Bill Text: WV SB142 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to road and highway improvements by private investors

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-13 - To Transportation and Infrastructure [SB142 Detail]

Download: West_Virginia-2013-SB142-Introduced.html

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Senate Bill No. 142

(By Senators Walters, Blair and Carmichael)

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[Introduced February 13, 2013; referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §7-1-3pp; to amend and reenact §8-12-5 of said code; and to amend and reenact §17-2A-8 of said code, all relating to authorizing the construction of improvements of streets, alleys, sidewalks, roads and highways by private investors in the state, counties and municipalities; permitting advertising by the private investors of the improvements; providing that the rates for the advertisements are to be determined by the Commissioner of Highways, the county commission and the municipality, respectively, for the various improvements; and requiring that money received from advertising sponsorship by private investors for improvements of state roads and highways be deposited in the State Road Fund.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §7-1-3pp; to amend and reenact §8-12-5 of said code; and that §17-2A-8 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:

CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.

ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.

§7-1-3pp. Construction of improvements of streets, alleys and sidewalks by private investors; improved streets and maintenance of roads not in the state road system.

    In addition to all other powers and duties now conferred by law upon county commissions, such commissions may make and promulgate rules for the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of streets, alleys, sidewalks, roads, highways, drains and gutters through investments by private company or corporate sponsors: Provided, That any such roads or highways are not in the state highway system. In return for the investment for reconstruction, repair or maintenance of streets, alleys, sidewalks, roads, highways, drains and gutters by private companies or corporations, the private companies or corporations may place advertising on signs, to be placed along the affected street, alley, sidewalk, road, highway, drains and gutters that feature the logo of the company or corporation name and a statement that the company or corporation is sponsoring the street, alley, sidewalk, road, highway or portion of the street, alley, sidewalk, road, highway, drains or gutters. A safety message may be included on the sign: Provided, however, That such authority and power herein conferred upon county commissions may not extend into the territory within any municipal corporation: Provided, further, That any county commission may enter into contracts or agreements with any municipality within the county, or with a municipality in an adjoining county, with reference to the exercise of the powers vested in the commissions by this section. The county commission shall determine the rate private companies or corporations are to be charged for advertising the sponsorship of streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains or gutters.

CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.

ARTICLE 12. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC POWERS, DUTIES AND ALLIED                  RELATIONS OF MUNICIPALITIES, GOVERNING BODIES AND                  MUNICIPAL OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES; SUITS AGAINST                  MUNICIPALITIES.

§8-12-5. General powers of every municipality and the governing body thereof.

    In addition to the powers and authority granted by: (i) The Constitution of this state; (ii) other provisions of this chapter; (iii) other general law; and (iv) any charter, and to the extent not inconsistent or in conflict with any of the foregoing except special legislative charters, every municipality and the governing body thereof shall have plenary power and authority therein by ordinance or resolution, as the case may require, and by appropriate action based thereon:

    (1) To lay off, establish, construct, open, alter, curb, recurb, pave or repave and keep in good repair, or vacate, discontinue and close, streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters, for the use of the public, and to improve and light the same, and have them kept free from obstructions on or over them which have not been authorized pursuant to the succeeding provisions of this subdivision; and, subject to such terms and conditions as the governing body shall prescribe, to permit, without in any way limiting the power and authority granted by the provisions of article sixteen of this chapter, any person to construct and maintain a passageway, building or other structure overhanging or crossing the airspace above a public street, avenue, road, alley, way, sidewalk or crosswalk, but before any permission for any person to construct and maintain a passageway, building or other structure overhanging or crossing any airspace is granted, a public hearing thereon shall be held by the governing body after publication of a notice of the date, time, place and purpose of the public hearing has been published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code and the publication area for the publication shall be the municipality: Provided, That any permit so granted shall automatically cease and terminate in the event of abandonment and nonuse thereof for the purposes intended for a period of ninety days, and all rights therein or thereto shall revert to the municipality for its use and benefit;

    (2) To make and promulgate rules for the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters through investments by private company or corporate sponsors to repair and maintain streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters: Provided, That any such roads are not in the state highway system. In return for the investment for reconstruction, repair or maintenance of streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters by private companies or corporations, the private companies or corporations may place advertising on signs, to be placed along or on the affected streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters, that feature the logo of the company or corporation name and a statement that the company or corporation is sponsoring the streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters or portion of the streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters. A safety message may be included on the sign. The municipality and the governing body thereof shall determine the rate private companies or corporations are to be charged for sponsorship of streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, drains and gutters.

