H. B. 3149
(By Delegates Overington, Blair, Duke,
J. Miller and Lawrence)
[Introduced January 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §16-13A-3 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to changing the board members of
public service districts terms from six years to three years.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §16-13A-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted 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 extend beyond a
maximum of forty years, but provisions may be included therein 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 vested in
and exercised by a public service board consisting of not less than
three members, who shall 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 Public
Health. Board members shall 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 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 board member has resigned from
the district board. 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
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 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 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 three
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 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 three 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change the term of board
members of public service districts from six years to three years.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.