Senate Bill No. 393
(By Senator Deem, By Request)
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[Introduced March 20, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nine-b, relating to providing for conducting an
investigation by an unbiased investigator in lieu of a
hearing or meeting when citizens object to proposed actions
of a public service district; minimum qualifications and age
requirements for an investigator; factors to be considered
by the investigator; requiring the investigator to issue a
written report; and providing for a hearing to be held
before the county commission wherein a public service
district is located whose action or proposed action is the
subject of controversy in the event a party disagrees with
the recommended decision of an investigator.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine- b, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13A. PUBLIC SERVICE DISTRICTS FOR WATER, SEWERAGE AND
GAS SERVICES.
§16-13A-9b. Investigations of citizens' complaints or objections
concerning actions or proposed actions by public
service districts.
In the event of an objection or complaint by a resident
citizen of a public service district in relation to any action or
proposed action by the public service district, an unbiased,
neutral and detached, investigator shall be appointed by the
local governing body to investigate the objection or complaint in
order to determine the merit or merits thereof. No investigator
appointed hereunder, shall have any pecuniary or other
significant nonpecuniary interest in the action or proposed
action that is being investigated. Any investigator may not be
a resident of the public service district, whose action or
proposed action is under investigation, and he or she shall be
twenty-five years of age or more, and shall further have
graduated from an accredited institution of higher education with the minimum of an undergraduate degree.
An investigator appointed hereunder shall weigh the
benefits in contrast to the detriments involved in any matter
being investigated hereunder. He or she shall, additionally,
take into consideration any adverse economic impact or other
adverse consequences that may be caused by the action or proposed
action under investigation, as well as the number of persons and
size of the geographical area, if applicable, that is or will be
effected.
No later than sixty days after the appointment of the
investigator, he or she shall issue a brief written recommended
decision regarding whether the action should be modified or
reversed or if the proposed action
should be modified or
prohibited. The decision shall enumerate all significant factors
and considerations that led to the conclusions reached therein.
In the event any party to an action or proposed action that
was investigated disagrees with the recommended decision, he or
she may request a hearing before the county commission wherein
the public service district is located. Upon the request, a
hearing shall be conducted in a timely manner: Provided, That
any hearing conducted in accordance with this section shall be
conducted within thirty days of the request thereof, unless the
parties agree otherwise or, good cause exists to continue the hearing.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that an
investigation be conducted by an unbiased investigator when a
citizen lodges a complaint or objection to an action or proposed
action by a public service district.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.