Sec. 7. 30-A MRSA §2322, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

§2322. Incorporation; powers

Regional planning commissions shall must be incorporated under Title 13, chapter 81, and possess all the powers of a corporation organized without capital stock, except as limited by this article. A regional planning commission may exercise those powers enumerated in section 2313 upon adoption of an authorizing resolution by the commission's governing body.

Sec. 8. 30-A MRSA §2324, last ¶, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 737, Pt. A, §2 and Pt. C, §106 and amended by PL 1989, c. 6; c. 9, §2; and c. 104, Pt. C, §§8 and 10, is further amended to read:

The minutes of the proceedings of the commission shall must be filed in the commission's office. These minutes are a public record. Copies shall be provided to the municipal officers and planning board of each member municipality. Copies of the minutes must be posted on a publicly accessible site on the Internet or provided to the municipal officers and the planning board of each member municipality upon request.

SUMMARY

This bill addresses regional cooperation issues. It makes real or personal property used for providing regional services to 2 or more municipalities exempt from property taxation. It allows municipalities to enter into cooperative arrangements for transit, solid waste, household hazardous waste, economic development and code enforcement activities and joint purchasing and clarifies that these endeavors are cooperative regional government activities. The bill also clarifies that staff providing joint services are municipal officials. It grants to regional planning commissions the powers of a regional council. In addition, it requires the minutes of commission meetings to be provided on request or posted on a website, rather than mailed to every member of the planning board and all municipal officials, in order to save on printing and mailing costs.