17 - Exchange or sale of railroad stock and bonds.
§ 17. Exchange or sale of railroad stock and bonds. The railroad commissioners or officers of a municipal corporation, having the lawful charge and control of any railroad stock or bonds, for or in payment of which the bonds of such municipal corporation have been lawfully issued in aid of such railroad corporation, may exchange the stock or bonds of such railroad corporation for and in payment of such bonds, or the new substituted bonds of such municipal corporation, when such exchange can be made for not less than the par value of the stocks or bonds so held by them. If they can not make such exchange they may sell such stocks or bonds at not less than par; but they may, on the application and with the approval of the governing board of the municipal corporation owning such stock or bonds, exchange, sell or dispose of such stock or bonds, at the best price and upon the best terms obtainable, for the municipal corporation they represent, and shall execute to the purchaser the necessary transfers therefor. All moneys received for any stock or bonds shall only be applied to the payment and extinguishment of the bonds of the municipal corporation, lawfully issued in aid of any such railroad, or substituted therefor; except that if the bonds so issued or substituted have all been paid, or the moneys so realized shall be more than sufficient to pay them in full, and all the costs and expenses of the sale, such proceeds or balance thereof shall be paid by the officers making the sale, to the supervisor of the town, or the treasurer of the municipal corporation, and applied to such lawful uses as the governing board of the municipal corporation, entitled to the same, may direct. The provisions of this section shall apply to all such commissioners or officers of a municipal corporation elected or appointed or acting under the provisions of any special act, and the authority hereby conferred shall not be limited by the provisions of any such special act.