Bill Text: GA SB268 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Engrossed


Bill Title: Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission; immunity for commission and its officers, agents, and employees

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2009-03-26 - House Second Readers [SB268 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2009-SB268-Engrossed.html
09 LC 25 5604ER
Senate Bill 268
By: Senator Chapman of the 3rd

AS PASSED SENATE

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT


To amend an Act creating the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission, approved April 19, 2006 (Ga. L. 2006, p. 3661), so as to provide for immunity for the commission and its officers, agents, and employees; to provide for ante litem notice; to provide for notices and hearings to be conducted prior to any increase in rates, fees, tolls, or charges to customers for water or sewer system services; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.
An Act creating the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission, approved April 19, 2006 (Ga. L. 2006, p. 3661), is amended by revising Section 2 as follows:

"SECTION 2.
(a) There is hereby created a body corporate and politic, to be known as the Brunswick-Glynn County Joint Water and Sewer Commission, and by that name, style, and title said body may contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, complain and defend in all courts of law and equity, except that the commission and its officers, agents, and employees when in the performance of their public duties or work of the commission, shall in no event be liable for any torts or negligent acts and shall have immunity therefrom, nor shall the commission be vicariously liable for any torts committed by its officers, agents, and employees. The commission shall have perpetual existence, and shall be deemed a governmental body within the meaning of the Georgia Revenue Bond Law, Article 3 of Chapter 82 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, specifically under subparagraph (2)(C) of Code Section 36-82-61.
(b)(1) No person, firm, or corporation having a claim for money damages against the commission on account of injuries to any person or property shall bring any action against the commission for such injuries without first giving notice within six months of the happening of the event upon which a claim is predicated.
(2) The person, firm, or corporation shall present the claim in writing to the governing authority of the commission for adjustment, stating the time, place, and extent of the injury, as nearly as practicable, and the negligence which caused the injury. No action shall be entertained by the courts against the commission until the cause of action therein has first been presented to the governing authority of the commission for adjustment.
(3) The commission shall have 30 days from the presentation of the claim to consider and act upon the claim. Action by the commission, unless it results in the settlement thereof, shall in no sense be a bar to an action therefor in the courts.
(4) The running of the statute of limitations shall be suspended during the time that the demand for payment is pending before the commission without action on the part of the commission."

SECTION 2.
Said Act is further amended by adding after Section 7 a new section to read as follows:

"SECTION 7A.
The commission shall not approve any increase in rates, fees, tolls, or charges to customers for water or sewer system services except after notices and hearings as required by this section. The commission shall conduct at least two public hearings within the territory of Glynn County prior to approving any such increase, with at least one hearing conducted at a location on the mainland and at least one hearing conducted during a different calendar week on St. Simons Island. Notice of such hearings, specifying the dates, times, locations, and subject matter thereof, shall be published in the legal organ of Glynn County at least once a week for two successive weeks, with the first such notice being published not less than 30 days in advance of the first such hearing. The notice shall be a prominently displayed advertisement or news article and shall not be placed in that section of the newspaper where legal notices appear. The contents of such notice shall also be included at least once in bills for service to those persons who are water or sewer service customers of the commission, at least one and not more than two billing cycles prior to the date of the first hearing. The notices published in the legal organ and included in customers' bills shall include a financial justification for any such proposed increase, with five-year projections of future operating revenues and expenses with and without such proposed increase, along with a history of the dates and amounts of any changes in customer rates, fees, tolls, or charges previously approved by the commission during the five-year period immediately preceding the effective date of the proposed increase."
SECTION 3.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.

SECTION 4.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
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