When used in this chapter, unless the context plainly indicates otherwise, the present tense shall include the future tense, the singular shall include the plural, the plural shall include the singular and the following words and phrases shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:

(1) Aircraft.

Any contrivance now known or hereafter invented, used or designed for navigation of or flight in the air, except a parachute or other contrivance designed for use primarily as safety equipment.

(2) Airport.

Any area of land or water which is used, or intended for use, for the landing, take-off, storage, parking or dispersal of aircraft, and any appurtenant areas which are used, or intended for use, for airport buildings, facilities or rights-of-way, together with all airport buildings, structures and facilities located thereon.

(3) Airport building.

Any building used or to be used in connection with the construction, enlargement, development, maintenance or operation of an airport or heliport or in connection with the exercise of any power of the authority.

(4) Airport facility.

Any building, structure, land, right-of-way, equipment or instrumentality used or to be used in connection with the construction, enlargement, development, maintenance or operation of an airport or heliport or in connection with the exercise of any power of the authority.

(5) Air navigation facility.

Any facility used in, available for use in, or designed for use in aid of, air navigation, including any structures, mechanisms, lights, beacons, markers, communicating systems or other instrumentalities or devices used or useful as an aid, or constituting an advantage or convenience to the safe taking-off, navigation and landing of aircraft, or the safe and efficient operation or maintenance of an airport, and any combination of any or all of such facilities.

(6) Authority.

The public corporation organized pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(7) Board.

The board of directors of the authority.

(8) Bond.

Any bond authorized to be issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

(9) County.

Any of the 67 counties of the state.

(10) Director.

A member of the board of directors of the authority.

(11) FAA.

The Federal Aviation Administration.

(12) Government securities.

Any bonds or other obligations which as to principal and interest constitute direct obligations of, or are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America, including obligations of any federal agency to the extent such obligations are unconditionally guaranteed by the United States of America and any certificates or any other evidences of an ownership interest in such obligations of, or unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America or in specified portions thereof (which may consist of the principal thereof or the interest thereon).

(13) Heliport.

An airport designed primarily for use by helicopters.

(14) Indenture.

A mortgage, an indenture of mortgage, deed of trust, trust agreement or trust indenture executed by the authority as security for bonds.

(15) Municipality.

Any of the incorporated municipal corporations of the state, whether classified as city or town.

(16) Other facility.

Any land, right in land, building, structure, machinery, equipment or facility useful for or in connection with any type of transportation system, project, service or facility, or any housing or residential project or facility, or any educational project or facility, or any stadium, coliseum, fair ground, exhibition or athletic building or any other recreational facility, or any one or more or all of the foregoing.

(17) Permitted investments.

a. Government securities;

b. Bonds, debentures, notes or other evidences of indebtedness issued by any of the following agencies: Bank for Cooperatives, Federal Intermediate Credit Banks, Federal Financing Bank, Federal Home Loan Banks, Federal Farm Credit Bank, Export-Import Bank of the United States, Federal Land Banks, Farmers Home Administration or any other agency or corporation which has been or may hereafter be created by or pursuant to an act of the Congress of the United States as an agency or instrumentality thereof;

c. Bonds, notes, pass through securities or other evidences of indebtedness of Government National Mortgage Association and participation certificates of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation;

d. Full faith and credit obligations of any state, provided that at the time of purchase such obligations are rated at least 'AA' by Standard & Poor's Corporation and at least 'Aa' by Moody's Investors Service;

e. Public housing bonds issued by public agencies or municipalities and fully secured as to the payment of both principal and interest by contracts with the United States of America, or temporary notes, preliminary notes or project notes issued by public agencies or municipalities, in each case fully secured as to the payment of both principal and interest by a requisition or payment agreement with the United States of America;

f. Time deposits evidenced by certificates of deposit issued by banks or savings and loan associations which are members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, provided that, to the extent such time deposits are not covered by federal deposit insurance, such time deposits (including interest thereon) are fully secured by a pledge of obligations described in paragraphs a, b, c, and e above, which at all times have a market value (exclusive of accrued interest) not less than the amount of such bank time deposits required to be so secured and which meet the greater of 100% collateralization or the 'AA' collateral levels established by Standard & Poor's Corporation for structured financings;

g. Repurchase agreements for obligations of the type specified in paragraphs a, b, c, and e above, provided such repurchase agreements are fully collateralized and secured by such obligations which have a market value (exclusive of accrued interest) at least equal to the purchase price of such repurchase agreements, which are held by a depository satisfactory to the State Treasurer in such manner as may be required to provide a perfected security interest in such obligations, and which meet the greater of 100% collateralization or the 'AA' collateral levels established by Standard & Poor's Corporation for structured financings; and

h. Uncollateralized investment agreements with, or certificates of deposit issued by, banks or bank holding companies, the senior long-term securities of which are rated at least 'AA' by Standard & Poor's Corporation and at least 'Aa' by Moody's Investors Service.

i. S.E.C. registered, open-ended mutual funds whose portfolios consist of securities or obligations of the type specified in clauses a, b, c, d, e, and f above, provided that no sales load charge may be added to the purchase price or deducted from the redemption price of such mutual funds.

(18) State.

The State of Alabama.

(19) Authority's main airport terminal.

The main terminal located at the airport which has the longest runway and is called the authority's major airport as defined in Section 4-2A-5(a).

Upon the adoption by the board of any resolution providing for the issuance of bonds, the authority may, in its discretion, cause to be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper that is customarily published in this state not less than five days in each calendar week and distributed in the county in which is located the principal office of the authority, a notice in substantially the following form (the blanks being properly filled in) at the end of which there shall be printed the name and title of either the chairman or secretary of the authority: 'The Alabama International Airport Authority, a public corporation of the State of Alabama, on the… day of… , authorized the issuance of $… principal amount of revenue bonds of the said corporation for purposes authorized in the act of the Legislature of Alabama under which the said corporation was organized. Any action or proceeding questioning the validity of the said bonds, or the pledge and any instruments securing such bonds, or the proceedings authorizing the same, must be commenced within 30 days after the first publication of this notice.'

Any action or proceeding in any court to set aside or question the proceedings for the issuance of the bonds referred to in said notice or to contest the validity of any such bonds or the validity of the pledge and any instruments made to secure such bonds must be commenced within 30 days after the first publication of such notice. After the expiration of the said period, no right of action or defense questioning or attacking the validity of the said proceedings, the said bonds or the said pledge or instruments shall be asserted, nor shall the validity of the said proceedings, bonds, pledge or instruments be open to question in any court on any ground whatsoever except in an action commenced within such period.

