Purposes and powers.

(1)(a) The authority created and established by the provisions of this chapter is hereby granted and shall have the right to acquire, hold, construct, improve, maintain, operate, own, and lease in the capacity of lessor the Jacksonville Expressway System (hereinafter referred to as “system”), heretofore partially constructed or acquired by the Florida State Improvement Commission in the Jacksonville, Duval County, metropolitan area, as more specifically described in the proceedings of the commission which authorized the issuance of $28 million in bonds of the commission for such purpose, and as hereafter completed or improved or extended as authorized by this chapter, and all appurtenant facilities, including all approaches, streets, roads, bicycle paths, bridges, and avenues of access for the Jacksonville Expressway System, and to construct or acquire extensions, additions, and improvements to the system and to complete the construction and acquisition of the system.

(b) The authority may, in addition, acquire, hold, construct, improve, operate, maintain, and lease in the capacity of lessor a mass transit system employing motor cars or buses; street railway systems beneath the surface, on the surface, or above the surface; or any other means determined useful to the rapid transfer of large numbers of people among the locations of residence, commerce, industry, and education in Duval County.

(c) The authority may further plan, coordinate, and recommend to appropriate officers and agencies of federal, state, and local governments methods and facilities for the parking of vehicles, the movement of pedestrians, and vehicular traffic (including bicycles), public and private, in Duval County to accomplish a coordinated transportation system for the greater Jacksonville area. The authority may construct and operate passenger terminals for the parking of automobiles and movement by public conveyance of persons and construct and operate all other facilities necessary to a complete and coordinated transportation system in the Jacksonville area.

(d) It is the express intention of this chapter that the authority, in completing the construction of the Jacksonville Expressway System, is not limited to the description thereof contained in the proceedings of the commission which authorized the issuance of $28 million in bonds to finance part of the cost thereof, but it is authorized to finance and construct any additional extensions, additions, or improvements to the system, or appurtenant facilities, including all necessary approaches, roads, bicycle ways, bridges, and avenues of access, with such changes, modifications, or revisions of the project as are deemed desirable and proper. It is the intent of this chapter, and to effect its purposes the Legislature determines, that bonds issued under this chapter be deemed to be state capital improvement bonds to finance or refinance the cost of state capital projects pursuant to s. 11(d), Art. VII of the State Constitution. However, the provisions of s. 316.091(2), relating to bicycles, do not apply to this system.

(e) In addition to the other powers set forth in this chapter, the authority has the right to plan, develop, finance, construct, own, lease, purchase, operate, maintain, relocate, equip, repair, and manage those public transportation projects, such as express bus services; bus rapid transit services; light rail, commuter rail, heavy rail, or other transit services; ferry services; transit stations; park-and-ride lots; transit-oriented development nodes; or feeder roads, reliever roads, connector roads, bypasses, or appurtenant facilities, that are intended to address critical transportation needs or concerns in the Jacksonville, Duval County, metropolitan area. These projects may also include all necessary approaches, roads, bridges, and avenues of access that are desirable and proper with the concurrence of the department, as applicable, if the project is to be part of the State Highway System.

(f) The authority, in addition to the other powers and duties provided, shall have the power and responsibility to formulate and implement a plan for a mass transit system that will serve Duval County and the greater Jacksonville area.

(2) The authority is hereby granted, and shall have and may exercise all powers necessary, appurtenant, convenient, or incidental to the carrying out of the aforesaid purposes, including, but without being limited to, the right and power:

(a) To sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, and complain and defend in all courts.

(b) To adopt, use, and alter at will a corporate seal.

(c) To acquire, purchase, construct, hold, lease as lessee or lessor, and use any franchise or any property, real, personal, or mixed, tangible or intangible, or any interest therein, necessary or desirable for carrying out the purposes of the authority and to sell, lease as lessor, transfer, and dispose of any property or interest therein at any time acquired by it, including, without limitation, land, buildings, and other facilities located within or comprising transit-oriented developments which enhance the use or utility of transportation facilities owned or constructed by the authority and administrative and other buildings for the use of the authority in carrying out its powers and obligations granted in this chapter.

(d) To enter into and make leases for terms not exceeding 99 years, as either lessee or lessor, in order to carry out the right to lease as set forth in this chapter.

(e) To fix, alter, charge, establish, and collect rates, fees, rentals, and other charges for the services and facilities of the Jacksonville Expressway System and any other transportation facilities of the authority, which rates, fees, rentals, and other charges shall always be sufficient to comply with any covenants made with the holders of any bonds issued pursuant to this chapter; this right and power may be assigned or delegated by the authority to the department.

(f)1. To borrow money and make and issue negotiable notes, bonds, refunding bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness or obligations, either in temporary or definitive form (hereinafter in this chapter sometimes called “bonds”), of the authority, for the purpose of funding or refunding, at or prior to maturity, any bonds theretofore issued by the authority, or by the Florida State Improvement Commission to finance part of the cost of the Jacksonville Expressway System, and purposes related thereto, and for the purpose of financing or refinancing all or part of the costs of completion, improvement, or extension of the Jacksonville Expressway System, and appurtenant facilities, including all approaches, streets, roads, bridges, and avenues of access for the Jacksonville Expressway System and for any other purpose authorized by this chapter, such bonds to mature in not exceeding 40 years from the date of the issuance thereof; to secure the payment of such bonds or any part thereof by a pledge of any or all of its revenues, rates, fees, rentals, or other charges, including all or any portion of the Duval County gasoline tax funds received by the authority; and in general to provide for the security of such bonds and the rights and remedies of the holders thereof.

