§ 10-201. Constitutional amendment.

There is hereby created a body corporate and politic to be known as the "Savannah Port Authority" which shall be deemed to be an instrumentality of the State of Georgia and a public corporation, its scope and jurisdiction to be limited to the territory embraced by Chatham County and the City of Savannah.

The Authority shall consist of nineteen members who shall serve for periods of not less than one nor more than five years as provided by law and who shall be eligible for reappointment. Said Authority shall elect a chairman, and a vice-chairman and a secretary-treasurer. The secretary-treasurer shall not be required to be a member of the Authority. Said members shall be appointed as provided by law and shall have such powers and duties as may be prescribed by the General Assembly and shall receive such additional powers as may be delegated to said Authority by the County of Chatham or the City of Savannah.

All lands the title to which is vested in said Authority, and the improvements thereon, shall be exempt from State and local taxation. Title to all lands, acquired by the statutory body named "Savannah Port Authority" and renamed "Savannah District Authority," owned by said statutory Authority at the time of its elevation to constitutional status under the name of "Savannah District Authority," is confirmed and is vested in said constitutional Authority hereby renamed "Savannah Port Authority," which Authority is hereby recognized and declared to be one and the same continuing body corporate and politic as the earlier statutory Authority of like name.

Said Authority is created for the purpose of developing industrial growth and expansion and for the purpose of making long range plans for the coordination of commerce, industry and traffic within its territorial limits and shall not be empowered or authorized in any manner to create a debt as against the State of Georgia, the County of Chatham or the City of Savannah, and shall only exercise such powers as the General Assembly may from time to time confer. Said Authority is created for the purpose of promoting for the public good industrial growth and expansion and planning as aforesaid without profit and any funds realized by said Authority shall be continually and constantly expended for the development of industry and commerce and long range planning of traffic and facilities for the purpose of coordinating the same as set forth in the Act of the General Assembly creating said Authority. All acts of the persons now sitting, and who have sat, as members of the Savannah District Authority, and acts of those members holding over under the Act of 1961 (Ga. L. 1961, p. 2958), are hereby affirmed and ratified.

(1965 Ga. Laws, page 675, § 1)