Senate Bill No. 393

(By Senator Deem, By Request)

____________

[Introduced March 20, 1997; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
____________




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.