Marvin Mandel, Governor                        1199

other members of the Commission relating to construction and main-
tenance [has been formulated by the Commission]. He shall have
the sole authority to select all consulting engineers to be employed
by the Commission. Once general policy is established in any field
[where such authority is vested in the Commission], it shall be the
duty of the Director to perform and fulfill such policy. The Director
may, from time to time, call upon the other members of the Commis-
sion individually or jointly for counsel and advice.

The Commission meeting jointly shall [formulate] advise the
Director on matters of policy relating to location, type, design, con-
struction and maintenance of the secondary system of highways. It
shall be the duty of the member of the Commission from the area
where the secondary road under consideration is located to inform
the other members of the Commission of local conditions which would
affect the location, design, construction and maintenance of such
secondary highway. The Commission shall recommend any overall
highway improvement program to the [executive and legislative
branches of the State] Director and to the Secretary of Transporta-
tion. The Commission meeting jointly should also make recommen-
dations, from time to time, to the [Governor and the legislature]
Director and the Secretary of Transportation relating to highway
financing. The Chairman of the Commission shall also determine
the general working conditions and salary recommendations relating
to the Commission's employees. [Nothing in this section shall be
deemed to deprive the Commission of any of its powers and duties
conferred elsewhere in this article except as specifically set forth in
this section, provided, however, when the Commission has acted pur-
suant to authority vested in it by this article, the Director of High-
ways is hereby authorized to perform and to bring to conclusion the
Commission action, including the execution of contracts, agreements
and other documents duly authorized by the Commission.]

22A.

(a)    The [State Roads Commission] Department of Transporta-
tion, in addition to its other duties and powers provided by law, and
notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in Articles 73B, 77,
and 88B of the Annotated Code of Maryland or any other statute, is
authorized to purchase real property that it deems will be necessary
for future improvement of the State [highway] transportation sys-
tem by the following method:

(b)    The [Director of Highways, with the approval of the State
Roads Commission] Secretary of Transportation may enter into an
agreement or agreements, singly or jointly, with the trustees of the
Employees' Retirement System of the State of Maryland, the Teach-
ers' Retirement System of the State of Maryland or the State Police
Retirement System of the State of Maryland for the acquisition of
real property that the [State Roads Commission] Department of
Transportation deems will be necessary for the future improvement
of the State [roads] transportation system. Such agreements shall
provide that the title to such property to be so acquired to be taken
in the name of the [State Roads Commission] Department of Trans-
portation of Maryland to the use of the State of Maryland, and for
the simultaneous execution of a first mortgage by the [State Roads
Commission] Department of Transportation; acting for the State
of Maryland, for the full amount of the acquisition price for such