82R9548 SLB-D

By: Bonnen H.B. No. 3621

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the Gulf Coast Water Authority.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 3, Chapter 712, Acts of the 59th Legislature, Regular Session, 1965, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 3. Except as expressly limited by this Act, the District shall have and exercise and is hereby vested with all rights, powers, privileges, and authority conferred by the General Laws of this State now in force or hereafter enacted applicable to municipal utility districts created under authority of Section 59 of Article XVI, Constitution of Texas including without limitation those conferred by Chapter 54, Water Code, as amended, but to the extent that the provisions of such General Laws may be in conflict or inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, the provisions of this Act shall prevail. All such General Laws are hereby adopted and incorporated by reference with the same effect as if incorporated in full in this Act. Without in any way limiting the generalization of the foregoing, it is expressly provided that the District shall have, and is hereby authorized to exercise, the following rights, powers, privileges and functions:

(a) the power to make, construct, or otherwise acquire improvements either within or without the boundaries thereof necessary to carry out the powers and authority granted by this Act and said General Laws, except that the District may not [and to] exercise the power of eminent domain for such purposes and [; provided, however, that the District] shall not have the power of eminent domain as to all or any part of the water supply, property, works or facilities of any private person or persons, or of any private or public corporation or association engaged in the business of supplying water in Galveston County, Texas, to any class of consumers for any use upon the effective date of this Act[, but this provision shall not restrict the power of the District to acquire necessary crossing easements and rights-of-way];

(b) to conserve, store, transport, treat and purify, distribute, sell and deliver water, both surface and underground, to persons, corporations, both public and private, political subdivisions of the State and others, and to purchase, construct or lease all property, works and facilities, both within and without the District, necessary or useful for such purposes;

(c) to acquire water supplies from sources both within or without the boundaries of the District and to sell, transport and deliver water to customers situated within or without the District and to acquire all properties and facilities necessary or useful for such purposes, and for any or all of such purposes to enter into contracts with persons, corporations, both public and private, and political subdivisions of the State for such periods of time and on such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors may deem desirable;

(d) subject to the provisions of this Act, to sell, lease, or exchange any property of any kind, or any interest therein, which is not necessary to the carrying on of the business of the District or the sale, lease, or exchange of which, in the judgment of the Board of Directors, is necessary for the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges, and functions conferred upon the District by this Act or by Chapter 54, Water Code, as amended;

(e) subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire by purchase, lease, gift, or otherwise, and to maintain, use, and operate any and all property of any kind, or any interest therein, within or without the boundaries of the District, necessary to the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges, and functions conferred by this Act or by Chapter 54, Water Code, as amended;

(f) to construct, extend, improve, maintain, and reconstruct, to cause to be constructed, extended, improved, maintained, and reconstructed, and to use and operate, any and all facilities of any kind necessary to the exercise of such powers, rights, privileges, and functions;

(g) to sue and be sued in its corporate name;

(h) to adopt, use, and alter a corporate seal;

(i) to invest and reinvest its funds;

(j) to make bylaws for management and regulation of its affairs;

(k) to appoint officers, agents, and employees, to prescribe their duties and fix their compensation;

(l) to make contracts and to execute instruments necessary to the exercise of the powers, rights, privileges, and functions conferred by this Act or Chapter 54, Water Code, as amended, for such term and with such provisions as the Board of Directors may determine to be in the best interests of the District, including, without in any way limiting the generality of the foregoing, contracts with persons including the State of Texas, the United States of America and any corporation or agency thereof and districts, cities, towns, persons, organizations, firms, corporations or other entities as the Board of Directors may deem necessary or proper for or in connection with any of its corporate purposes;

(m) to borrow money for its corporate purposes and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, to borrow money and accept grants from persons, including the State of Texas, the United States of America, or from any corporation, agency, or entity created or designated by the State of Texas or the United States of America, and in connection with any such loan or grant, to enter into such agreements as the State of Texas, the United States of America, or any such corporation, agency, or entity may require; and to make and issue its negotiable bonds or notes for money borrowed, in the manner and to the extent provided in this Act, and to refund or refinance any outstanding bonds or notes and to make and issue its negotiable bonds or notes therefor in the manner provided in this Act.

SECTION 2. Sections 5 and 5(a), Chapter 712, Acts of the 59th Legislature, Regular Session, 1965, are amended to read as follows:

Sec. 5. The management and control of the District is hereby vested in a Board of nine [seven (7)] directors. The seven directors appointed by the Commissioners Court of Galveston County shall represent the geographic and ethnic diversity of the county. Vacancies on the Board of Directors, whether by death, resignation or termination of the term of office, shall be filled by appointment by the commissioners court that appointed the director [Commissioners Court of Galveston County]. All terms of office shall be for a period of two (2) years. Terms shall be staggered [so that the terms of three (3) directors expire one year and the terms of four (4) directors expire the next year]. Three (3) of the members appointed by the Commissioners Court of Galveston County shall be registered professional engineers under the laws of Texas.

Sec. 5(a). One (1) director of the District shall be appointed by the Commissioners Court of Galveston County upon the recommendation of the City Council of the City of Galveston. Six of the remaining [The remaining six (6)] directors shall be appointed by the Commissioners Court of Galveston County with two directors appointed at-large and the remaining four of those directors appointed on the written recommendation of advisory committees appointed by the Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Water Authority. Two of those directors shall be recommended by the Mainland Municipal Advisory Committee and two of those directors shall be recommended by the Industrial Advisory Committee. The Commissioners Court of Galveston County is entitled to accept or reject the recommendations made to the court by the advisory committees. If a recommendation made by an advisory committee is rejected, the advisory committee shall submit additional recommendations to the court.

The Industrial Advisory Committee is composed of one representative of each industrial customer of the Gulf Coast Water Authority. The Mainland Municipal Advisory Committee is composed of one representative of each municipal or water district customer of the Gulf Coast Water Authority that contracts for [uses] not less than 2 million gallons of water a day. The names of the representatives of each of the committees shall be submitted to the Board of Directors of the Gulf Coast Water Authority by the respective industrial and municipal or water district customers. The directors of the Gulf Coast Water Authority shall submit the names of the advisory committee members to the Commissioners Court of Galveston County, which shall record the names in the minutes of the court.

One director shall be appointed by the Commissioners Court of Fort Bend County to represent District customers in that county. The director must be recommended by one or more of those customers and reside in that county.

One director shall be appointed by the Commissioners Court of Brazoria County to represent District customers in that county. The director must be recommended by one or more of those customers and reside in that county.

SECTION 3. (a) The legal notice of the intention to introduce this Act, setting forth the general substance of this Act, has been published as provided by law, and the notice and a copy of this Act have been furnished to all persons, agencies, officials, or entities to which they are required to be furnished under Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, and Chapter 313, Government Code.

(b) The governor has submitted the notice and Act to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

(c) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has filed its recommendations relating to this Act with the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives within the required time.

(d) All requirements of the constitution and laws of this state and the rules and procedures of the legislature with respect to the notice, introduction, and passage of this Act are fulfilled and accomplished.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.