All bonds shall be signed by the chairman or vice-chairman and the secretary or treasurer of the authority and the seal of the authority shall be affixed thereto; provided, that a facsimile of the signatures of both of the officers whose signatures will appear on the bonds may be imprinted or otherwise reproduced thereon in lieu of being manually signed if the proceedings in which the bonds are authorized to be issued provide for the manual authentication of such bonds by a trustee, registrar or paying agent or by named individuals who are employees of the state and who are assigned to the State Department of Finance or the office of the State Treasurer; provided further, that a facsimile of the seal of the authority may be imprinted or otherwise reproduced on the bonds in lieu of being manually affixed thereto. Delivery of bonds so executed shall be valid notwithstanding any changes in officers or in the seal of the authority after the signing and sealing of the bonds.

(a) In the discretion of the authority, any bonds may be issued under and secured by an indenture between the authority and a trustee. Said trustee may be a private person or corporation, including, but not limited to, any trust company or bank having trust powers, whether such bank or trust company is located within or without the state. In any such indenture or resolution providing for the issuance of bonds, the authority may pledge for payment of the principal of and the interest on such bonds any of its revenues, rents, income or funds from which its bonds may be made payable or to which its right then exists or may thereafter come into existence and may assign, as security for such payment, any of its leases, franchises, permits and contracts and, in any such indenture, the authority may mortgage any of its properties, including any that may be thereafter acquired by it. Any such pledge of revenues shall be valid and binding from the time it is made, and the revenues, rents, income or funds so pledged and thereafter received by the authority shall immediately become subject to the lien of such pledge without any physical delivery thereof or further act. The lien of such pledge shall be valid and binding against all parties having claims of any kind in tort, contract or otherwise against the authority, irrespective of whether the parties have actual notice thereof, from the time a statement is filed as provided in the Uniform Commercial Code. Such notice need state only the date on which the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds was adopted by the board, the principal amount of bonds issued, a brief description of the revenues, rents, income or funds so pledged and a brief description of any property the revenues, rents, income or funds from which are so pledged. In any indenture or resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds and pledging for the benefit thereof any of its revenues, rents, income or funds, the authority shall have the power to include provisions customarily contained in instruments securing evidence of indebtedness, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, provisions respecting the collection, segregation and application of any rental or other revenue due or to become due to the authority, the terms to be incorporated in any lease agreement respecting any property of the authority, the maintenance and insurance of any building or structure owned by the authority, the creation and maintenance of special funds from any revenue, rents, income or funds of the authority and the rights and remedies available in the event of default to the holder of the bonds or the trustee under the indenture as the board shall deem advisable and as shall not be in conflict with the provisions of this chapter. If there be any default by the authority in payment of the principal of or the interest on the bonds or in any of the agreements on the part of the authority that may be properly included in any indenture securing the bonds, any holder of any of the bonds or the trustee under any indenture, if so authorized in such indenture, may, in addition to any other remedies provided by this chapter or otherwise available, by civil action, mandamus or other proceedings enforce payment of such principal or interest and compel performance of all duties of the board and officers of the authority and shall be entitled as a matter of right and regardless of the sufficiency of any such security to the appointment of a receiver with all the powers of such receiver for the operation and maintenance of the property of the authority covered by such indenture and the collection, segregation and application of revenues therefrom. The indenture may also contain provisions restricting the individual rights of action of the holders of the bonds.

(b) A Debt Service Reserve Fund is authorized to be established and maintained in such an amount and under such conditions for any or all series of the bonds as may be determined by the authority in its resolution(s) relating to the bonds or in an indenture under which the bonds may be issued. The authority is authorized to make payments from bond proceeds or any other funds or revenues available to it (including any tax revenues pledged for the payment of the authority's bonds in excess of those required to meet current debt service on such bonds) into the Debt Service Reserve Fund. Income earned from the investment of moneys held in the Debt Service Reserve Fund may be used by the authority for any purpose designated by the authority that would constitute a permitted use of funds of the authority under this chapter. The authority is authorized to determine the conditions for the utilization of the Debt Service Reserve Fund (including earnings from the investment of such fund) in its resolution(s) relating to the bonds secured thereby or in an indenture under which the bonds may be issued, and by the terms of such resolution(s) or indenture, to dedicate and pledge such fund and the investment earnings therefrom to payment of debt service on the bonds.

The proceeds derived from the sale of any of the authority's bonds, other than refunding bonds, shall be used for one or more of its corporate functions, uses or purposes, including to pay the cost of acquiring, constructing, improving, enlarging and equipping its airports, airport facilities, and other facilities or property, as may be specified in the proceedings in which the bonds are authorized to be issued. Such cost shall be deemed to include the following:

(1) The cost of any land forming a part of any such airports, facilities or property;

(2) The cost of labor, material and supplies used in any such construction, improvement or enlargement, including architects' and engineers' fees, and the cost of preparing contract documents and advertising for bids;

(3) The purchase price of and the cost of installing equipment for any such airports, facilities or property;

(4) The cost of landscaping the lands forming a part of any such airports, facilities or property and of constructing and installing roads, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, utilities and parking places in connection with any such airports, facilities or property;

(5) Legal, fiscal and recording fees and expenses incurred in connection with the authorization, sale and issuance of the bonds; and

(6) Interest on said bonds for a reasonable period prior to and during the time required for such construction and equipment and for not exceeding 18 months after completion of such construction and equipment.

If any of the proceeds derived from the sale of said bonds remains undisbursed after completion of such work and payment of all of the said costs and expenses, such balance shall be used for any of the authority's other corporate functions, uses or purposes or for retirement of the principal of the bonds of the same issue.

(a) Any bonds issued by the authority under this chapter may from time to time thereafter be refunded by the issuance of refunding bonds of the authority. Any such refunding bonds may be issued whether the bonds to be refunded shall have then matured or shall thereafter mature, and such refunding may be effected either by sale of the refunding bonds and the application of the proceeds thereof to the payment or redemption of the bonds so refunded or by exchange of the refunding bonds for those to be refunded thereby. The holders of any bonds so to be refunded shall not be compelled without their consent to surrender their bonds for payment or exchange prior to the date on which they are payable, or if they are called for redemption, prior to the date on which they may be redeemed by the authority according to their terms. Any refunding bonds may be issued in such aggregate principal amount as the authority shall deem necessary to effect such refunding.

