Senate Bill No. 576
(By Senator Unger)
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[Introduced February 15, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §16-13A-3 and §16-13A-7 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to public
service districts; providing that members serve at the will
and pleasure of the governing body that appoints them; and
requiring public service districts to obtain the support of
the county commission for projects that require a certificate
of public convenience and necessity before proceeding with the
project.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-13A-3 and §16-13A-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13A. PUBLIC SERVICE DISTRICTS.
§16-13A-3. District to be a public corporation and political
subdivision; powers thereof; public service boards.
From and after the date of the adoption of the order creating any public service district, it is a public corporation and
political subdivision of the state, but without any power to levy
or collect ad valorem taxes. Each district may acquire, own and
hold property, both real and personal, in its corporate name, and
may sue, may be sued, may adopt an official seal and may enter into
contracts necessary or incidental to its purposes, including
contracts with any city, incorporated town or other municipal
corporation located within or without its boundaries for furnishing
wholesale supply of water for the distribution system of the city,
town or other municipal corporation, or for furnishing stormwater
services for the city, town or other municipal corporation, and
contract for the operation, maintenance, servicing, repair and
extension of any properties owned by it or for the operation and
improvement or extension by the district of all or any part of the
existing municipally owned public service properties of any city,
incorporated town or other municipal corporation included within
the district:
Provided, That no contract
shall may extend beyond
a maximum of forty years, but provisions may be included
therein in
the contract for a renewal or successive renewals
thereof and shall
conform to and comply with the rights of the holders of any
outstanding bonds issued by the municipalities for the public
service properties.
The powers of each public service district
shall be are vested
in and exercised by a public service board consisting of not less
than three members, who
shall are required to be persons residing within the district, who possess certain educational, business or
work experience which will be conducive to operating a public
service district. Each board member shall, within six months of
taking office, successfully complete the training program to be
established and administered by the Public Service Commission in
conjunction with the Division of Environmental Protection and the
Bureau
of for Public Health. Board members
shall may not be or
become pecuniarily interested, directly or indirectly, in the
proceeds of any contract or service, or in furnishing any supplies
or materials to the district nor
shall may a former board member be
hired by the district in any capacity within a minimum of twelve
months after board member's term has expired or
such the board
member has resigned from the district board.
Notwithstanding
section three-a of this article, members serve at the will and
pleasure of the county commission or other governing body that
appoints them. The members shall be appointed in the following
manner:
Each city, incorporated town or other municipal corporation
having a population of more than three thousand but less than
eighteen thousand is entitled to appoint one member of the board,
and each city, incorporated town or other municipal corporation
having a population in excess of eighteen thousand
shall be is
entitled to appoint one additional member of the board for each
additional eighteen thousand population. The members of the board
representing
such cities, incorporated towns or other municipal corporations
shall are required to be residents thereof and shall
be appointed by a resolution of the governing bodies thereof and
upon the filing of a certified copy or copies of the resolution or
resolutions in the office of the clerk of the county commission
which entered the order creating the district, the persons so
appointed become members of the board without any further act or
proceedings. If the number of members of the board so appointed by
the governing bodies of cities, incorporated towns or other
municipal corporations included in the district equals or exceeds
three, then no further members
shall may be appointed to the board
and the members so appointed are the board of the district except
in cases of merger or consolidation where the number of board
members may equal five.
If no city, incorporated town or other municipal corporation
having a population of more than three thousand is included within
the district, then the county commission which entered the order
creating the district shall appoint three members of the board, who
are persons residing within the district and residing within the
State of West Virginia, which three members become members of the
board of the district without any further act or proceedings except
in cases of merger or consolidation where the number of board
members may equal five.
If the number of members of the board appointed by the
governing bodies of cities, incorporated towns or other municipal
corporations included within the district is less than three, then the county commission which entered the order creating the district
shall appoint such additional member or members of the board, who
are persons residing within the district, as is necessary to make
the number of members of the board equal three except in cases of
merger or consolidation where the number of board members may equal
five, and the member or members appointed by the governing bodies
of the cities, incorporated towns or other municipal corporations
included within the district and the additional member or members
appointed by the county commission as aforesaid, are the board of
the district. A person may serve as a member of the board in one
or more public service districts.
The population of any city, incorporated town or other
municipal corporation, for the purpose of determining the number of
members of the board, if any, to be appointed by the governing body
or bodies thereof, is the population stated for such city,
incorporated town or other municipal corporation in the last
official federal census.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary,
whenever a district is consolidated or merged pursuant to section
two of this article, the terms of office of the existing board
members
shall end on the effective date of the merger or
consolidation. The county commission shall appoint a new board
according to rules promulgated by the Public Service Commission.
