(a) The board is the governing body of an authority and the board shall exercise all the powers given the authority in this article. The county commission of each participating county shall appoint two members to the board, as follows:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 20-17-4

  • Authority: means a multicounty trail network authority created pursuant to this article. See West Virginia Code 20-17-2
  • Board: means the board of a multicounty trail network authority. See West Virginia Code 20-17-2
  • Commission: means the Natural Resources Commission. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Director: means the Director of the Division of Natural Resources. See West Virginia Code 20-1-2
  • Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
  • Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. Source: OCC
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Participant: means any person using a recreational area of a trail network for recreational purposes. See West Virginia Code 20-17-2
  • Participating county: means one of the three or more counties forming a multicounty trail network authority. See West Virginia Code 20-17-2
  • Person: means any public or private corporation, institution, association, society, firm, organization, or company organized or existing under the laws of this or any other state or country. See West Virginia Code 20-17-2
  • Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
  • Recreational area: means the recreational trails and appurtenant facilities, including trail head centers, parking areas, camping facilities, picnic areas, recreational areas, historic or cultural interpretive sites, and other facilities or attractions that are a part of a multicounty trail network authority system. See West Virginia Code 20-17-2

(1) Each participating county shall appoint one member who represents and is associated with a corporation or individual landowner whose land is being used or is expected to be used in the future as part of the authority’s recreational area. This member shall be appointed to a four-year term.

(2) Each participating county shall appoint one member who is an experienced instructor, guide, or participant in recreational activities in the county or an individual who represents and is associated with travel, tourism, economic development, land surveying, or relevant engineering efforts within the county. The initial appointment for this member shall be for a two-year term, but all subsequent appointments shall be for a four-year term.

(3) Any appointed member whose term has expired shall serve until his or her successor has been duly appointed and qualified. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired term. Any appointed member is eligible for reappointment. Members of the board are not entitled to compensation for services performed as members but are entitled to reimbursement for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties.

(b) Upon joining an existing authority as a participating county pursuant to § 20-17-3 of this code, the newly participating county shall appoint board members only for the length of the unexpired terms of the authority’s board members serving at the time the county joins the authority. Thereafter, the county shall appoint board members according to the regular appointment procedure provided in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) The board shall meet quarterly, unless a special meeting is called by its chairman. During the first meeting of each fiscal year beginning in an odd-numbered year, or as soon as feasible thereafter, the board shall elect a chairman, secretary, and treasurer from among its own members to serve for two-year terms.

(d) A majority of the members of the board constitutes a quorum and a quorum shall be present for the board to conduct business.

(e) The board may prescribe, amend, and repeal bylaws and rules governing the use of the trail system, safety standards for participants, and the manner in which the business of the authority is conducted.

(f) The board shall review and approve an annual budget. The fiscal year for an authority begins on July 1 and ends on the 30th day of the following June.

(g) The board shall appoint an executive director to act as its chief executive officer, to serve at the will and pleasure of the board. The board, acting through its executive director, may employ any other personnel considered necessary and retain such temporary legal, engineering, financial, and other consultants or technicians as may be required for any special study or survey consistent with the provisions of this article. The executive director shall carry out plans to implement the provisions of this article and to exercise those powers enumerated in the bylaws. The executive director shall prepare an annual budget to be submitted to the board for its review and approval prior to the commencement of each fiscal year. The budget shall contain a detailed account of all planned and proposed revenue and expenditures for the authority for the upcoming fiscal year, including a detailed list of employees by title, salary, cost of projected benefits, and total compensation. Before August 15 of each year, the executive director shall provide to the board and the county commission for each participating county a detailed list of actual expenditures and revenue, by account and recipient name, for the previous fiscal year and a copy of the approved budget for the current fiscal year.

(h) All costs incidental to the administration of the authority, including office expenses, personal services expenses, and current expenses, shall be paid in accordance with guidelines issued by the board from funds accruing to the authority.

(i) All expenses incurred by an authority in carrying out the provisions of this article shall be payable solely from funds that have accrued to the authority pursuant to this article. An authority may not incur liability or an obligation above the amount of funds that have accrued to the authority pursuant to this article.

(j) A multicounty trail network authority and the board is a “public body” for purposes of the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act, as provided in § 29B-1-1 et seq. of this code.

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