(b) The proceeds derived from any sale of refunding bonds remaining after payment of the expenses of their issuance shall be applied in accordance with the proceedings of the authority under which such refunding bonds are issued. Pending the application of said proceeds to the purchase, redemption or payment of such outstanding bonds, the said proceeds may be invested in permitted investments pursuant to a trust agreement providing for the future application of such proceeds to the purchase, redemption or payment of such outstanding bonds. Bonds refunded prior to their maturity with the proceeds of refunding bonds shall be deemed not outstanding if the authority, in the proceedings under which such refunding bonds are issued, establishes a trust fund consisting of cash or government securities, or both, sufficient to pay in accordance with the provisions of such trust fund when due, the entire principal of and the interest and premium (if any) on the refunded bonds; provided that such government securities shall not be subject to redemption prior to their maturities other than at the option of the holder thereof. Upon the establishment of such a trust fund, the refunded bonds shall no longer be deemed to be outstanding, shall no longer be secured by the funds or revenues pledged therefor, shall no longer be obligations of the authority, and shall be secured solely by and payable from the moneys and investments deposited in such trust fund.

The state and all public officers, municipal corporations, political subdivisions, public corporations and public bodies, including the State Employees' Retirement System created pursuant to Chapter 27 of Title 36, and the Teachers' Retirement System created pursuant to Chapter 25 of Title 16, all banks, bankers, trust companies, savings banks and institutions, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, investment companies, and other persons carrying on a banking business, all insurance companies, insurance associations and other persons carrying on an insurance business and all executors, administrators, guardians, trustees and other fiduciaries may legally invest any funds or moneys belonging to them or within their control in any bonds of the authority, and such bonds shall be authorized security for all public deposits, it being the purpose of this section to authorize any persons, firms, corporations, associations, political subdivisions, bodies, retirement systems and officers, public or private, to use any funds owned or controlled by them, including, but not limited to, sinking, insurance, investment, retirement, compensation, pension and trust funds, and funds held on deposit, for the purchase of any such bonds and that any such bonds shall be authorized security for all public deposits.

Any trust fund, where the investment thereof is permitted or required by law, may be invested in bonds issued by the authority. Unless otherwise directed by a court having jurisdiction thereof or the document which is the source of authority, a trustee, executor, administrator, guardian or one acting in any other fiduciary capacity may, in addition to any other investment powers conferred by law and with the exercise of reasonable business prudence, invest trust funds in the bonds of the authority.

The bonds issued by the authority and the income therefrom shall be exempt from all taxation in the state. The authority and all its property and income shall be exempt from all state, county and municipal taxation of any nature, including ad valorem taxes, sales taxes, use taxes, excise taxes, privilege or license taxes, license fees or taxes and other state or local taxes or license fees, and it is the intent of the Legislature to exempt the Alabama International Airport Authority from utility gross receipts taxes levied by Article 3, Chapter 21, Title 40; provided, however, that these exemptions shall not be construed to exempt concessionaires, licensees, tenants, operators or lessees of the authority from the payment of any licenses or privilege or license taxes levied by the state or any county or municipality in the state. Any deeds or other documents whereby properties are conveyed by or to the authority, any indentures executed by the authority and any leases or mortgages made by or to the authority may be filed for record in the office of the judge of probate of any county without the payment of any tax or fees. In addition, the authority shall not be required to pay any tax resulting from the conversion of property qualified for assessment based on its current use value, with respect to either property conveyed to the authority or property sold or otherwise disposed of by the authority; provided, however, that this exemption shall not be construed to exempt from liability for such additional ad valorem taxes any person otherwise liable, under applicable provisions of law, for the payment of such taxes.

(a) The authority shall be exempt from all of the same laws as airport authorities organized pursuant to Article 2 of Chapter 3 of Title 4, which exemption shall include the exemption conferred by Section 4-3-60 relating to, among others, the exemption from zoning laws, ordinances and regulations. The authority shall have the same zoning powers with respect to the zoning of airports owned, operated or controlled by the authority and the zoning of areas lying within a 10-nautical-mile radius of the geographical center of such airports as are conferred by Sections 4-6-1 through 4-6-15 on counties and municipalities with respect to areas within their zoning jurisdictions. For purposes of Chapter 6 of Title 4 the zoning jurisdiction of the authority shall be the areas within airports owned, operated or controlled by the authority and other areas lying within a 10-nautical-mile radius of the geographical center of such airports. In the event that after this chapter becomes effective, Chapter 6 of Title 4 is amended or supplemented so as to broaden the zoning powers of counties or municipalities, or both, with respect to airports or areas within the vicinity of airports, the authority shall thereafter have the same zoning powers within its zoning jurisdiction as such counties or municipalities, or both, have within their zoning jurisdictions with respect to airport or areas within the vicinity thereof. No airport, airport facility or other facility or property owned, operated or controlled by the authority shall be annexed by any municipality pursuant to any provision of Chapter 42 of Title 11 or any other annexation law unless and until such annexation shall be approved by a majority vote of the board of the authority.

(b) In addition to the zoning powers conferred by subsection (a), the authority may adopt, administer and enforce compatible land use zoning regulations applicable to a controlled compatible land use area relating to an airport owned, operated or controlled by the authority. The authority by resolution may implement, in connection with airport compatible land use regulations, any federal law or rules controlling the use of land located adjacent to or in the immediate vicinity of its airports.

(c) For purposes of subsection (b) of this section, the following words and terms have the meaning hereby ascribed to them:

(1) Centerline.

A line extending through the midpoint of each end of a runway.

(2) Compatible land use.

A use of land adjacent to an airport that does not endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the owners, occupants, or users of the land because of levels of noise or vibrations or the risk of personal injury or property damage created by the operations of the airport, including the taking off and landing of aircraft or such other definition adopted in either the approved master plan or the approved noise study for each airport as defined by FAA regulations or both when applicable.

(3) Controlled compatible land use area.

An area of land located outside airport boundaries and within a rectangle bounded by lines located no farther than two statute miles from the centerline of an instrument or primary runway and lines located no farther than five statute miles from each end of the clear zone of the paved surface of an instrument or primary runway.

(4) Instrument runway.

An existing or planned runway for which an instrument landing procedure published by a defense agency of the federal government or the FAA exists or is planned.

(5) Primary runway.

An existing or planned paved runway, as shown in the official airport layout plan (ALP) of the airport on which a majority of the approaches to and departures from the airport occur.

(6) Runway.

