§ 3630. General powers of the corporation. Except as limited by this
title, the public health law, the mental hygiene law, the social
services law, the education law, the civil practice law and rules, or
any other applicable law or regulation, the corporation shall have
power:

1. to sue and be sued and to participate in actions and proceedings,
whether judicial, administrative, or otherwise;

2. to have a seal and to alter such seal, and to use it by causing it
or a facsimile thereof to be affixed, impressed, or reproduced in any
other manner;

3. to borrow money and issue bonds for any of its corporate purposes
or its projects, or to refund the same, and to provide for the rights of
the holders thereof;

4. to make and alter by-laws for its organization and management and,
subject to agreements with its bondholders, to make and alter rules and
regulations governing the exercise of its powers and the fulfillment of
its purposes under this title;

5. to purchase, receive, take by grant, gift, devise, bequest, or
otherwise, lease, or otherwise acquire, own, hold, improve, employ, use,
and otherwise deal in and with, real or personal property, or any
interest therein, wherever situated;

6. to purchase, take, receive, subscribe for, or otherwise acquire,
own, hold, vote, employ, sell, lend, lease, exchange, transfer, or
otherwise dispose of, mortgage, pledge, use, and otherwise deal in and
with, bonds and other obligations, shares, or other securities or
interests issued by others, whether engaged in similar or different
business, governmental, or other activities;

7. to accept subventions from other persons or any unit of government;

8. to sell, convey, lease, exchange, transfer, or otherwise dispose
of, mortgage or pledge, or create a security interest in, all or any of
its property, or any interest therein, wherever situated, upon such
terms and conditions and in such manner as the corporation shall
determine;

9. to acquire by condemnation pursuant to the provisions of the
eminent domain procedure law any real property within Erie county
required by the corporation to carry out the powers granted by this
title with the approval of both the Erie county legislature and the
county executive;

10. to make capital contributions to other not-for-profit
corporations;

11. to offer participation in the New York state and local employees'
retirement system for all its officers and employees and to establish
and carry out other retirement plans authorized pursuant to the
retirement and social security law, which may be offered to all of its
officers and employees not participating in the New York state and local
employees' retirement system, and to establish and carry out other
incentive and benefit plans, trusts, and provisions for any or all of
its officers and employees, subject to the applicable provisions of
article fourteen of the civil service law;

12. to be a promoter, partner, member, associate, or manager of other
not-for-profit activities or business enterprises or ventures, or, to
the extent permitted in any other jurisdiction, to be an incorporator of
other corporations of any type or kind;

13. to make contracts, give guarantees, and incur liabilities, borrow
money at such rates of interest as the corporation may determine, issue
notes, bonds, and other obligations, and secure any of its obligations
by mortgage or pledge of all or any of its property or any interest
therein, wherever situated;

14. to issue bonds for any corporate purpose or project, to refund the
same, and to provide for the rights of holders thereof;

15. to accept gifts, grants, loans, or contributions of funds or
property or financial or other aid in any form from, and enter into
contracts or other transactions with, the federal government, the state,
or any public corporation or any other source, and to use any such
gifts, grants, loans, or contributions for any of its corporate
purposes;

16. to grant options to renew any lease with respect to any project or
projects and to grant options to buy any project at such price as the
corporation may deem desirable;

17. to lend money, invest and reinvest its funds, and take and hold
real and personal property as security for the payment of funds so lent
or invested;

18. to designate the depositories of its money;

19. to establish its fiscal year;

20. to conduct the activities of the corporation, have offices, and
exercise the powers granted by this title in any jurisdiction within or
without the United States;

21. to appoint such officers, employees, and agents as the corporation
may require for the performance of its duties and to fix and determine
their qualifications, duties, and compensation, subject to the
provisions of the civil service law and any applicable collective
bargaining agreement, and to retain or employ counsel, auditors,
engineers, and private consultants on a contract basis or otherwise for
rendering professional, management, or technical services and advice;

22. to use employees, agents, consultants, and facilities of the
county, paying the county its agreed proportion of the compensation or
costs pursuant to an agreement with the county;

23. to make and adopt plans, surveys, and studies necessary,
convenient, or desirable to the effectuation of the purposes and powers
of the corporation and to prepare recommendations in regard thereto;

24. except as limited by state law or regulation, to fix and collect
rates, rentals, fees, lease payments, and other charges for the services
rendered by it or for the use of the facilities owned, controlled, or
administered by or in the exercise of the powers of the corporation;

25. to enter upon such lands, waters, or premises as in the judgment
of the corporation may be necessary, convenient, or desirable for the
purpose of making surveys, soundings, borings, and examinations to
accomplish any purpose authorized by this title, the corporation being
liable for actual damage done;

26. the corporation may covenant and consent that the interest on any
of its bonds or notes issued pursuant to this title shall be includable,
under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the
"code") or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue law of the
United States, in gross income of the holders of the bonds or notes to
the same extent and in the same manner that the interest on bills,
bonds, notes, or other obligations of the United States is includable in
the gross income of the holders thereof under the code or any such
subsequent law;

27. to make, adopt, amend, enforce, and repeal rules for its
governance and internal management and personnel practices, subject to
article fourteen of the civil service law, where applicable;

28. to insure or otherwise to provide for the insurance of the
corporation's property or operations and also contract against such
other risks as the corporation may deem advisable, including the
interest rate risk for obligations it issues bearing interest at a
floating or otherwise adjustable rate which prevents the actual rate
over the term of the debt from being ascertained at the date of its
incurrence, and including the power to make any payments with respect
thereto; and

29. to do all things necessary, convenient, or desirable, including
ancillary and incidental activities, to carry out its purposes and for
the exercise of the powers granted in this title.