(a) The powers of the Authority shall be exercised by a Governing Board consisting of the members of the Authority acting as a board. The Board shall meet and organize and, as soon as practicable, shall elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman from among its members, and appoint an Executive Director of the Authority who shall be authorized to attend all meetings of the Board but shall not be entitled to vote.
(b) Five members of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of organizing the Authority and conducting the business thereof and for all other purposes, and all action shall be taken by a vote of the majority.
(c) The Board may appoint an Executive Director of the Authority, and such officers, agents, or employees, permanent or temporary, and by contract or otherwise may employ such consulting engineers, superintendents, managers, fiscal, legal and other technical experts, as it may deem necessary, and shall determine their qualifications, duties, tenure and compensation without regard to chapter 25 of Title 3. The bylaws of the Authority may provide for the delegation to its Executive Director or its other officers, agents or employees of such of the powers and duties of the Authority as the Board may deem proper.
(d) The Executive Director shall be appointed by the Board exclusively upon the basis of merit as determined by technical training, skill, experience, and other qualifications best suited to carrying out the purposes of the Authority. The Executive Director shall be removable by the Board but only for cause and after notice and an opportunity to be heard.
(e) All property, personnel, records, contracts, leases, rights, franchises and unexpended balances of appropriations and funds of the Commissioner of Public Works or the Department of Public Works, relating to water supply, including the distribution system, are hereby transferred to the Authority, effective at such time as may be determined by statute; Provided, That any personnel so transferred who are found to be in excess of the personnel required for the efficient administration of the functions of the Authority, shall be retransferred under existing law to other positions in the Government of the Virgin Islands.
(f) The transfer to the Authority of all personnel of the Virgin Islands Corporation employed in connection with its water and power supply (including water distillation) and distribution functions is hereby authorized in the event that the Authority shall acquire, in accordance with section 105(a)(6) of this title, the Electric Power and Water Distillation Systems of the Virgin Islands Corporation; provided, that any personnel so transferred who are found to be in excess of the personnel required for the efficient administration of the functions of the Authority shall be retransferred to other positions in the Government of the United States Virgin Islands.
(g) Any employee of the Government of the Virgin Islands or of the Virgin Islands Corporation transferred to and retained by the Authority pursuant to subsections (e) and (f) of this section shall be credited by the Authority with the amount of accumulated and current accrued annual leave to which he is entitled under local or federal law, as the case may be, and for which leave such employee has not received lump-sum payment.
(h) The Board shall credit employees transferred pursuant to the provisions of subsection (e) of this section with all accumulated sick leave, and shall provide such other benefits equivalent to other employees of the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, but in no case shall transferred employees receive less benefits than they are receiving as employees of the Government of the Virgin Islands.
(i) No employee transferred pursuant to subsections (e) and (f) of this section shall be reduced in pay.