A defined area of an airport prepared for the landing and taking off of aircraft along its length.

(7) Master plan.

An airport master plan approved by the FAA.

(8) Noise study.

An FAA approved noise control and land use compatibility study, or a Federal Aviation Regulation, Part 150 noise study, or any comparable subsequently approved program or study.

(d) For purposes of the provisions of:

(1) The act resulting from the enactment of House Bill 406 introduced at the 1991 Regular Session of the Alabama Legislature (whether such bill is enacted before or after this chapter) or

(2) Any other statute, now or hereafter enacted, which provides for airport zoning and the issuance of permits by the State Aeronautics Department for structures exceeding federal obstruction standards located near air traffic,

the authority shall be deemed to be a political subdivision and its territorial limits shall be deemed to be the outer boundaries of airports owned, operated or controlled by the authority and the outer boundaries of other areas lying within a 10-nautical-mile radius of the geographical center of such airports.

(a) In addition to the definitions prescribed in Section 4-2A-1, as used in this section the following words and terms have the meaning hereby ascribed to them:

(1) ABC law.

Chapters 3 and 3A, Title 28 which establish and govern the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and provide for alcoholic beverage licensing.

(2) ABC board.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board.

(3) Special retail liquor license.

The special retail license for which the ABC law provides.

(4) Airport liquor license.

The license which this chapter provides for issuance to the authority.

Any word or term used in this section which is defined in the ABC law shall have the same meaning as that law ascribes to said word or term.

(b) Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, the authority's main airport terminal as defined in Section 4-2A-1(19) shall be wet for purposes of Title 28 and alcoholic beverages can be legally sold, distributed and consumed within the authority's main airport terminal at the authority's major airport as defined in Section 4-2A-5(a). All of the provisions of Title 28 relating to alcoholic beverages in wet counties, including Chapters 3, 3A, 6 and 7, not in conflict with this chapter, shall be put into operation with respect to and effective within the authority's main airport terminal as defined in Section 4-2A-1(19).

(c) At the request of the authority, the ABC Board shall issue an airport liquor license to the authority, or at the request of the authority, to any one or more concessionaires, licensees, tenants, operators or lessees of the authority, where a 'special retail liquor license' is otherwise authorized by law, provided that such an airport liquor license may be granted in wet or dry counties for location within the authority's main airport terminal at the authority's major airport as defined in Section 4-2A-5(a), and further provided that in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, the sale of alcoholic beverages pursuant to such an airport liquor license may be permitted at any time on any Sunday. Such an airport liquor license shall entitle the authority or such concessionaire, licensee, tenant, operator or lessee of the authority to purchase liquor from an Alabama liquor store, and subject to the provisions of the ABC law and the regulations made thereunder, not in conflict with this chapter, to keep and sell in the authority's main airport authority terminal at the authority's major airport as defined in Section 4-2A-5(a) for consumption therein any such liquor and also any malt or brewed beverages or vinous beverages the holder of a special retail liquor license is entitled to keep and sell. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an airport liquor license shall be deemed to be a special retail liquor license, and to the extent not in conflict with this chapter, all of the provisions of the ABC law applicable to a special retail liquor license shall be applicable to an airport liquor license. The aforesaid concessionaires, licensees, tenants, operators or lessees of the authority who are authorized to sell or distribute alcoholic beverages in accordance with an airport liquor license shall be deemed to be the person to whom the airport liquor license is granted.

(d) When any liquor license is issued pursuant to this chapter, all other laws to the contrary notwithstanding, the board of the authority shall have the authority and the duty to determine and fix the days of the week, which may include Sunday, and the times when, and places where, alcoholic beverages may be sold in its main airport terminal as defined in Section 4-2A-1(19) and to fix other reasonable rules and regulations for the sale of alcoholic beverages therein.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the laws of the state and the regulations of the ABC Board shall apply to the authority and its concessionaires, licensees, tenants, operators or lessees in any of their operations under an airport liquor license.

Any nine of the ten individual citizens of the state selected for such purpose pursuant to this section may become a public corporation with the powers hereinafter provided by proceeding according to the provisions of Section 4-2A-3. The ten individual citizens shall be selected as follows:

(1) Three shall be appointed by the Governor;

(2) One shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor;

(3) One shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(4) One shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham;

(5) One shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Mobile from the members of the Board of Directors of the Mobile Airport Authority;

(6) One shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Montgomery from the members of the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Airport Authority;

(7) One shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Huntsville from the members of the Board of Directors of the Huntsville Airport Authority; and

(8) One shall be appointed by the Mayor of the City of Dothan from the members of the Board of Directors of the Dothan Airport Authority.

Employees of the authority shall participate in the Employees' Retirement System of Alabama, as defined in Section 36-27-2 which is operated for the purpose of providing retirement allowances and other benefits for employees of the state. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 36-27-26 or any other law, employees of the authority shall be deemed to be employees of the state included in the membership of the retirement system as provided in Section 36-27-4.

All money or property found at an airport owned or controlled by the authority shall be reported or delivered by the finder to the airport lost and found, and when so delivered shall be held by the authority for 45 days or until claimed by some person who establishes title or right of custody thereto to the satisfaction of the authority. In the event of such establishment of title or right of custody, the money or property shall be delivered to the claimant by the authority. If within 45 days no claimant establishes a right to the money or property, the money or property shall be returned to the person who delivered it to the airport lost and found; provided that if the person who delivered it to the airport lost and found fails to claim the money or property within 30 days after being notified by the authority, the authority shall deposit the money into the authority's treasury to the credit of the authority or shall dispose of the property by public auction. At least once annually, the authority shall place a notice in a newspaper of general circulation giving details as to time and place of the auction and giving notice to all persons interested or claiming the property that unless claims are made by persons who can provide satisfactory proof of ownership before a specified date, the property will be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. On the day and at the place specified in the notice, all property for which no satisfactory proof of ownership is made shall be sold by auction by or under the direction of the authority.

If any property which is of a perishable nature or unreasonably expensive to keep or safeguard remains unclaimed at the airport, the authority may sell that property at public auction, at such time and after such notice as is reasonable under the circumstances. The authority shall immediately after the sale of any property deposit unto the authority's treasury all moneys received by the authority upon sale.

For the purpose of this section, notice by regular mail to the last known address of the person who delivered the money or property to the airport lost and found shall be deemed sufficient.

The authority may make and enforce airport rules pertaining to vehicle parking at any airport owned or controlled by the authority by imposing fines not to exceed $50 per violation or by removing the vehicle of the offender from the area within the airport, or both.

