8145

STREETS AND HIGHWAYS CODE
SECTION 8145




8145.  The commission has all of the following powers:
   (a) To sue and be sued in its own name.
   (b) To adopt a seal.
   (c) To lay out, establish, construct, and maintain projects for
separation of grade by underpass, overpass, or tunnel, or any
combination thereof, over or under one or more city streets, county
roads or highways, state highways, railroads, street railroads, or
other intersecting means of transportation, or any combination
thereof, within the district and, for this purpose, to acquire by
purchase, gift, devise, condemnation, or otherwise, and pay for and
hold real and personal property and rights of way within the
district. As to any project that would involve a state highway, the
commission shall obtain the approval of the department as to the
plans, and the project shall be constructed pursuant to an agreement
between the commission and the department, as may be provided in the
agreement. As to any project that would involve a railroad or street
railroad, the district shall be governed by Chapter 6 (commencing
with Section 1201) of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities
Code and by any other applicable provisions of law; and for the
purposes and within the meaning of Chapter 6 (commencing with Section
1201) of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, and for
those purposes and meaning only, a "separation-of-grade district" is
a "political subdivision" and the "commission" of a
separation-of-grade district is the "legislative body" of a political
subdivision. For the purposes of Chapter 10 (commencing with Section
2450) of Division 3, a separation-of-grade district is a "local
agency" and the commission of a separation-of-grade district is the
"legislative body" of a local agency.
   (d) To enter into an agreement with any city or county to provide
for the relocation, redesign, or improvement of any street in the
city or county directly affected by, or that is an integral part of,
a separation-of-grade project. The district may expend funds pursuant
to such an agreement.
   (e) To remove an obstacle to traffic flow that otherwise would
require constructing a separation of grade.
   (f) To exercise the power of eminent domain to the full extent
necessary to carry out this part.
   (g) To make and accept all contracts, deeds, releases, and
documents of any kind that are necessary or proper to the exercise of
any of the powers of the district.
   (h) To direct the payment of all lawful claims and demands against
the district.
   (i) To levy and collect taxes as provided.
   (j) To borrow for the purpose of defraying general administrative
and preliminary engineering expenses of the district prior to the
time the money to be raised by the first tax levy for the district
will be available, and to evidence that borrowing by nonnegotiable
notes bearing interest at a rate to be fixed by the commission. The
notes shall be signed by the president, and countersigned by the
secretary, of the commission. The notes shall be payable from the
first tax levy made by the district, and that tax levy shall contain
a sum sufficient to provide for the payment of the notes and the
interest on those notes.
   (k) To issue bonds as provided and to provide for their payment.
   (l) To employ all necessary engineers, surveyors, agents, and
workers to do the work on, or in connection with, the project or
projects in the district, and to contract for engineering services
with any city within the district or with the county.
   (m) To do any and all things necessary or proper for the complete
exercise of its powers and the accomplishment of the purpose for
which it was formed.