ENGROSSED

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR

Senate Bill No. 244

(By Senators Dittmar and Craigo)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported February 9, 1995.]

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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 changing the name of public service districts; authorizing name changes prior to or subsequent to the issuance of revenue bonds; requiring the filing of the name change resolution with clerks of county commissions; when notice of name change to be mailed to other affected parties; and providing that a name change has no impact upon legal obligations or authority of 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 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 section three, article nine-a, chapter six of this code. 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 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 the filing of 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 public service district shall also forward a copy of the resolution to any affected county commission and 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 resolution to the bondholders listed on the books of the registrar or trustee and to the paying agent. The change of the official or corporate name of the public service district will in no way impact upon any obligations, indebtedness or other liabilities of the public service district, or upon any rights, assets and 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.