    (2) (3) To provide for the opening and excavation of streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, crosswalks and public places belonging to the municipality and regulate the conditions under which any such opening may be made;

    (3) (4) To prevent by proper penalties the throwing, depositing or permitting to remain on any street, avenue, road, alley, way, sidewalk, square or other public place any glass, scrap iron, nails, tacks, wire, other litter or any offensive matter or anything likely to injure the feet of individuals or animals or the tires of vehicles;

    (4) (5) To regulate the use of streets, avenues, roads, alleys, ways, sidewalks, crosswalks and public places belonging to the municipality, including the naming or renaming thereof, and to consult with local postal authorities, the Division of Highways and the directors of county emergency communications centers to assure uniform, nonduplicative addressing on a permanent basis;

    (5) (6) To regulate the width of streets, avenues and roads, and, subject to the provisions of article eighteen of this chapter, to order the sidewalks, footways and crosswalks to be paved, repaved, curbed or recurbed and kept in good order, free and clean, by the owners or occupants thereof or of the real property next adjacent thereto;

    (6) (7) To establish, construct, alter, operate and maintain, or discontinue, bridges, tunnels and ferries and approaches thereto;

    (7) (8) To provide for the construction and maintenance of water drains, the drainage of swamps or marshlands and drainage systems;

    (8) (9) To provide for the construction, maintenance and covering over of watercourses;

    (9) (10) To control and administer the waterfront and waterways of the municipality and to acquire, establish, construct, operate and maintain and regulate flood control works, wharves and public landings, warehouses and all adjuncts and facilities for navigation and commerce and the utilization of the waterfront and waterways and adjacent property;

    (10) (11) To prohibit the accumulation and require the disposal of garbage, refuse, debris, wastes, ashes, trash and other similar accumulations whether on private or public property: Provided, That, in the event the municipality annexes an area which has been receiving solid waste collection services from a certificated solid waste motor carrier, the municipality and the solid waste motor carrier may negotiate an agreement for continuation of the private solid waste motor carrier services for a period of time, not to exceed three years, during which time the certificated solid waste motor carrier may continue to provide exclusive solid waste collection services in the annexed territory;

    (11) (12) To construct, establish, acquire, equip, maintain and operate incinerator plants and equipment and all other facilities for the efficient removal and destruction of garbage, refuse, wastes, ashes, trash and other similar matters;

    (12) (13) To regulate or prohibit the purchase or sale of articles intended for human use or consumption which are unfit for use or consumption, or which may be contaminated or otherwise unsanitary;

    (13) (14) To prevent injury or annoyance to the public or individuals from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome;

    (14) (15) To regulate the keeping of gunpowder and other combustibles;

    (15) (16) To make regulations guarding against danger or damage by fire;

    (16) (17) To arrest, convict and punish any individual for carrying about his or her person any revolver or other pistol, dirk, bowie knife, razor, slingshot, billy, metallic or other false knuckles or any other dangerous or other deadly weapon of like kind or character;

    (17) (18) To arrest, convict and punish any person for importing, printing, publishing, selling or distributing any pornographic publications;

    (18) (19) To arrest, convict and punish any person for keeping a house of ill fame, or for letting to another person any house or other building for the purpose of being used or kept as a house of ill fame, or for knowingly permitting any house owned by him or her or under his or her control to be kept or used as a house of ill fame, or for loafing, boarding or loitering in a house of ill fame, or frequenting same;

    (19) (20) To prevent and suppress conduct and practices which are immoral, disorderly, lewd, obscene and indecent;

    (20) (21) To prevent the illegal sale of intoxicating liquors, drinks, mixtures and preparations;

    (21) (22) To arrest, convict and punish any individual for driving or operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated or under the influence of liquor, drugs or narcotics;

    (22) (23) To arrest, convict and punish any person for gambling or keeping any gaming tables, commonly called "A, B, C," or "E, O," table or faro bank or keno table, or table of like kind, under any denomination, whether the gaming table be played with cards, dice or otherwise, or any person who shall be a partner or concerned in interest, in keeping or exhibiting the table or bank, or keeping or maintaining any gaming house or place, or betting or gambling for money or anything of value;