The existence and functioning of the Alabama International Airport Authority, created and functioning pursuant to this chapter, is hereby terminated at such time that the state receives official notification of the approval by the Federal Aviation Administration of an Airport Master Plan as prepared and submitted by this authority.

To become a corporation, any nine citizens selected pursuant to Section 4-2A-2 shall present to the Secretary of State an application signed by them which shall set forth:

(1) The name and residence of each of the applicants, together with a certified copy of all documents evidencing each applicant's selection pursuant to Section 4-2A-2;

(2) The name of the proposed corporation, which shall be the 'Alabama International Airport Authority';

(3) The location of the principal office of the proposed corporation;

(4) The purposes of the proposed corporation, which shall be, among others, to plan, acquire, construct, develop, improve, equip, own, operate, administer, and manage any and all types of airports, airport buildings, airport facilities, air navigation facilities, heliports, and other facilities and air or other transportation services in, to, and from the state, to make available the benefits thereof in the widest economic manner, thereby promoting the general welfare and increasing commerce and prosperity, to promote the public welfare and national security, to serve public interest, convenience, and necessity, to promote air navigation and transportation, international, national, state, and local, in and through this state, to promote the efficient, safe, and economical handling of air commerce, to assure the inclusion of this state in national and international programs of air transportation, to develop the full potentialities of the state as an aviation center and to carry out the duties and powers imposed upon or vested in the authority by this chapter; and

(5) Any other matter relating to the incorporation which the applicants may choose to insert and which is not inconsistent with this chapter.

The application shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of the applicants before an officer authorized to take acknowledgments to deeds. The Secretary of State shall examine the application and if he finds that it substantially complies with the requirements of this section, he shall receive, file, and record it in an appropriate book of records in his office.

When the application has been made, filed and recorded as herein provided, the applicants shall constitute a public corporation under the name proposed in the application. The Secretary of State shall make and issue to the applicants a certificate of incorporation under the Great Seal of the state and shall record the certificate with the application. No fees or compensation shall be paid to the Secretary of State for any service rendered or work performed in connection with the authority, its incorporation, dissolution or records.

(a) The applicants named in the application and their respective successors in office shall constitute nine of the eleven members of the authority. The eleventh member of the authority and his or her successors in office shall be appointed by the appointing county official of the county in which the authority's major airport is located, provided that if the authority's major airport is located in more than one county, the appointing county official of each county in which any part of said airport is located shall alternate or rotate making such appointment. In such event, the appointing county official of the county containing the largest number of square feet of said airport shall make the appointment for the initial term, the official of the county containing the next largest number of square feet shall make the appointment for the next term and so on with the order of such appointments being determined by the number of square feet of said airport located in each county. The appointing county official of the county shall be the probate judge unless he is not a member of the governing body of the county, in which event the chairman of the governing body shall be the appointing county official. The authority's major airport shall be the airport owned, operated, or controlled by the authority which has a published instrument approach procedure or facilities for an instrument approach procedure, and if the authority owns, operates, or controls more than one airport which has a published instrument approach procedure or facilities therefor, then the one thereof which has the longest runway shall be the authority's major airport. For purposes of this subsection, an airport will be considered as having facilities for an instrument approach procedure and such runways, will be considered as being owned, operated, or controlled by the authority and will be considered as being located in a county, if and when such facilities or runways, such ownership, operation, or control and such location are shown or reflected on the airport's master plan or an airport layout plan submitted to the FAA Airport District Office or are reflected in a notice or proposal submitted to the FAA. Until such time as the eleventh member of the authority can be appointed as aforesaid, the other members of the authority shall constitute the full membership of the authority.

(b) At the time of the initial appointment by the Governor of three of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4, the Governor shall designate one of such persons to serve as a member of the authority for an initial term of two years, one to serve an initial term of four years, and one to serve an initial term of six years. Thereafter, each succeeding appointment of a member of the authority by the Governor shall be for a term of six years. The persons appointed by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to be two of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4 shall serve as members of the authority for an initial term of six years. Thereafter, each succeeding appointment of a member of the authority by the Lieutenant Governor or the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall also be for a term of six years. The member selected by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham to be one of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4 shall serve as a member of the authority for an initial term of four years. Thereafter, each succeeding selection of a member of the authority by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham shall be for a term of six years. The member of the Board of Directors of the Mobile Airport Authority selected by the Mayor of the City of Mobile to be one of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4 shall serve as a member of the authority for an initial term of three years. Thereafter, each succeeding selection of a member of the authority by the Mayor of the City of Mobile from the Board of Directors of the Mobile Airport Authority shall be for a term of four years. The member of the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Airport Authority selected by the Mayor of the City of Montgomery to be one of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4 shall serve as a member of the authority for an initial term of two years. Thereafter, each succeeding selection of a member of the authority by the Mayor of the City of Montgomery from the Board of Directors of the Montgomery Airport Authority shall be for a term of four years. The member of the Board of Directors of the Huntsville Airport Authority selected by the Mayor of the City of Huntsville to be one of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4 shall serve as a member of the authority for an initial term of four years. Thereafter, each succeeding selection of a member of the authority by the Mayor of the City of Huntsville from the Board of Directors of the Huntsville Airport Authority shall be for a term of four years. The member of the Board of Directors of the Dothan Airport Authority selected by the Mayor of the City of Dothan to be one of the individual citizens to incorporate the authority pursuant to Section 4-2A-4 shall serve as a member of the authority for an initial term of four years. Thereafter, each succeeding selection of a member of the authority by the Mayor of the City of Dothan from the Board of Directors of the Dothan Airport Authority shall be for a term of four years. The member of the authority appointed by an appointing county official shall serve for an initial term of two years. Thereafter, each succeeding appointment of a member of the authority by an appointing county official shall be for a term of six years.