2. In the event that the authority determines to fund or refund any bonds theretofore issued by the authority, or by the commission as aforesaid, prior to the maturity thereof, the proceeds of such funding or refunding bonds shall, pending the prior redemption of the bonds to be funded or refunded, be invested in direct obligations of the United States; and it is the express intention of this chapter that such outstanding bonds may be funded or refunded by the issuance of bonds pursuant to this chapter notwithstanding that part of such outstanding bonds will not mature or become redeemable until 6 years after the date of issuance of bonds pursuant to this chapter to fund or refund such outstanding bonds.

(g) To make contracts of every name and nature and to execute all instruments necessary or convenient for the carrying on of its business.

(h) Without limitation of the foregoing, to borrow money and accept grants from, and to enter into contracts, leases, or other transactions with, any federal agency, the state, any agency of the state, the County of Duval, the City of Jacksonville, or any other public body of the state.

(i) To have the power of eminent domain, including the procedural powers granted under chapters 73 and 74.

(j) To pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber all or any part of the revenues, rates, fees, rentals, or other charges or receipts of the authority, including all or any portion of the Duval County gasoline tax funds received by the authority pursuant to the terms of any lease-purchase agreement between the authority and the department, as security for all or any of the obligations of the authority.

(k) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient for the conduct of its business and the general welfare of the authority, in order to carry out the powers granted to it by this chapter or any other law.

(l) To invest and to borrow money and make and issue negotiable notes, bonds, refunding bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness or obligations, either in temporary or definitive form, of the authority for the purpose of financing or refinancing all or a part of the cost of the acquisition or improvement of transportation facilities and for any other purposes authorized by this chapter, such bonds to mature in not exceeding 40 years from the date of the issuance thereof; to secure the payment of such bonds or any part thereof by a pledge of any or all of its revenues, rates, fees, rentals, or other charges, including, without limitation, all or any portion of local option taxes or county gasoline tax funds received by the authority; and in general to provide for the security of such bonds and the rights and remedies of the holders thereof.

(m) To adopt rules to carry out the powers and obligations herein granted, which set forth a purpose, necessary definitions, forms, general conditions and procedures, and fines and penalties, including, without limitation, suspension or debarment, and charges for nonperformance, with respect to any aspect of the work or function of the authority for the permitting, planning, funding, design, acquisition, construction, equipping, operation, and maintenance of transportation facilities, transit and highway, within the state, provided or operated by the authority or others in cooperation with or at the direction of the authority, and for carrying out all other purposes of the authority set forth or authorized in this chapter.

(n) To establish and fund reserve accounts with respect to its operations and functions, make withdrawals therefrom, and replenish such accounts, as the governing body may reasonably determine.

(o) To adopt and approve an annual budget, and to utilize purchasing schedules and master purchasing contracts of the state, any municipality, or any federal agency, to the extent permitted by law.

(p) To retain legal counsel and financial, engineering, real estate, accounting, design, planning, and other consultants from time to time as the authority may determine to assist in the carrying out of the powers and obligations granted in this chapter.

(q) With the consent of the county within whose jurisdiction the following activities occur, to construct, own, operate, and maintain transportation facilities outside the jurisdictional boundaries of Duval County, with all necessary and incidental powers to accomplish the foregoing.

(r) To form, alone or with one or more other agencies of the state or local governments, public benefit corporations to carry out the powers and obligations granted in this chapter or the powers and obligations of such other agencies or local governments.

(s) To require or elect not to require bid bonds and protest bonds, to prequalify bidders or proposers in various categories of work or services, and to suspend or debar consultants and contractors in accordance with the rules of the authority.

(t) To create and operate an employees’ benefit fund for employees of the authority or public benefit corporations controlled by it. The proceeds of vending machines located on the premises of the authority or such corporations shall be paid into the fund and used for such benefits and purposes as the authority may determine.

(3) The authority shall have no power at any time or in any manner to pledge the credit or taxing power of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof; nor shall any of the obligations of the authority be deemed to be obligations of the state or of any political subdivision or agency thereof; nor shall the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof, except the authority, be liable for the payment of the principal of, or interest on, such obligations. However, this provision is not applicable to the type or manner of financing authorized by s. 9(c)(5), Art. XII of the State Constitution, as amended, and laws enacted pursuant thereto.

(4) By a resolution of its governing body, the authority may expand its service area and enter into a partnership with any county that is contiguous to the then-current service area of the authority. The governing body shall determine the conditions and terms of the partnership, except as provided in this section. However, the authority may not expand its service area without the consent of the governing body representing the proposed expansion area.

(5) Except as otherwise expressly provided in this chapter, none of the powers and obligations herein granted to the authority shall be subject to the supervision or require the approval or consent of any municipality or county, except as may be agreed upon by the authority in an interlocal agreement with a municipality or county.

(6) No oral modification of a contract, whether for construction of highway facilities or other transportation facilities, shall be binding upon the authority or form the basis for a claim against the authority. Only the chair of the governing body or executive director of the authority, or the designee of either, may bind the authority. The authority may provide for liquidated damages for delays by contractors in construction of transportation facilities for the authority, or the authority may provide for other contractually agreed-upon damages measures for delays.

(7) The authority shall be deemed to be an “authority” for purposes of s. 337.403, shall have all of the powers granted to authorities under s. 337.403, and shall have the powers granted to the Department of Transportation under s. 337.274 with respect to its powers and obligations granted in this chapter.

(8) The authority may conduct public meetings and workshops by means of communications media technology, as provided in s. 120.54(5). However, a resolution, rule, or formal action is not binding unless a quorum is physically present at the noticed meeting location, and only members physically present may vote on any item.