1. The governor's council on the Hudson river valley is hereby recreated within the executive department to be the Hudson river valley greenway communities council. The council shall consist of a total of twenty-seven voting members. The governor shall appoint two members, one of whom shall be the chairperson. The legislative body of each town, city or village other than the city of New York which is adjacent to the Hudson river may forward the names of a recommended council appointee to the chief elected official of the county in which it is incorporated. One voting member shall be appointed from among the names forwarded by the towns, cities and villages by the chief elected official of each of the ten counties of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Columbia, Rensselaer, Albany, Greene, Ulster, Orange and Rockland, and two voting members shall be appointed by the mayor of the city of New York after consultation with the presidents of the boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan. Two voting members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate, one of whom must reside in the countryside and two voting members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly, one of whom must reside in the countryside. One voting member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate and one voting member shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly. Such appointed legislative representatives may designate a duly authorized representative to attend council meetings and to act in their place. The following seven members shall be ex officio members: the commissioner, the commissioner of parks, recreation and historic preservation, the secretary of state and the commissioners of general services, transportation, agriculture and markets and economic development or their designated representatives who, to the extent practicable, shall be residents of the Hudson valley. All persons responsible for appointing members of the council shall be mindful of the importance of assuring adequate representation on the council of the interests of various municipal entities, conservationists, business owners and operators, persons engaged in agricultural pursuits, minorities and educators. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subdivision, in the event that there is no vacancy in the membership of the council and there is no member of the council who is a member of an organized sporting association, club or society, the membership of the council shall be increased to twenty-eight voting members. The twenty-eighth voting member shall be a representative of the organized sporting community and shall be selected from the population of the Hudson river valley by a vote of the council. In the event of a vacancy occurring in the office of any member, such vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. The members of the council shall serve without compensation, except that members shall be allowed their necessary and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties under this article. Any person other than an ex officio member who serves as a member of the council, shall not serve as a member of the conservancy.

2. The council shall meet at least once every two months and shall encourage attendance at such meetings of representatives from local governments in the greenway and other interested parties. Copies of the minutes of each meeting with the date of the next scheduled meeting shall be made available to interested parties at their request.

3. Every state agency and public corporation having jurisdiction of land or water within the greenway or of programs relating to the purposes and goals of this article shall, to the fullest extent practicable, offer full cooperation and assistance to the council in carrying out the provisions of this article.

4. Every local agency with programs relating to the greenway may offer assistance to the council in carrying out the provisions of this article.