(c) The members of the authority shall constitute all the members of the board of directors of the authority, which shall be the governing body of the authority. Upon the expiration of the term of office of any member of the authority or in the event any member of the authority ceases to be a member of the authority, by reason of death, resignation, removal of his or her residence from the State of Alabama or for any other reason, then the same officer, official or authority who originally appointed or selected such member shall appoint or select a successor in office to take his or her place as a member of the authority. If at any time the member of the authority selected by the Mayor of the City of Birmingham ceases to be a member of said board, he or she shall also cease to be a member of the authority and the Mayor of the City of Birmingham shall select a successor in office to take his or her place as a member of the authority. If at any time the member of the authority selected from either the Huntsville, Mobile or Montgomery Airport Authorities' Board of Directors ceases to be a member of said board, he or she shall also cease to be a member of the authority and the respective mayor shall select from the members of the respective airport authority board of directors a successor in office to take his or her place as a member of the authority. In the event any member of the authority ceases to be a member of the authority prior to the expiration of his or her term of office, his or her successor in office as a member of the authority shall serve for the unexpired term of such office. If the term of office of any member of the authority shall expire prior to the appointment of his or her successor, such member shall continue to serve until his or her successor is appointed and qualified. The members of the authority shall be eligible to succeed themselves. No member, officer, director or employee of the authority shall be personally liable for any debt, obligation or liability of the authority or the state.

(d) A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum of the board for the transaction of business, but any meeting of the board may be adjourned from time to time by a majority of the directors present or may be so adjourned by a single director if such director is the only director present at such meeting. No vacancy in the membership of the board shall impair the right of a quorum of the board to exercise all the powers and duties of the authority. The board shall hold an annual meeting and such other regular meetings as may be provided in the bylaws of the authority, and the board may hold other meetings at any time from time to time; provided, that upon (1) call of the chairman of the authority or any two directors and (2) at least five days written notice to each of the members, a special meeting of the board must be held. Any matter on which the board is authorized to act may be acted upon at any regular, special or called meeting. At the request of any director, the vote on any question before the board shall be taken by yeas and nays and entered upon the record.

(e) All proceedings of the board shall be reduced to writing by the secretary of the authority, recorded in a well-bound book and open to each director and to the public at all times. Copies of such proceedings, when certified by the secretary of the authority under its seal, shall be received in all courts as evidence of the matters and things therein certified.

(f) Each director shall be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred by him in and about the performance of his duties. Each director may also be compensated by the authority in an amount authorized by the bylaws and approved by the State Treasurer and the Legislative Oversight Committee.

(g) Any director of the authority may be impeached and removed from office in the same manner and on the same grounds provided by Section 175 of the Constitution of Alabama and the general laws of the state for impeachment and removal of the officers mentioned in said Section 175.

(h) The officers of the authority shall consist of a chairman, a vice-chairman, a secretary, a treasurer and such other officers as the board shall deem necessary to accomplish the purposes for which the authority was organized. The chairman and vice-chairman shall be elected by the board from its membership, except that no member presently serving on an existing airport authority or board may be elected to the chairman or vice-chairman position, but neither the secretary, the treasurer nor any of the other officers of the authority need be a member of the board of directors. The chairman and vice-chairman of the authority shall be elected by the board for a term of one year. The State Treasurer shall be the treasurer of the authority. The State Treasurer shall act as custodian of the funds of the authority and shall pay the principal of and the interest and premium (if any) on the bonds of the authority from the sources hereinafter provided. The State Treasurer shall act as paying agent with respect to any series of bonds issued under this chapter. The secretary and the other officers of the authority shall be elected by the board for such term as it deems advisable. The board shall also have the authority to employ all personnel as it deems necessary and to fix the terms and conditions of their employment. The duties of the chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer shall be such as are customarily performed by such officers and as may be prescribed in the bylaws or by the board. The duties of any other officer of the authority shall be such as are from time to time prescribed by the board.

The authority shall have the following powers among others specified in this chapter, together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary to the discharge thereof in corporate form:

(1) To have succession by its corporate name for the duration of time (which may be in perpetuity) specified in its certificate of incorporation;

(2) To sue and be sued in its own name in civil actions;

(3) To adopt and make use of a corporate seal and to alter the same at pleasure;

(4) To adopt and alter bylaws for the regulation and conduct of its affairs and business;

(5) To acquire, receive, take and hold, whether by purchase, option to purchase, gift, lease, devise or otherwise, property of every description, whether real, personal or mixed, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality, and to manage said property and to develop any property and to sell, exchange, lease or grant an option to purchase any property (whether developed or undeveloped) owned, leased or controlled by it;

(6) To make, enter into, execute and perform such contracts, agreements, leases and other instruments and to take such other action as may be necessary or convenient to accomplish any purpose for which the authority was organized or the exercise of any power granted hereunder;

(7) To plan, establish, develop, acquire, purchase, lease, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, improve, maintain, equip, operate, regulate and protect airports and air navigation facilities, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality, including the acquisition, construction, installation, equipment, maintenance and operation at or in connection with or in furtherance of the use of such airports of sanitary and storm sewage systems and water, electric and gas systems, buildings, hangars and other facilities for airlines and the servicing of aircraft or for the comfort, use and accommodation of air travelers and the purchase and sale of such supplies, goods and commodities as are incident to the operation of its airport properties;

(8) To construct, acquire, establish, improve, extend, enlarge, reconstruct, equip, maintain, repair and operate heliports, aerial aircraft (by whatever name such may be known) landing, loading or storage areas and transportation terminals, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality;

(9) To construct, acquire, establish, improve, extend, enlarge, reconstruct, equip, maintain and repair buildings, structures and facilities suitable for use as manufacturing plants, industrial plants, retail shopping areas or centers, parks, exhibits or exhibitions or for the conduct of any lawful business, at, upon or adjacent to any airport, heliport or aircraft landing area owned or operated by such authority, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality, and to sell, exchange, grant an option to purchase, lease or let such buildings, structures and facilities or any one or more of them to such tenant or tenants for such term or terms, at such compensation or rental and subject to such provisions, limitations and conditions as the authority may require or approve;

(10) To furnish or supply upon any airport, heliport or aircraft landing area or other property owned or operated by or under the jurisdiction of the authority, for reward or compensation, goods, commodities, space, facilities and services, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, food, lodging, shelter, lawful drinks, confections, reading matter, oil, gasoline, motors and aircraft, motor and aircraft parts and equipment, space in buildings, space for buildings and structures, parking space for aircraft and automobiles and the services of mechanics, instructors and hostlers;

(11) To confer upon individuals, firms, corporations or companies for reward or compensation the privilege or concession of supplying upon any airport, heliport or aircraft landing area owned or operated by or under the jurisdiction of the authority all or any part of the goods, commodities, things, services and facilities authorized to be supplied by subsection (10);

(12) To acquire, by eminent domain and otherwise, establish, construct, expand, own, control, equip, improve, maintain, operate and regulate satellite airports or landing fields for the use of aircraft in the state, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality;

