(70 ILCS 503/25)

Sec. 25. Powers.

(a) The Commission possesses all the powers of a body corporate necessary and convenient to accomplish the purposes of this Act, including, but not limited to, the following powers:

(1) to sue and be sued in its corporate name;

(2) to apply for and accept gifts, grants, or loans of funds or property, financial, or other aid from any public agency or private entity;

(3) to acquire, hold, sell, lease as lessor or lessee, deal in, lend, transfer, convey, donate or otherwise dispose of real or personal property, or interests in the property, under procedures set by the Commission and for consideration in the best interests of the Rantoul National Aviation Center Airport and the community;

(4) to enter into loans, contracts, agreements, and mortgages in any matter connected with any of its corporate purposes and to invest its funds;

(5) to implement the comprehensive plan for the redevelopment of the area within the territorial jurisdiction of the Commission that is adopted by the Village and to assist the Village in updating the comprehensive plan;

(6) to create, develop, and implement redevelopment plans for the territorial jurisdiction of the Commission, which may include commercial and industrial uses;

(7) to prepare, submit, and administer plans, and to participate in projects or intergovernmental agreements, or both, and to create reserves for planning, constructing, reconstructing, acquiring, owning, managing, insuring, leasing, equipping, extending, improving, operating, maintaining, and repairing land and projects that the Commission owns or leases;

(8) to provide for the insurance, including self-insurance, of any property or operations of the Commission or its members, directors, and employees, against any risk or hazard, and to indemnify its members, agents, independent contractors, directors, and employees against any risk or hazard;

(9) to appoint, retain, employ, and set compensation rates for its agents, independent contractors, and employees to carry out its powers and functions; specifically the administrative officer of the Village shall serve as Executive Director of the Commission, and the Comptroller of the Village shall serve as the Financial Officer of the Commission;

(10) to acquire and accept by purchase, lease, gift, or otherwise any property or rights from any persons, any municipal corporation, body politic, or agency of the State or of the federal government or directly from the State or the federal government, useful for the purposes of the Commission, and apply for and accept grants, matching grants, loans, or appropriations from the State or the federal government, or any agency or instrumentality of the State or the federal government to be used for any of the purposes of the Commission, and to enter into any agreement with the State or federal government in relation to those grants, matching grants, loans, or appropriations;

(11) to exercise the right of eminent domain by condemnation proceedings, in the manner provided by the Eminent Domain Act, to acquire private property for the lawful purposes of the Commission or to carry out a comprehensive plan or redevelopment plan;

(12) to fix and collect just, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory charges and rents for the use of Commission property and services. The charges collected may be used to defray the reasonable expenses of the Commission and to pay the principal of and the interest on any bonds issued by the Commission;

(13) to install, repair, construct, reconstruct, or relocate streets, roads, alleys, sidewalks, utilities, and site improvements essential to the preparation of the area within the territorial jurisdiction of the Commission for use in accordance with the redevelopment plan;

(14) to enter into redevelopment agreements with other units of local government relating to sharing taxes and other revenues and sharing, limiting, and transferring land use planning, subdivision, and zoning powers; and

(15) to borrow money for the corporate purposes of the Commission and, in evidence of its obligations to repay the borrowing, issue its negotiable revenue bonds or notes for any of its corporate purposes, including, but not limited to, the following: paying for costs of planning, constructing, reconstructing, acquiring, owning, leasing, equipping, or improving any publicly-owned land within the territorial jurisdiction of the Commission, paying interest and principal on bonds, paying for legal, financial, and administrative consulting costs related to any debt financing, and creating reserves.

(b) Any financial arrangements made by the Commission must expressly benefit the operations in order to keep the Aviation Center a viable and financially stable entity of the Village of Rantoul.

(Source: P.A. 96-328, eff. 8-11-09.)