Senate Bill No. 574
(By Senators Minard, Bowman and Sharpe)
____________
[Introduced February 14, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Health and Human Resources; and then to the Committee on
Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §19-12A-1a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to transferring the
Weston State Hospital Institutional Farm to the Department of
Health and Human Resources.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §19-12A-1a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 12A. LAND DIVISION.
§19-12A-1a. Farm Management Commission abolished; property
transferred; powers and duties of Commissioner of
Agriculture.
(a) The Farm Management Commission previously established by
this article is hereby abolished. The real and personal property
held by the commission, including all institutional farms and all easements, mineral rights, appurtenances, farm equipment,
agricultural products, inventories and farm facilities, operating
revenue funds for those operations and all employees of the Farm
Management Commission are hereby transferred to the Department of
Agriculture. The Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture
shall have all those powers, duties and responsibilities previously
vested in the Farm Management Commission and the Farm Management
Director pursuant to this article.
(b) Not later than the first day of January, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-five, the Commissioner of the Department of
Agriculture shall report to the Legislature on the optimum use or
disposition of each institutional farm transferred pursuant to this
section. The commissioner shall set forth the objectives of the
agency with respect to the land, the criteria by which the agency
has determined the optimum use or disposition of the property and
determinations as to whether the land shall be used in the
production of food products, the production or development of
natural resources, held for recreational or other specified uses,
or sold, or leased in whole or in part. With respect to each
institutional farm, the commissioner shall report on which
properties are subject to reversionary clauses or other
restrictions in deeds of conveyance which may affect permitted
uses, or proposed sales or leases. With respect to each
institutional farm, the commissioner shall report on projected revenues and expenses from operations. Planned activities and uses
with respect to the land shall be detailed for at least five years
specifically and at least ten years generally and shall include a
cost benefit analysis of options or alternatives for action. In
the case of land managed for production of timber, the commissioner
shall report on projections for timber harvesting on a
sustained-yield basis, income estimates and the years in which
income will be generated. The report shall detail planned actions
to protect the land from erosion, fire, plant and animal pests,
noxious insects, noxious weeds and plant and animal diseases. In
the case of land subject to rights granted by existing contracts,
leases, licenses or easements, the report shall include a
determination as to whether the interest granted should be
continued or withdrawn. In the case of land managed under land
management plans adopted prior to the effective date of this
section, land management plans shall be reviewed and amended as may
be necessary. When appropriate, the commissioner shall consult
with the secretaries of the various departments of state government
and shall request from the secretaries suggestions for land use and
resource development on the land. In the case of land recommended
for sale, lease or transfer, the report shall include the review
and approval of the Director of the West Virginia Development
Office of the proposed use and alternate suggestions for use of any
institutional farm which may be in the public interest.
The report shall include a plan to transfer the Weston state hospital
institutional farm, located at Weston, Lewis County, which shall
include not less than three hundred fifty acres, to the Department
of Health and Human Resources not later than the first day of July,
one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, for use as a behavioral
health center or other related purposes. If the report discloses
that no reversionary clauses or other restrictions in deeds of
conveyance prohibit the proposed use, and that the proposed use is
practicable, the transfer of the Weston state hospital farm to the
Department of Health and Human Resources is specifically
authorized. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection
to the contrary, title to the Weston State Hospital Institutional
Farm, located in Weston, Lewis County, is hereby transferred from
the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Health and Human
Resources, including all buildings thereon: Provided, That the
Department of Agriculture shall retain all oil, gas and mineral
rights, interests and title underlying the surface of the real
property being transferred to the Department of Health and Human
Resources under this subsection.
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources
is authorized to sell, lease, donate or otherwise transfer the
Weston State Hospital Institutional Farm, as well as the grounds of
the former Weston State Hospital, including the improvements and
appurtenances belonging thereto: Provided, That notice of the sale of the real estate at auction shall include the right of the state
to reject any and all bids: Provided, however, That the deed
conveying title to the real estate shall contain a reservation in
it providing that the communications tower, located on the real
estate and owned and maintained by the county commission of Lewis
County, shall remain the property of the Lewis County Commission
and shall remain on the real estate free of any cost or rent and
the county commission of Lewis County shall have an easement for
ingress and egress and for the maintenance of the tower in
perpetuity unless agreed otherwise in writing by the county
commission of Lewis County.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
duties imposed on the Department of Health and Human Resources and
the Division of Corrections to purchase food products pursuant to
section five of this article and to make interdepartmental
transfers pursuant to section six of this article:
Provided, That
purchases shall be made from and transfers made to the Department
of Agriculture.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to invalidate
any action or contractual obligation of the farm management
commission prior to the effective date of this section.
(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, in any case where the farm management commission has
determined by motion adopted prior to the effective date of this article that an institutional farm or part thereof should be
transferred or disposed of, or authorized any formal agreement for
this purpose, whether or not any documents related to the agreement
have been reduced to writing or executed, the commissioner shall
execute all documents and take all necessary actions to implement
the transfer or disposition of the property.
(f) For any land transferred to the public land corporation
for sale, exchange or transfer pursuant to section five of this
article, the farm property shall be offered for sale in both small
parcels of land and as whole farms and shall be sold in the form
which brings the highest price for the total property. For
purposes of this subsection, "small parcels" means parcels of no
more than five acres.
________
(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
transfer of the Weston State Hospital Institutional farm located at
Weston, West Virginia, to the Department of Health and Human
Resources.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
