Senate Bill No. 22
(By Senator Dittmar)
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[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization and then to the Committee on
the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article thirteen-a,
chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the effect
of name changes by public service districts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE
13A. PUBLIC SERVICE DISTRICTS FOR WATER, SEWERAGE AND
GAS SERVICES.
§16-13A-4. Board chairman; members' compensation; procedure;
district name.
The chairman shall preside at all meetings of the board and
may vote as any other members of the board but if he should be
absent from any meeting, the remaining members may select a
temporary chairman and if the member selected as chairman resigns as such or ceases for any reason to be a member of the board, the
board shall select one of its members as chairman to serve until
the next annual organization meeting. Salaries of each of its
board members shall be as follows: For districts with fewer than
six hundred customers, each board member shall receive fifty
dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and thirty
dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total
salary not to exceed nine hundred dollars per annum; for
districts with six hundred customers or more but fewer than two
thousand customers, each board member shall receive one hundred
dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and fifty
dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total
salary not to exceed eighteen hundred dollars per annum; and for
districts with two thousand customers or more each board member
shall receive one hundred dollars per attendance at regular
monthly meetings and fifty dollars per attendance at additional
special meetings, total salary not to exceed three thousand
dollars per annum. The public service district shall certify the
number of customers served to the public service commission
beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-six, and continue each fiscal year thereafter. Board
members may be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary
expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties as provided for by the rules and regulations of the board. The
board shall by resolution determine its own rules of procedure,
fix the time and place of its meetings and the manner in which
special meetings may be called. Public notice of meetings shall
be given in accordance with section three, article nine-a,
chapter six of this code. Emergency meetings may be called as
provided by said section. A majority of the members constituting
the board also constitute a quorum to do business. The members
of the board are not personally liable or responsible for any
obligations of the district or the board but are answerable only
for willful misconduct in the performance of their duties. At
any time prior to the issuance of bonds as hereinafter provided
the board may by resolution change the official or corporate name
of the public service district and such change shall be effective
from and after filing an authenticated copy of such resolution
with the clerk of the county commission of each county in which
the territory embraced within such district or any part thereof
is located. At any time prior to or subsequent to the issuance
of bonds as hereinafter provided the board may by resolution
change the official or corporate name of the public service
district and the change shall be effective from and after filing
an authenticated copy of the resolution with the clerk of the
county commission of each county in which the territory within the district or any part thereof is located. The change of the
official or corporate name of the public service district does
not affect any obligations, indebtness or other liabilities, or
any other rights, assets or other property owned by or used in
the administration of, the public service district. The official
name of any district created under the provisions of this article
may contain the name or names of any city, incorporated town or
other municipal corporation included therein or the name of any
county or counties in which it is located.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to insure that in the
event a public service district undergoes a name change the
impact has no meaningful legal impact.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)
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GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS
On page _____, section four, line _____, by inserting a
period after the word "district" and striking out the remainder
of the sentence.;
On page _____, section four, line _____, after the word
"located." by inserting the following: The change of name shall
be effective when it is approved by an order of the county
commission of the county where the majority of the customers are
located, entered after a public hearing. Notice of this public
hearing shall be given by a Class I legal advertisement at least
ten days prior to the hearing. The public service district shall
also forward a copy of the county commission order to the public
service commission. If there are any outstanding bonds, the
public service district shall also notify the bondholders and the
paying agent by mailing a copy of the commission order to the bondholders listed on the books of the registrar or trustee and
to the paying agent.