Section 30 Turnpike advisory board to the authority
Section 30. (a) There shall be a turnpike advisory board to the authority to consist of nine members, two of whom shall be appointed by the governor and who shall be residents of a municipality in the turnpike corridor, one of whom shall be appointed by the commissioner of the division of capital asset management and maintenance, one of whom shall be appointed by the Massachusetts Audubon Society who shall be a resident of a municipality within the turnpike corridor, one of whom shall be appointed by the Massachusetts Association of Planning Directors who shall be a resident of a municipality within the turnpike corridor, four of whom shall be appointed by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, one of which shall be a resident of a municipality within the turnpike corridor from the New York state border east to the junction of interchange 5, one of which shall be a resident of a municipality within the turnpike corridor from the junction of interchange 5 west to the junction of interchange 11A and one of which shall be resident of a municipality within the turnpike corridor from the junction of interchange 11A east to the junction of interchange 14. Each member of the turnpike advisory board shall have one vote. A majority of members shall constitute a quorum and the advisory board may act by such majority vote represented in the quorum.
(b) For the conduct of its business, the turnpike advisory board shall adopt and may revise and amend by-laws. The advisory board shall convene its first meeting on or before March thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-seven and shall thereafter convene regular meetings in accordance with its by-laws. The advisory shall annually elect a chairperson and vice chairperson and any other officers that the advisory board shall determine. Each member of the board shall serve for a term of two years and shall be eligible for reappointment. In the event of a vacancy, a successor shall be named by the person or organization who originally appointed the vacated member and such successor shall serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. Each member of said advisory board shall serve without compensation but may be reimbursed, as an expense of said advisory board, for all reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of its duties as approved by the advisory board.
(c) The purposes of the turnpike advisory board shall be to review and prepare comments on all documents submitted to it pursuant to section twenty-nine and to make recommendations to the authority within thirty days of receipt of such documents. The advisory board may hold public hearings on all matters before it.
(d) The turnpike advisory board may incur expenses, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars annually for expenditures authorized under paragraph (b) and for personnel and office expenses. Such expenses shall be paid by the authority in the current fiscal year from its operating budget and, for each year thereafter, shall be provided for in the current expense budgets of the turnpike.