(13) To acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, lease, eminent domain proceedings or otherwise, existing airports, air navigation facilities and other facilities, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality; provided, however, that the authority shall not acquire or take over any airport or air navigation facility owned or controlled by any county, municipality, public corporation, public authority or public agency of the state, or any one or more thereof, without the consent of such county, municipality, public corporation, public authority or public agency;

(14) To acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, lease, eminent domain proceedings or otherwise, property which may be used or useful for educational facilities, to establish, construct, own, maintain, operate, improve, expand, equip, control and regulate schools, institutions of higher learning and other educational facilities upon or adjacent to the properties of the authority and to sell, lease or donate such educational properties;

(15) To acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, lease, eminent domain proceedings or otherwise, property which has been or may be used or useful for housing, apartments and other residential buildings, structures, complexes and projects, to establish, construct, own, maintain, operate, improve, expand, equip, control and regulate such housing and residential facilities upon or adjacent to the properties of the authority and to sell, lease or donate such properties;

(16) To acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, lease, eminent domain proceedings or otherwise, to establish, expand, own, control, equip, improve, maintain, operate, manage and regulate any and all types of transportation facilities and services in, to or from the state, including, but not limited to, rail systems, railroads, spur tracks and other railway facilities and equipment, mass transportation facilities, bus systems, buses, intrastate airlines and other facilities, systems or services for any mode of transportation, and to sell, lease or donate such properties;

(17) To acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, lease or otherwise, and to operate docks, wharves, maritime warehouses, machinery and equipment and port facilities;

(18) Subject to the provisions of this chapter, to borrow money and issue its bonds in evidence thereof to provide funds for any corporate function, use or purpose;

(19) As security for payment of the principal of and interest and premium (if any) on its bonds and any agreements made in connection therewith, to pledge, mortgage, assign or grant security interests in any or all of

a. The funds, revenues or receipts from which its bonds may be made payable or

b. Its properties or any part or parts thereof (whether then owned or thereafter acquired) and to arrange for and provide such additional security for its bonds, including, but not limited to, letters of credit, bond insurance policies, surety bonds, all as the board shall determine to be necessary or desirable;

(20) To borrow money on a short-term basis and to issue its temporary bonds or notes in evidence thereof for any corporate function, use or purpose, which bonds or notes shall mature not later than 24 months from their date of issuance, to provide for the payment of the same from the principal proceeds of the sale of its long-term bonds, and to mortgage, assign and pledge, as security for payment of the principal of and interest on any such temporary bonds or notes and any agreements made in connection therewith, any funds, revenues, receipts or properties it is authorized to pledge, mortgage or assign as security for its bonds under subdivision (19);

(21) To assume obligations secured by a lien on or payable out of or secured by a pledge of the revenues, rents, receipts and funds from any air transportation facilities, air navigation facilities or other facilities, or any part thereof, that may be acquired by the authority;

(22) To exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner and subject to the provisions of Title 18 with respect to any property, real, personal or mixed, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality, including air space, navigation easements, structures and obstructions to flights and property already devoted to public use, that may be reasonably necessary for the construction, extension, maintenance, operation, protection, enlargement, improvement or preservation of an airport or airport facility, or sanitary or storm sewage systems or water, electric and gas systems, upon, adjacent to, in connection with or in furtherance of the use of any airport, heliport or aircraft landing area or other properties owned or operated by the authority;

(23) To appoint, employ, contract with and provide for compensation of officers, employees and agents, including engineers, attorneys, consultants, fiscal advisers and such other employees as the business of the authority may require, including the power to fix working conditions and other conditions of employment by general rule and, at its option, to provide a system of disability pay, retirement compensation and pensions, or any of them, and to hire and fire servants, agents, employees and officers at will;

(24) To fix, establish, collect and alter landing fees, tolls, rents, passenger facility charges, access fees and other charges with respect to any airport, heliport, landing area, air navigation facility or other facility, building, structure or property owned or controlled by the authority or any service provided pursuant thereto, or any benefit derived therefrom;

(25) To make and enforce reasonable rules and regulations governing the use of any airport, heliport, landing area or airport facility or other facility owned or controlled by the authority;

(26) To provide for such insurance, including but without limitation to, use and occupancy insurance, as the board may deem advisable;

(27) To invest any funds of the authority that the board may determine are not presently needed for its corporate purposes in any permitted investments or in any obligations in which municipal or county funds are authorized to be invested pursuant to Section 11-81-21;

(28) To cooperate with the United States of America, the state or any county, city, town, public corporation, agency, department or political subdivision of the state or the United States of America, and to make such contracts with them or any of them as the board may deem advisable to accomplish the purposes for which the authority was established;

(29) To sell, exchange and convey, including the granting of options to acquire, any or all of its properties that may have become obsolete or worn out or that may no longer be needed or useful to the authority in connection with, or in the operation of the airport, heliport or other facility with respect to which they were acquired or of which they form a part, or that the board deems to be in furtherance of any purpose for which the authority was organized;

(30) To receive and accept grants for or in aid of the construction, extension, improvement, maintenance or operation of any airport, heliport or airport facility, air navigation facility or other facility from the United States of America or any agency thereof and from the state or any department or agency thereof and any political subdivision thereof, and to receive and accept money, property, labor or other things of value from any source whatever;

(31) To sell, donate and convey, with or without consideration, any of its properties to the state or any one or more counties, municipalities or public corporations organized and existing under the laws of the state which have the corporate power to operate the properties so conveyed and the property and income of which are not subject to taxes; provided, that any such conveyance shall not be made if it would constitute a violation of a provision of any then outstanding indenture to which the authority is a party;

(32) To purchase equipment and supplies necessary or convenient for the exercise of any power of the authority;

(33) To appoint, employ, contract with and provide for compensation of one or more suitable persons to act as police officers to keep off intruders and prevent trespass upon and damage to property owned by or under the jurisdiction of the authority. All such persons shall be charged with all the duties and invested with all the powers of police officers. Any police officer appointed pursuant to the provisions of this subdivision is a peace officer whose authority extends to any place in the state; provided, that the primary duty of any such police or peace officer shall be the enforcement of the law on property owned by or under the jurisdiction of the authority; and provided further, that any such police or peace officer shall not otherwise act as a peace officer in enforcing the law except:

a. When in pursuit of any offender or suspected offender who is charged with the commission of a crime while on premises owned by or under the jurisdiction of the authority, or

b. To make arrests otherwise lawful for crimes committed, or for which there is probable cause to believe have been committed, within his presence or within the boundaries of said property owned by or under the jurisdiction of the authority. The provisions of this subdivision granting powers to police officers employed by the authority are not intended to limit or abridge any powers heretofore granted to said officers by law, or to imply that such powers do not otherwise exist on the date of the enactment of this chapter, and the provisions of this subdivision are, therefore, to be considered cumulative;

(34) To enter into a management agreement or agreements with any county or municipality in the state for the management by the authority of any airport, heliport, air navigation facility or other facility useful to the authority, whether in one or more counties and whether within or without the corporate limits of any municipality, upon such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreeable; and

(35) To assess and collect fines from any person, firm or corporation occupying, leasing or utilizing any part of an airport, airport facility or other facility or property owned by or under the jurisdiction of the authority in order to reimburse the authority for civil penalties levied by any government entity (including the FAA) if such penalties arise as the result of one or more acts or omissions of such person, firm or corporation.

