlargement, development, operation and  promotion  of  the
  Watertown  international airport as an essential transportation facility

  for the county and the adjacent territory, and to agree with  said  city
  and  county  for the acquisition by the authority of such airport and to
  operate and manage such airport;
    17.  To  cooperate  with  the  county  and  the municipalities therein
  bordering on the Saint Lawrence river and on Lake Ontario and to  assist
  in  the study, development, operation and promotion of suitable port and
  docking facilities on said river and lake within or bordering the county
  and the improvement of water-borne  transportation,  and  to  construct,
  operate  and manage such port and docking facilities as it may determine
  to be in the public interest;
    18. To make studies and surveys of the needs of  the  county  for  the
  development and improvement of its transportation facilities, whether by
  land,   air  or  water  and  to  report  the  results  thereof  and  its
  recommendations to the supervisors;
    19. To enter on any lands, waters and  premises  for  the  purpose  of
  making surveys, soundings and examinations;
    20.  To  fix  and collect any payments, fees and other charges for the
  use of any facility under its control other than bridges;
    21. To borrow money and issue its negotiable bonds and notes or  other
  obligations  for  any  of  its corporate purposes and to provide for and
  secure the payment thereof and to provide for the rights of the  holders
  thereof,  subject  to  any  limitations or conditions imposed thereon as
  elsewhere in this title provided;
    22. To put into effect and maintain fiduciary bonds on its members and
  on any employee or agent who handles or controls money or assets of  the
  authority  which  could  be  embezzled or stolen, in such amounts as the
  authority may deem reasonable or as requested by the county;
    23. To put into effect and maintain insurance coverage protecting  the
  authority  and  its  individual  members  from  liability for errors and
  omissions or from any act other than a willful violation  of  law  which
  constitutes a crime;
    24.  To  make  payments  to  any  domestic  or  foreign subdivision of
  government in which any of its facilities are situated, whether in  lieu
  of  taxes  or  otherwise,  in  such  amounts  and  at  such times as the
  authority may in its sole discretion determine, provided, however,  that
  if  the  authority  is  at  the  time of reference operating both in the
  county and in the province of Ontario it shall endeavor in good faith to
  make  any  such  payments  to   Canadian   political   subdivisions   or
  municipalities and those to the county or subdivisions or municipalities
  of  such  county in proportion to its income generated in such different
  jurisdictions, as nearly as practicable, after taking into  account  any
  taxes which are required to be paid and any services or facilities which
  are required to be or are supplied for less than full payment;
    25. To engage in such advertising and promotion of the bridges, bridge
  complex,  and of the areas adjacent thereto and within a radius of fifty
  miles thereof, and of such of its other authorized purposes,  as  it  in
  its  sole  discretion shall determine. Such promotion shall be deemed to
  include but not be limited to the promotion of tourism in the county and
  the southern portion of the province of Ontario, Canada,  including  the
  Front of Leeds and Lansdowne;
    26.  To  cooperate  and  participate  in  or  to  initiate  any public
  promotions,  parades,  special  events,  area   promotions,   historical
  pageants,  and  the like held within fifty miles of Collins Landing, New
  York;
    27. To invest any funds held in  reserve  or  sinking  funds,  or  any
  moneys not required for immediate use or disbursement, at the discretion
  of  the  authority  in (a) obligations of the state or the United States
  government, or any political subdivision, agency and instrumentality  of

  either;  (b)  obligations  of  the province of Ontario or of the federal
  government of  Canada,  or  any  political  subdivision  or  agency  and
  instrumentality of either, (c) obligations the principal and interest of
  which are guaranteed by the state or the United States government, or by
  the  province  of  Ontario  or  the  federal  government  of Canada, (d)
  certificates of deposit of banks or trust companies in this state or  in
  the  province  of Ontario secured, if the authority shall so require, by
  obligations described in (a), (b), or  (c)  above  or  other  marketable
  securities  eligible  as  security  for the deposit of trust funds under
  regulations of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System with
  a market value equal at all times to the amount on deposit;
    28. To combine any two or more of its purposes or  facilities  into  a
  single project for financing purposes;
    29.  To  use  revenues,  income  or  funds  from any source to create,
  construct, reconstruct, support, operate, repair and maintain any one or
  more of its other purposes or facilities;
    30. To make rules and regulations governing the use by the  public  of
  the  bridges,  the bridge complex, and any facility owned or operated by
  it;
    31. To establish a code of ethics  and  rules  regarding  conflict  of
  interest for the members of its board and its employees and agents;
    32. To accept public or private gifts or grants of funds or property;
    33.  To  engage in any activity permitted by law which in its judgment
  would be convenient for the public using any of its facilities;
    34. To enter into agreements with the government of  the  Dominion  of
  Canada  or  the  province  of  Ontario,  or any political subdivision of
  either, for the construction and operation  in  Canada  of  any  of  the
  bridges  and  facilities authorized hereunder and for the application of
  revenues collected by the authority for  the  use  of  the  bridges  and
  facilities operated by it in Canada;
    35.  To  do  in  the  province of Ontario anything it is authorized or
  permitted to do in the state of New York and which is permitted  by  the
  laws of such foreign jurisdiction;
    36.  To  exercise  any  of its powers alone or in conjunction with any
  political subdivision;
    37. To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out  the  powers
  enumerated above and to effectuate their general intent and purpose. The
  foregoing  specification  of powers shall not be construed as in any way
  limiting or denying the usual implied powers, it being the  intent  that
  the authority shall have full power to manage its affairs generally with
  the  same freedom from the restrictions which apply to municipalities as
  do boards of directors of privately owned corporations.
    38. Notwithstanding any of the  foregoing,  the  authority  shall  not
  initially  enter  into  any  general  activity  category  authorized  in
  subdivisions fourteen through seventeen of this section,  including  but
  not  limited  to  the  construction  or operation of any performing arts
  center, cultural improvement project,  convention  hall,  sports  arena,
  museum,  industrial  or  commercial  development project, airport, port,
  marina or docking facility,  until  and  unless  it  has  been  formally
  requested to do so by the supervisors by resolution duly adopted.