Bill Text: TX HB3621 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the Gulf Coast Water Authority.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-19 - Left pending in committee [HB3621 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB3621-Introduced.html
82R9548 SLB-D | ||
By: Bonnen | H.B. No. 3621 |
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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 [ |
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exercise the power of eminent domain for such purposes and [ |
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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[ |
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(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 [ |
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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 | ||
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shall be for a period of two (2) years. Terms shall be staggered [ |
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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 [ |
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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 [ |
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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. |