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Not blessed with easily accessible deep-water harbors, North Carolina traditionally conducted much commerce through neighboring states. By the early twentieth century, there was a general opinion that the state's economic development was being retarded by unfavorable freight rates and the lack of seaports that could handle exports and imports. In the early 1920s Governor Cameron Morrison, seeing the relationship between growth of seaports and development of the state's inland sections, strongly supported state aid for port and harbor development. In 1923, he was instrumental in the establishment of the State Ship and Water Transportation Commission. Its purpose was to investigate the feasibility of establishing a water transportation system and facilities including docks, wharves, and terminals. As a result of that study the commission submitted a favorable report to the governor and Council of State. The commission was then superseded in 1924 by the Port Commission, which was charged with establishing ports for oceangoing ships. This was contingent, however, upon passage of a bond referendum for $8.7 million. That program was defeated when put to a vote in a statewide referendum in November. A state-sponsored program of port development would not be revived until 1945 when the General Assembly established the North Carolina State Ports Authority (SPA). In the meantime, the municipalities of Wilmington and Morehead City had begun improvement of their ports under local acts. Approved by the General Assembly, the Morehead City Port Commission was created in 1933 and the Wilmington Port Commission in 1935. The primary purpose of a statewide ports authority was to improve harbors and ports at Wilmington, Morehead City, Southport and other places in order to increase water-borne commerce, both foreign and domestic. The authority was empowered to utilize whatever watercraft, terminal railroads, highways, and bridges were essential for those operations. To achieve these purposes, the SPA could employ a staff and was given certain corporate powers, including the authority to acquire and dispose of property, to apply for and accept loans, and to issue bonds. It was also given jurisdiction over waters and shores of these harbors and seaports and over the tributary streams flowing into them. Initially the board consisted of seven members appointed by the governor in overlapping terms of six years. It was composed of residents of Carteret, New Hanover, and Brunswick counties and charged with electing a chairman and vice chairman. In 1949 the General Assembly enlarged the board to nine members, including the director of the Department of Conservation and Development as an ex officio member. By 1953 the General Assembly had eliminated that position on the board, restored the board to seven members, and empowered it to appoint the director of the authority. The board member's terms were also reduced to four years, thus allowing each governor to appoint a full board when he entered office. Terminal facilities at the ports of Wilmington and Morehead City, later enlarged, were opened for use in 1952. The previous year the Morehead City Port Commission had transferred to the SPA all its property and functions. There were no state-owned docks at Southport, but legislation in 1953 permitted the authority to develop such facilities, including those at inland ports should there be a recognized need in the future. By the end of the decade the two existing ports had developed substantially--Wilmington as a general cargo port and Morehead City as a bulk cargo port. The General Assembly of 1959 made the SPA's acquisition of property subject to prior review by the governor and the Council of State. In 1961 the legislature increased the board's membership to nine and restored the original legislation calling for overlapping terms of six years. The act also specified that members be from the state at large and be selected in a manner that fairly represented each section, including its agricultural, industrial, and business interests. During the decade of the 1970s the SPA was further modified by a series of complex state agency mergers and reorganizations. In 1971 it was transferred to the Department of Transportation and Highway Safety and in 1975 to the newly named and reorganized Department of Transportation (DOT). Though the SPA maintained its independence and previous statutory functions, it was required to report activities to the governor through the secretary of the DOT. The executive director of the ports authority was to be appointed by the SPA upon recommendation of the secretary of the DOT, with approval of the governor. The General Assembly of 1977 transferred the SPA to the Department of Commerce, empowering the secretary of that department to appoint, dismiss, and set salaries of the SPA's employees. The governor was authorized to appoint a chairman and vice-chairman of the SPA from among the board's membership. In 1979 the legislature transferred the SPA's railway equipment and operations to the newly created North Carolina Ports Railway Commission. The General Assembly of 1981 further altered the SPA's original statutory powers, requiring that the Advisory Budget Commission approve the authority's sale or delivery of bonds. Subsequently, the legislature required that such bonds first be approved by the governor. Under the Department of Commerce, the board of the SPA underwent several changes by legislative decree. The prevailing pattern called for seven appointees by the governor for terms of six years, with additional appointments made by the General Assembly for terms of two years. The General Assembly of 1983, however, voted to make four appointments biennially, two recommended by the president of the Senate and two by the speaker of the House. In 1989 the legislature authorized the SPA's board to appoint an executive director with power to manage personnel independent of the State Personnel System. The governor's appointees to the board would now include the Secretary of Commerce who served by virtue of his office. The governor would continue to appoint the chairman and vice chairman from among the board's membership, while the board itself appointed a secretary and treasurer. In a separate and later act, the 1989 legislature further staggered the terms served by members of the board and prohibited the governor and General Assembly from removing members without cause.: The legislature of 1989 changed the name of the Department of Commerce to the Department of Economic and Community Development. It was renamed the Department of Commerce, effective 1 January 1993. The General Assembly of 1991 stipulated that the president pro tempore, rather than the president of the Senate, make or recommend appointments to various commissions and bodies--including the State Ports Authority. REFERENCES: P.L., 1923, c. 94. P.L., 1924 [Extra sess.], c. 33. Public Local and Private Laws, 1933, c. 75. Public Local and Private Laws, 1935, c. 390. S.L., 1945, c. 1097. S.L., 1947, c. 927. S.L., 1949, c. 892. S.L., 1951, c. 776. S.L., 1953, c. 191. S.L., 1955, c. 727. S.L., 1959, cc. 446, 523. S.L., 1961, c. 242. S.L., 1965, c. 1074. S.L., 1971, c. 864, s. 13(12). S.L., 1973, c. 507. S.L., 1975, c. 716. S.L., 1977, cc. 65; 198, ss. 1, 8; 802, s. 50.45. S.L., 1979, c. 159, s. 1. S.L., 1981, cc. 856; 1181; 1191, ss. 69-71. S.L., 1983, c. 717, s. 84. S.L., 1989, cc. 273, 484, 751, 1072. S.L., 1991, cc. 739, 959. G.S. 143B-452 through 143B-467 [1992]. Landon, Charles E. THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE PORTS AUTHORITY. Durham: Duke University Press, 1963. |
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