ACQUISITION AND MAINTENANCE OF PORT FACILITIES.

(a) Any district may acquire land or interests in land by purchase, lease, or otherwise, may convey the land or interest in the land by lease, installment sale, or otherwise, and may purchase, construct, enlarge, extend, repair, maintain, operate, develop, sell by installment sale, or otherwise, and lease as lessor or as lessee:

(1) wharves and docks;

(2) warehouses, grain elevators, other storage facilities, and bunkering facilities;

(3) port-related railroads and bridges;

(4) floating plants and facilities;

(5) lightering, cargo-handling, and towing facilities;

(6) everything appurtenant to these facilities; and

(7) all other facilities or aids incidental to or useful in the operation or development of the district's ports and waterways or in aid of navigation and navigation-related commerce in the ports and on the waterways.

(a-1) A district may acquire, purchase, lease, maintain, repair, and operate facilities and equipment for the purposes of protecting life and property by detecting, responding to, and fighting fires, explosions, and hazardous materials incidents described by Section 60.0726.

(b) To the extent that the district incurs indebtedness, bonded or otherwise, for purposes of financing the above facilities which in turn are sold by installment sale or otherwise, the indebtedness, principal and interest, may be paid only from the loan or bond sale proceeds and from revenues generated from the project financed by the indebtedness, and security for payment of the principal of and interest on indebtedness shall be limited to a pledge of the project's revenues and the project's facilities including enlargements and additions.

(c) An installment sale or a lease under this section is not a loan of the district's credit or a grant of public money. The acquisition and leasing of land and facilities for the purposes included in this section and the operation and industrial and business development of ports and waterways are a public purpose and a matter of public necessity.

(d) A district may contract with a broker to sell or lease a tract of land in the same manner as the commissioners court of a county under Section 263.008, Local Government Code.

(e) A lease that requires the lessee to construct improvements on land owned by the district is not a public work contract for purposes of Chapter 2253, Government Code.