(a) Each authority when created, and the members thereof, shall constitute a public corporation and, as such, shall have perpetual succession, may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, and have and use a common seal.
(b) The exercise of the powers and performance of duties provided for in this chapter by each authority and its officers, agents, and employees are declared to be public and governmental functions, exercised for a public purpose and matters of public necessity, conferring upon each authority governmental immunity from suit in tort.