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Fort Monroe Authority

Authority

Purpose

The Authority shall have the power and duty: to do all things necessary and proper to further an appreciation of the contributions of the first permanent English speaking settlers as well as the Virginia Indians to the building of our Commonwealth and nation, to commemorate the establishment of the first coastal fortification in the English-speaking New World, to commemorate the lives of prominent Virginians who were connected to the largest moated fortification in the United States, to commemorate the important role of African Americans in the history of the site, including the "Contraband" slave decision in 1861 that earned Fort Monroe the designation as "Freedom's Fortress," to commemorate Old Point Comfort's role in establishing international trade and British maritime law in Virginia, and to commemorate almost 250 years of continuous service as a coastal defense fortification of the United States of America; to hire and develop a professional staff including an executive director and such other staff as is necessary to discharge the responsibilities of the Authority; to establish personnel policies and benefits for staff; to oversee the preservation, conservation, protection, and maintenance of the Commonwealth's natural resources and real property interests at Fort Monroe and the renewal of Fort Monroe as a vibrant and thriving community; to adopt an annual budget, which shall be submitted to the Chairmen of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House Committee on Appropriations and the Department of Planning and Budget by July 1 of each year; to provide for additional, more complete, or more timely services than are generally available in the City of Hampton as a whole; and to serve as the Commonwealth's management agent exercising all the Commonwealth's powers over land in the Area of Operation, including but not limited to regulation of land use, zoning and permitting for the implementation of actions under the Programmatic Agreement, Design Standards, Reuse Plan and any other agreements regarding Fort Monroe to which the Commonwealth is a party, and ensuring adherence to the findings, declarations and policies set forth in this article, unless the Commonwealth and the Authority specifically agree in writing to the contrary.

Term

Cabinet members and elected representatives shall serve terms commensurate with their terms of office. Citizen appointees shall serve for four-year terms. Cabinet members shall be entitled to send their deputies or another cabinet member, and legislative members another legislator, to meetings as full voting members in the event that official duties require their presence elsewhere.

Composition

There is hereby created a political subdivision and public body corporate and politic of the Commonwealth of Virginia to be known as the Fort Monroe Authority, to be governed by a Board of Trustees (Board) consisting of 14 members appointed as follows: the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, or their successor positions if those positions no longer exist, from the Governor's cabinet; the member of the Senate of Virginia and the member of the House of Delegates representing the district in which Fort Monroe lies; two members appointed by the Hampton City Council; and eight nonlegislative citizen members appointed by the Governor, seven of whom shall have expertise relevant to the implementation of the Fort Monroe Reuse Plan, including but not limited to the fields of historic preservation, tourism, environment, real estate, finance, and education, and one of whom shall be a citizen representative from the Hampton Roads region. The Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade shall serve ex officio without voting privileges and may send their deputies or another cabinet member to meetings in the event that official duties require their presence elsewhere. Cabinet members and elected representatives shall serve terms commensurate with their terms of office. Legislative members may send another legislator to meetings as full voting members in the event that official duties require their presence elsewhere. The Board so appointed shall enter upon the performance of its duties and shall initially and annually thereafter elect one of its members as chairman and another as vice-chairman. The Board shall also elect annually a secretary, who shall be a member of the Board, and a treasurer, who need not be a member of the Board, or a secretary-treasurer, who need not be a member of the Board. The chairman, or in his absence the vice-chairman, shall preside at all meetings of the Board, and in the absence of both the chairman and vice-chairman, the Board shall elect a chairman pro tempore who shall preside at such meetings. Seven Trustees shall constitute a quorum, and all action by the Board shall require the affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees present and voting, except that any action to amend or terminate the existing Reuse Plan, or to adopt a new Reuse Plan, shall require the affirmative vote of 75 percent or more of the Trustees present and voting. The members of the Board shall be entitled to reimbursement for expenses incurred in attendance upon meetings of the Board or while otherwise engaged in the discharge of their duties. Such expenses shall be paid out of the treasury of the Authority in such manner as shall be prescribed by the Authority.