Whenever districts are consolidated or merged no provision of this
code prohibits the expansion of membership on the new board to five.
The respective terms of office of the members of the first
board shall be fixed by the county commission and shall be as
equally divided as may be, that is approximately one third of the
members for a term of two years, a like number for a term of four
years, the term of the remaining member or members for six years,
from the first day of the month during which the appointments are
made. The first members of the board appointed as aforesaid shall
meet at the office of the clerk of the county commission which
entered the order creating the district as soon as practicable
after the appointments and shall qualify by taking an oath of
office:
Provided, That any member or members of the board may be
removed from their respective office
by action of the governing
body that appointed the member, or as provided in section three-a
of this article.
Any vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term within
thirty days, otherwise successor members of the board shall be
appointed for terms of six years and the terms of office shall
continue until successors have been appointed and qualified. All
successor members shall be appointed in the same manner as the
member succeeded was appointed. The district shall provide to the
Public Service Commission, within thirty days of the appointment,
the following information: The new board member's name, home
address, home and office phone numbers, date of appointment, length
of term, who the new member replaces and if the new appointee has previously served on the board. The Public Service Commission
shall notify each new board member of the legal obligation to
attend training as prescribed in this section.
The board shall organize within thirty days following the
first appointments and annually thereafter at its first meeting
after January 1, of each year by selecting one of its members to
serve as chair and by appointing a secretary and a treasurer who
need not be members of the board. The secretary shall keep a
record of all proceedings of the board which shall be available for
inspection as other public records. Duplicate records shall be
filed with the county commission and shall include the minutes of
all board meetings. The treasurer is lawful custodian of all funds
of the public service district and shall pay same out on orders
authorized or approved by the board. The secretary and treasurer
shall perform other duties appertaining to the affairs of the
district and shall receive salaries as shall be prescribed by the
board. The treasurer shall furnish bond in an amount to be fixed
by the board for the use and benefit of the district.
The members of the board, and the chair, secretary and
treasurer thereof, shall make available to the county commission,
at all times, all of its books and records pertaining to the
district's operation, finances and affairs, for inspection and
audit. The board shall meet at least monthly.
§16-13A-7. Acquisition and operation of district properties;
support required by county commission.
(a) The board of such the districts shall have the supervision
and control of all public service properties acquired or
constructed by the district, and shall have the power and it shall
be its duty, to maintain, operate, extend and improve the same,
including, but not limited to, those activities necessary to comply
with all federal and state requirements, including water quality
improvement activities. All contracts involving the expenditure by
the district of more than $15,000 for construction work or for the
purchase of equipment and improvements, extensions or replacements,
shall be entered into only after notice inviting bids shall have
been published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with
the provision of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code.
and The publication area for such publication shall be the
advertisement is as specified in section two of this article in the
county or counties in which the district is located. The
publication shall not be less than advertisement shall be publish
at least ten days prior to the making of any such the contract. To
the extent allowed by law, in-state contractors shall be given
first priority in awarding public service district contracts. It
shall be the duty of The board to shall ensure that local in-state
labor shall be utilized is used to the greatest extent possible
when hiring laborers for public service district construction or
maintenance repair jobs. It shall further be the duty of The board
to shall encourage contractors to use American made products in
their its construction, to the extent possible. Any Obligations incurred of any kind or character shall not in any event constitute
or be deemed are not an indebtedness within the meaning of any of
the provisions or limitations of the Constitution, but all such
obligations shall be payable solely and only out of revenues
derived from the operation of the public service properties of the
district or from proceeds of bonds issued as hereinafter provided
in this article. No A continuing contract for the purchase of
materials or supplies or for furnishing the district with
electrical energy or power shall may not be entered into for a
longer period than fifteen years.
(b) When the board decides to proceed with a water or sewer
project that requires a certificate of public convenience and
necessity under section eleven, article two, chapter twenty-four of
this code, the board shall seek a resolution supporting the project
from the county commission in the county in which the majority of
the district's current customers reside or will reside. The board
may not proceed with the project unless the county commission
adopts a resolution supporting the project, unless the project is
necessary to satisfy an order of a state or federal agency or
court.
(c) The provisions of subsection (b) of this section do not
affect the existing authority of the Public Service Commission to
regulate public utilities.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require public service
districts to obtain the support of the county commission for
projects that require a certificate of public convenience and
necessity before proceeding with the project.
It also provides
that members serve at the will and pleasure of the governing body
that appoints them.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.