Rhode Island § 37-18-6 - Narragansett Indian Land Management Corporation

§ 37-18-6. Powers and duties.

The corporation shall have the following powers, together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary for the performance of those hereinafter stated:

(a) To have perpetual succession as a body corporate and to adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(b) To sue and be sued, complain, and defend, in its corporate name; provided, however, the corporation shall have no standing in any zoning or other administrative or judicial proceeding involving land presently owned by castle realty company in the town;

(c) To have a seal which may be altered at pleasure and to use the seal by causing it, or a facsimile thereof, to be impressed or affixed or in any other manner reproduced;

(d) To purchase, take, receive, lease, or otherwise acquire from any person, firm, corporation, municipality, the federal government, or state, by grant, purchase, lease, or gift, or to obtain options for the acquisition of any personal property and the real property situated in the town and defined as the “settlement lands” in that “joint memorandum of understanding concerning settlement of the Rhode Island Indian land claims” dated February 28, 1978, and related to the lawsuits entitled Narragansett Tribe of Indians v. Rhode Island Director of Environmental Management, and Narragansett Tribe of Indians v. Southern Rhode Island Land Development Co., et al., C. A. Nos. 75-0005, 75-0006 (U.S. D. R.I.), improved or unimproved, and interests in the land less than the fee thereof; and to own, hold, clear, improve, develop, and rehabilitate the land subject to the restrictions set forth in §§ 37-18-7 and 37-18-10;

(e) To make and execute agreements of lease, mortgages, construction contracts, operation contracts, and other contracts and instruments necessary or convenient in the exercise of the powers and functions of the corporation granted by this chapter; provided, however, that any liabilities incurred shall be payable solely from the revenues of the corporation;

(f) To invest and reinvest its funds;

(g) To conduct its activities, carry on its operations, and have offices and exercise the powers granted by this chapter within the state;

(h) To elect or appoint officers and agents of the corporation, define their duties, and fix their compensation;

(i) To secure the cooperation and assistance of the United States and any of its agencies and of agencies of this state in the work of the corporation;

(j) To accept grants, donations, gifts, loans of funds, and contributions of money, services, materials, or otherwise, from the United States or any of its agencies, from the state or any of its agencies, or from any other source, and to use or expend money, services, materials, or other contributions in carrying out the purpose of this chapter;

(k) To enter into agreements to pay annual sums in lieu of taxes to the town in respect to real property which is owned by the corporation and is located in the town;

(l) To employ, in its discretion, attorneys, accountants, architectural and engineering consultants, financial consultants, and such other employees, except an executive director, and agents as it shall deem necessary in its judgment and to fix their compensation;

(m)(1) To grant or otherwise convey (whether voluntarily or involuntarily, including any eminent domain or condemnation proceedings) easements for public or private purposes;

(2) The corporation shall have the power to and shall grant to the Providence boys’ club or its successors in interest a reasonable right of way over the real property held by the corporation if any real property held by the Providence boys’ club or its successors in interest requires such a right of way as a means of access to a public right of way;

(3) The corporation shall have the power to and shall grant to the state a mutually acceptable right and easement to pass by foot and vehicle over a forty-five foot (45′) wide strip of land located within the town and in the Indian Cedar Swamp management area between Kings Factory road and the Pawcatuck River, and to use an area of the end of the strip sufficiently large for the parking of automobiles and the launching of boats;

(n) To adopt rules and regulations concerning hunting and fishing rights on the corporation’s land subject to the provisions of § 37-18-8;

(o) To bring proceedings to remove clouds on title or such other proceedings as it may, in its discretion, deem proper and necessary;

(p) To have and exercise all powers necessary or convenient to effect its purposes; provided, however, the corporation shall have no power to sell, grant, convey, transfer, or otherwise alienate land or any interest therein other than as specifically provided in subsection (m) of this section.