The authority is authorized to accept, receive, receipt for, disburse and expend federal, state, county or municipal moneys and other moneys, public or private, made available by donation, grant, appropriation or loan or any combination thereof, to accomplish, in whole or in part, any of the purposes of this chapter. All federal moneys accepted under this section shall be accepted and expended by the authority upon such terms and conditions as are prescribed by the United States and as are not inconsistent with the laws of this state, and all state moneys accepted under this section shall be accepted and expended by the authority upon such terms and conditions as are prescribed by law. State moneys which the authority may receive include, but are not limited to, state appropriations, proceeds of bonds issued by the state, tax revenues and other state revenues.

For the purpose of aiding and cooperating with the authority in the financing, funding, planning, development, undertaking, construction, extension, improvement or operation of airports, heliports and air navigation facilities and other facilities, the state (in such manner and upon such terms and conditions, with or without consideration, as may be prescribed by law) or any county, municipality or other political subdivision, public corporation, agency or instrumentality of this state, (upon such terms and conditions, with or without consideration, as its governing body may determine) may, and each of them is hereby authorized and empowered to:

(1) Donate, grant, appropriate or lend money to the authority;

(2) Provide that all or a portion of any taxes, fees, or funds available or to become available to it for airport purposes or any other purposes (unless required by law to be used for nonairport purposes) shall be transferred or paid directly to the authority as such taxes, fees or funds become available to it;

(3) Cause water, sewer, electric, gas or drainage facilities or any other facilities which it is empowered to provide to be furnished adjacent to or in connection with such airports, heliports or air navigation facilities or other facilities;

(4) Donate, sell, convey, transfer or lease to the authority any land, property, franchise, grant, easement, license or lease which it may own;

(5) Donate, sell, convey or lease any airport, airport property, heliport or heliport property or any interest in any thereof owned by it to the authority;

(6) Donate, transfer, assign, sell or convey to the authority any rights, title or interest which it may have in any lease, contract, agreement, license or property;

(7) Furnish, dedicate, close, pave, repair, install, grade, regrade, plan or replan streets, roads, roadways and walks from established streets or roads to such airports, heliports or air navigation facilities or abutting or adjacent to such airports, heliports or air navigation facilities;

(8) Except as limited by the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, borrow money for the purpose of providing funds to the authority and paying all costs, fees and expenses agreed upon in connection with any such loans, and it may, without an election, issue evidences of its indebtedness in the form of interest-bearing warrants, notes or bills payable, maturing at such time or times as it may determine, not exceeding 20 years from the date of issue, and, as security for any such evidences of indebtedness and as a part of the contract whereunder any money is borrowed, it may agree to annually levy, collect and apply to the payment thereof, so long as the same or any part thereof remains unpaid, any tax or license which it is empowered or authorized on the date of such contract to levy and collect (unless such tax or license is specifically prohibited by law from being so used);

(9) Do any and all things, whether or not specifically authorized in this section and not otherwise prohibited by law, that are necessary or convenient to aid and cooperate with the authority in the planning, undertaking, construction or operation of airports, heliports and air navigation facilities and other facilities; and

(10) Furnish at the request of the authority fire and air crash equipment of all kinds and personnel to properly operate such equipment at any airport, heliport or aircraft landing area owned, operated or under the jurisdiction of the authority.

The authority shall have the power and is hereby authorized at any time and from time to time to issue and sell its bonds for any of its corporate functions, uses or purposes, which bonds may be in the form of interest-bearing bonds or noninterest-bearing bonds. The principal of and the interest and premium (if any) on any such bonds may be payable from one or more specified sources, including:

(1) The revenues derived by the authority from the operation of any or all of its airports, heliports, airport facilities, other facilities and property and

(2) Any or all moneys, funds, revenues, appropriations, taxes, proceeds or properties authorized to be appropriated, donated, granted, transferred, conveyed, sold, loaned, assigned or given to the authority by Section 4-2A-8 or any other law (unless such use thereof is otherwise specifically prohibited by law), and such bonds may be secured by a pledge of any or all thereof.

Bonds issued or contracts entered into by the authority shall be obligations of the authority and shall only constitute or create an obligation or debt of the state or any county or municipality if, and to the extent, so provided in such amendment or amendments to the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as may be adopted and ratified after May 1, 1992. The authority is hereby vested with full authority, except as limited herein and by the constitution, as amended, to provide for the terms of its bonds, to provide for and limit the sources of payment for said bonds and to provide for the sale and issuance thereof. Bonds of the authority may be issued at any time and from time to time in one or more series, may be in such form and denominations, may be of such tenor, may be payable in such installments and at such time or times, not exceeding 40 years from their date, may be payable at such place or places whether within or without the state and may, if issued as interest-bearing bonds, bear interest at such rate or rates, fixed or variable, whether exceeding the rates prescribed by any law as usurious or not, payable and evidenced in such manner as shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter and as may be provided in the proceedings of the board wherein the bonds shall be authorized to be issued. At the authority's election, any bond may be made subject to redemption at the option of the authority on such dates at such price or prices and after such notice or notices and on such terms and conditions and in such manner as may be provided in the proceedings of the board wherein it is authorized to be issued. Bonds of the authority may be sold at public or private sale in such manner and from time to time as may be determined by the board. The authority may pay all reasonable expenses, premiums, fees and commissions that the board may deem necessary or advantageous in connection with the authorization, sale and issuance of its bonds. All bonds may contain a recital that they are issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, which recital shall be conclusive that they have been duly authorized pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. Neither a public hearing nor consent of the State Department of Finance shall be prerequisite to the issuance of bonds by any authority.