1-1 By: Bernsen S.B. No. 1646
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2001; March 14, 2001, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
1-4 April 23, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
1-5 Nays 0; April 23, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to conferring on the Coastal Water Authority the power to
1-9 abandon or deconstruct a canal, ditch, or lateral; changing the
1-10 qualifications of the authority's board of directors; and
1-11 authorizing the authority to issue refunding bonds.
1-12 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13 SECTION 1. Section 3, Chapter 601, Acts of the 60th
1-14 Legislature, Regular Session, 1967 (Article 8280-355, Vernon's
1-15 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 3. The Authority shall have and exercise and is hereby
1-17 vested with all of the rights, powers and privileges, authorities
1-18 and functions conferred and imposed by the general laws of this
1-19 state now in force or hereafter enacted applicable to water control
1-20 and improvement districts and municipal utility districts created
1-21 under authority of Section 59 of Article XVI, Constitution of
1-22 Texas, but to the extent that the provisions of such general laws
1-23 may be in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act,
1-24 the provisions of this Act shall prevail. All such general laws
1-25 are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference with the same
1-26 effect as if incorporated in full in this Act. Without in any way
1-27 limiting the generalization of the foregoing, it is expressly
1-28 provided that the Authority shall have and exercise, and is hereby
1-29 vested with, all of the rights, powers and privileges, authorities
1-30 and functions conferred by Chapters 51 and 54, Title 4, Water Code,
1-31 together with all amendments thereof and additions thereto. The
1-32 Authority shall have the power to make, construct, or otherwise
1-33 acquire improvements either within or without the boundaries
1-34 thereof necessary to carry out the powers and authority granted by
1-35 this Act and said general laws. Not by way of limitation, the
1-36 Authority shall be authorized and empowered to conserve, store,
1-37 transport, treat and purify, distribute, sell and deliver water,
1-38 both surface and underground, to persons, corporations, both public
1-39 and private, political subdivisions of the state and others, and
1-40 may purchase, construct or lease all property, works and
1-41 facilities, both within and without the Authority, necessary for
1-42 such purposes. The Authority is expressly authorized to acquire
1-43 water supplies from sources both within and without the boundaries
1-44 of the Authority and to sell, transport and deliver water to
1-45 customers situated within and without the Authority and to acquire
1-46 all properties and facilities necessary for such purposes, and for
1-47 any and all of such purposes may enter into contracts with persons,
1-48 with municipal, public and private corporations, including the City
1-49 of Houston, and any political subdivision of the state for such
1-50 periods of time, not exceeding forty (40) years, and on such terms
1-51 and conditions as its Board of Directors may deem desirable, fair
1-52 and advantageous and to which the parties may agree; provided, that
1-53 such contracts may provide that they shall continue in effect until
1-54 bonds issued by the Authority to finance the cost of water system
1-55 facilities, and refunding bonds issued in lieu thereof, are paid.
1-56 In addition, the Authority shall have the power to contract with
1-57 others to transport their water and the power to act jointly with
1-58 others in the performance of all functions and purposes of the
1-59 Authority. Provided that the Authority has no existing contractual
1-60 obligation to any person, corporation or political subdivision to
1-61 use a particular canal, lateral or ditch to transport or deliver
1-62 water, the Authority is expressly authorized to abandon, sell,
1-63 release or deconstruct that canal, ditch or lateral if any of the
1-64 following conditions apply: (i) the Authority has not used the
2-1 canal, ditch or lateral to transport or deliver water to persons,
2-2 corporations or political subdivisions of the state for a period of
2-3 five (5) years; (ii) there are intervening gaps between the canal,
2-4 ditch or lateral the Authority wishes to abandon, sell, release or
2-5 deconstruct and the Authority's primary canal serving that canal,
2-6 lateral or ditch; or (iii) an adjoining landowner has requested in
2-7 writing that the Authority abandon, sell, release or deconstruct
2-8 the canal, ditch or lateral and no other adjoining landowner has
2-9 objected within thirty (30) days after receiving notice from the
2-10 Authority of its intent to abandon, sell, release or deconstruct
2-11 the canal, ditch or lateral. [The Authority shall comply with the
2-12 provisions of Chapter 1, Title 128, Revised Civil Statutes of
2-13 Texas, 1925, as amended.] Nothing herein contained shall preclude
2-14 the Authority from acquiring water rights under any law or permits
2-15 heretofore or hereafter issued, provided acquisition of the same is
2-16 approved by order or subsequent permit from the Texas Natural
2-17 Resource Conservation [Water] Commission.
