Guam § 5104 - Powers and Duties of the Authority.

§ 5104. Powers and Duties of the Authority.

The Authority shall have all the powers necessary and convenient to

carry out and perform the purposes and provisions of this Chapter, except

the power to levy and collect taxes or special assessments, including the

following, in addition to other powers granted in this Article, and may:

(a) Have perpetual succession;

(b) Sue and be sued;

(c) Have a seal and modify it;

(d) Enter into and execute contracts and instruments of every

kind and nature, necessary or convenient to the exercise of its

powers and functions;

(e) Make, and from time to time modify and repeal, bylaws,

rules and regulations, not inconsistent with this Article, providing

for the internal organization and management of the Authority, for

the administration of its affairs and operations, and for carrying into

effect the powers and purposes of the Authority;

(f) Borrow money from public and private sources and give

such security therefor as may be required;

(g) Apply for and accept advances, loans, grants, contributions,

gifts, donations, appropriations of funds and any other form of

financial assistance from the Federal Government, the government

of Guam, or other public body or agency, or from any sources,

public or private, for the purposes of this Article, and enter into and

carry out contracts in connection therewith;

(h) Deposit funds in banking institutions which are members of

the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation;

(i) Invest funds in property or securities approved for

investment by the Federal Government or the government of Guam;

(j) Acquire any real or personal property or any interest or

estate therein, by lease, option, purchase, gift, grant, donation,

appropriation, bequest, devise or by the exercise of eminent domain

or otherwise;

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(k) Own, hold, improve, clear or prepare for redevelopment

any such property;

(l) Sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, mortgage, pledge or

otherwise dispose of, or encumber any real or personal property, or

any interest or estate in such;

(m) Acquire by condemnation any interest in real property,

including a fee simple title thereto, which the Authority may deem

necessary for or in connection with any project under this Article;

provided, that as a condition to the exercise of the power of eminent

domain to acquire any real property or interest therein which the

Authority may deem necessary for its purposes under this Article,

the Authority shall first adopt a resolution finding and declaring that

the acquisition of such property is necessary for such purposes;

(n) Exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner now

or which may be hereafter provided by law for the exercise of such

power by the government of Guam, except that the complaint in

eminent domain proceedings shall be brought in the name of and on

behalf of the Authority as plaintiff and title to the property shall vest

in the Authority;

(o) Provide or arrange or contract for the furnishing or repair

by any person or agency, public or private, of services, privileges,

works, streets, roads, public utilities or other facilities of every kind

and nature, for and in connection with the preparation, planning,

development, construction, operation and disposition of projects;

(p) Install, construct and reconstruct streets, utilities, parks,

playgrounds and other public improvements;

(q) Insure or provide for the insurance, in any stock or mutual

company or any public or private insurance facility, of any real or

personal property or operations of the Authority, against any risks

and hazards;

(r) Undertake and carry out studies, analysis, research and

investigations of living and housing conditions, and housing and

urban renewal needs, within its area of operation, and of means and

methods of dealing with needs disclosed by such studies, make

available to the public the results of such studies and information on

housing and urban renewal;

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(s) Determine where, and that, slum and blighted conditions or

areas exist or where, and that, there is a shortage of safe, decent and

sanitary dwellings for low-income families;

(t) Make findings, determinations and recommendations

concerning matters relating to housing and urban renewal, and

means and methods of dealing with such matters; carry into effect

such findings, determinations and recommendations;

(u) Cooperate with, and participate in activities of local,

regional or national agencies, organizations, institutions or other

official or unofficial bodies engaged in the same or related fields;

(v) Make, and cause to be made, all surveys, appraisals and

plans necessary to carry out its activities and the purposes of this

Article, and in connection therewith to enter upon any land,

property or structure, for such purposes, and make sounding, test

boring, or any other technical investigations; enforce the power of

such entry by appropriate proceedings in a court of competent

jurisdiction if entry is denied or resisted; utilize and employ, by

contract or otherwise, any persons or agencies for the making of

such surveys, studies and plans, and the technical work incidental

thereto;

(w) Make or have made all plans necessary to the carrying out

of the purposes of this Chapter and contract with any person, public

or private, in making and carrying out such plans; adopt, modify and

amend such plans in accordance with the provisions of this Article,

and include in such plans, without limitations,

(1) plans for low-rent public housing,

(2) urban renewal plans,

(3) plans for carrying out a program of voluntary or

compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings and

improvements,

(4) plans for the enforcement of local laws, codes and

regulations relating to the use of land and the use and

occupancy of buildings and improvements and to the

compulsory repair, rehabilitation, demolition or removal of

buildings and improvements,

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(5) preliminary or general plans for urban renewal

activities in its area of operation or for two (2) or more urban

renewal areas, and

(6) appraisals, title searches, maps, surveys, studies and

other preliminary plans and work necessary to prepare for the

undertaking of projects;

(x) Develop, test and report methods and techniques, and carry

out demonstrations and other activities for the prevention and

elimination of slums and urban blight and apply for, accept and

utilize grants of funds from the Federal Government for such

purpose;

(y) Undertake and carry out housing and urban renewal

projects, and in connection therewith plan, prepare, develop,

construct, acquire, lease and dispose of any such projects within the

contemplation of this Article;

(z) Provide for the planning, preparation, development,

construction, acquisition, lease, disposition, reconstruction,

improvement, alteration, extension, repair, maintenance and

operation of any such projects;

(aa) Lease any dwellings, accommodations, land, structures or

facilities embraced in any project;

(bb) Clear or prepare any property owned by it for

redevelopment, conservation or rehabilitation;

(cc) Impose and enforce terms and conditions upon reuse of

properties included in urban renewal projects;

(dd) Establish, from time to time, standards of eligibility for

admission to, and occupancy of, low-rent public housing dwellings

and facilities;

(ee) Adopt, from time to time, rules, regulations and conditions

of admission to and occupancy of low-rent public housing dwellings

and facilities and housing facilities for elderly residents including

rents and charges therefor;

(ff) Establish, from time to time, standards of eligibility and

conditions of participation for redevelopers and others in urban

renewal projects subject to the limitations contained in this Article

with respect to rental of dwellings in housing projects;

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(gg) Prepare plans for the relocation of persons displaced by an

urban renewal project and make relocation payments to or with

respect to such persons for moving expenses and losses of property

for which reimbursement or compensation is not otherwise made,

including the making of such payments financed by the Federal

Government;

(hh) Make such expenditures, subject to the provisions of this

Article or any other applicable law, regulation or restriction, as may

be necessary for the activities and operations of the Authority and

carry out the purposes of this Article;

(ii) Conduct examinations and investigations on any matters

material to the functions or operations of the Authority; and

(jj) Organize, coordinate and direct the urban renewal program

and disseminate slum clearance and urban renewal information in

order that the objectives of remedying slum and blighted areas and

preventing the causes thereof within Guam may be most effectively

promoted and achieved.

(kk) Provide for the planning, development, construction, lease,

improvement, alteration, operation and maintenance of dwellings

for the severely mentally ill in consultation with the Director of the

Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center; and

(ll) Expend funds received from the Federal government as

payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT funds) for the purposes of meeting

personnel obligations imposed on the Authority by Public Law 20-

215 § 8; repairing or replacing any facility owned by the Authority

which was damaged as a result of the August 8, 1993 earthquake;

constructing dwellings for severely mentally ill persons (to replace

Guma Ifil which was destroyed in the earthquake); and for such

other purposes as the Board may from time to time find necessary