                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

CREATION; PUBLIC PURPOSE (§ 15.2-6601)

If any of the governing bodies of the Counties of Essex, Gloucester, King
William, King and Queen, Mathews, Middlesex, and the Towns of West Point,
Tappahannock and Urbanna by resolution declare that there is a need for a public
access authority to be created and an operating agreement is developed for the
purpose of establishing or operating a public access authority for any such
participating political subdivisions and that they should unite in the formation
of an authority to be known as the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access
Authority (hereinafter the &#8220;Authority&#8221;), which shall thereupon exist
for such participating counties and town and shall exercise its powers and
functions as prescribed herein. The region for which such Authority shall exist
shall be coterminous with the boundaries of the participating political
subdivisions. The Authority shall be charged with the following duties:

1. Identify land, either owned by the Commonwealth or private holdings that can
be secured for use by the general public as a public access site;

2. Research and determine ownership of all identified sites;

3. Determine appropriate public use levels of identified access sites;

4. Develop appropriate mechanisms for transferring title of Commonwealth or
private holdings to the Authority;

5. Develop appropriate acquisition and site management plans for public access
usage;

6. Determine which holdings should be sold to advance the mission of the
Authority;

7. Receive and expend public funds and private donations in order to restore or
create tidal wetlands within the region for which the Authority exists; provided
that any tidal mitigation credits resulting from such restoration or creation
projects shall be held by the Authority for the benefit and use of participating
political subdivisions and shall not be sold or conveyed to any private party by
the Authority or any participating political subdivision;

8. Receive and expend public funds and private donations and apply for permits
in order to perform dredging projects on waterways and construct facilities and
infrastructure within the region for which the Authority exists. Such projects
shall enhance recreational or commercial public access; and

9. Perform other duties required to fulfill the mission of the Middle Peninsula
Chesapeake Bay Public Access Authority.
			In any suit, action, or proceeding involving the validity or enforcement of
or relating to any contract of the Middle Peninsula Chesapeake Bay Public Access
Authority, the Authority shall be deemed to have been created as a body
corporate and to have been established and authorized to transact business and
exercise its powers hereunder upon proof of the adoption of a resolution as
aforesaid by the participating political subdivisions declaring that there is a
need for such Authority. A copy of such resolution duly certified by the clerks
of the counties and towns by which it is adopted shall be admissible as evidence
in any suit, action, or proceeding. Any political subdivision of the
Commonwealth is authorized to join such Authority pursuant to the terms and
conditions of this act.
			The ownership and operation by the Authority of any public access sites and
related facilities and the exercise of powers conferred by this act are proper
and essential governmental functions and public purposes and matters of public
necessity for which public moneys may be spent and private property acquired.
The Authority is a regional entity of government by or on behalf of which debt
may be contracted by or on behalf of any county or town pursuant to Section
10(a) of Article VII of the Constitution of Virginia.

HISTORY: 2002, c. 766; 2009, c. 429; 2018, c. 326.