2-18 SECTION 2. Section 5(a), Chapter 601, Acts of the 60th
2-19 Legislature, Regular Session, 1967 (Article 8280-355, Vernon's
2-20 Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-21 Sec. 5(a). The management and control of the Authority is
2-22 hereby vested in a board of seven (7) directors who shall be at
2-23 least twenty-one (21) years of age and shall be residents and
2-24 landowners of Harris County or that part of Chambers and Liberty
2-25 Counties which are within the boundaries of the Authority. Four
2-26 (4) of such directors and their successors, being positions
2-27 numbered one (1) to four (4) inclusive, shall be appointed by the
2-28 mayor of the City of Houston with the advice and consent of the
2-29 governing body of such city. The remaining three (3) directors and
2-30 their successors, being positions numbered five (5) to seven (7)
2-31 inclusive shall be appointed by the Governor of Texas with the
2-32 advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom shall be a resident
2-33 of Chambers County, one a resident of Liberty County and one a
2-34 resident of Harris County. Vacancies in positions one (1) through
2-35 four (4) shall be filled by appointment by the mayor of the City of
2-36 Houston with the advice and consent of its governing body, and
2-37 vacancies in positions five (5) through seven (7) shall be filled
2-38 by appointment by the Governor of Texas with the advice and consent
2-39 of the Senate. Any director appointed by the mayor or governor
2-40 shall be entitled to serve as a director pending his approval by
2-41 the said governing body or Senate. Beginning in the year 2005, a
2-42 person appointed to the board of directors by the Governor of Texas
2-43 need not be a resident within the boundaries of the Authority if
2-44 the person is a resident within the area of Liberty County south of
2-45 U.S. Highway 90 and west of the Trinity River.
2-46 The directors first appointed shall meet and organize as soon
2-47 as practicable after the effective date of this Act, and shall file
2-48 their official bonds and subscribe to the Constitutional oath of
2-49 office. The directors first appointed shall serve until April 1,
2-50 1969, and all terms of office thereafter shall be for a period of
2-51 two (2) years except for the first term of office after April 1,
2-52 1969, for positions one (1), two (2) and six (6) which shall be for
2-53 a term of one (1) year. No member of the governing body of the
2-54 City of Houston and no employee of the City of Houston shall be
2-55 appointed as a director.
2-56 At its April, 1969, meeting the board shall reorganize and
2-57 elect from its members a president, vice-president,
2-58 secretary-treasurer and such other officers as it deems necessary.
2-59 A person who is elected to a board office shall serve for two (2)
2-60 years in that capacity or until he ceases to be a director, if this
2-61 event occurs within two (2) years. At its April meeting of each
2-62 year the board shall elect officers for the offices to be filled.
2-63 If a vacancy occurs in a board office, the directors at the next
2-64 regular board meeting shall elect a person to serve until the next
2-65 April meeting of the board.
2-66 SECTION 3. Chapter 601, Acts of the 60th Legislature,
2-67 Regular Session, 1967 (Article 8280-355, Vernon's Texas Civil
2-68 Statutes), is amended by adding Section 6(a) to read as follows:
2-69 Sec. 6(a). The Authority is authorized to issue its
3-1 refunding bonds to refund any Authority bond or obligation in
3-2 accordance with the laws of the state including bonds or other
3-3 obligations that have previously been defeased by the Authority by
3-4 escrowing United States Government obligations to pay the
3-5 principal, interest and redemption price to their maturity date and
3-6 would otherwise be deemed to be no longer outstanding.
3-7 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
3-8 * * * * *