    (23) (24) To provide for the elimination of hazards to public health and safety and to abate or cause to be abated anything which in the opinion of a majority of the governing body is a public nuisance;

    (24) (25) To license, or for good cause to refuse to license in a particular case, or in its discretion to prohibit in all cases, the operation of pool and billiard rooms and the maintaining for hire of pool and billiard tables notwithstanding the general law as to state licenses for any such business and the provisions of section four, article thirteen of this chapter; and when the municipality, in the exercise of its discretion, refuses to grant a license to operate a pool or billiard room, mandamus may not lie to compel the municipality to grant the license unless it shall clearly appear that the refusal of the municipality to grant a license is discriminatory or arbitrary; and in the event that the municipality determines to license any business, the municipality has plenary power and authority and it shall be the duty of its governing body to make and enforce reasonable ordinances regulating the licensing and operation of the businesses;

    (25) (26) To protect places of divine worship and to preserve peace and order in and about the premises where held;

    (26) (27) To regulate or prohibit the keeping of animals or fowls and to provide for the impounding, sale or destruction of animals or fowls kept contrary to law or found running at large;

    (27) (28) To arrest, convict and punish any person for cruelly, unnecessarily or needlessly beating, torturing, mutilating, killing, or overloading or overdriving or willfully depriving of necessary sustenance any domestic animal;

    (28) (29) To provide for the regular building of houses or other structures, for the making of division fences by the owners of adjacent premises and for the drainage of lots by proper drains and ditches;

    (29) (30) To provide for the protection and conservation of shade or ornamental trees, whether on public or private property, and for the removal of trees or limbs of trees in a dangerous condition;

    (30) (31) To prohibit with or without zoning the location of occupied house trailers or mobile homes in certain residential areas;

    (31) (32) To regulate the location and placing of signs, billboards, posters and similar advertising;

    (32) (33) To erect, establish, construct, acquire, improve, maintain and operate a gas system, a waterworks system, an electric system or sewer system and sewage treatment and disposal system, or any combination of the foregoing (subject to all of the pertinent provisions of articles nineteen and twenty of this chapter and particularly to the limitations or qualifications on the right of eminent domain set forth in articles nineteen and twenty), within or without the corporate limits of the municipality, except that the municipality may not erect any system partly without the corporate limits of the municipality to serve persons already obtaining service from an existing system of the character proposed and where the system is by the municipality erected, or has heretofore been so erected, partly within and partly without the corporate limits of the municipality, the municipality has the right to lay and collect charges for service rendered to those served within and those served without the corporate limits of the municipality and to prevent injury to the system or the pollution of the water thereof and its maintenance in a healthful condition for public use within the corporate limits of the municipality;

    (33) (34) To acquire watersheds, water and riparian rights, plant sites, rights-of-way and any and all other property and appurtenances necessary, appropriate, useful, convenient or incidental to any system, waterworks or sewage treatment and disposal works, as aforesaid, subject to all of the pertinent provisions of articles nineteen and twenty of this chapter;

    (34) (35) To establish, construct, acquire, maintain and operate and regulate markets and prescribe the time of holding the same;

    (35) (36) To regulate and provide for the weighing of articles sold or for sale;

    (36) (37) To establish, construct, acquire, maintain and operate public buildings, municipal buildings or city halls, Auditoriums, arenas, jails, juvenile detention centers or homes, motor vehicle parking lots or any other public works;

    (37) (38) To establish, construct, acquire, provide, equip, maintain and operate recreational parks, playgrounds and other recreational facilities for public use and in this connection also to proceed in accordance with the provisions of article two, chapter ten of this code;

    (38) (39) To establish, construct, acquire, maintain and operate a public library or museum or both for public use;

    (39) (40) To provide for the appointment and financial support of a library board in accordance with the provisions of article one, chapter ten of this code;

    (40) (41) To establish and maintain a public health unit in accordance with the provisions of section two, article two, chapter sixteen of this code, which unit shall exercise its powers and perform its duties subject to the supervision and control of the West Virginia Board of Health and State Bureau for Public Health;

    (41) (42) To establish, construct, acquire, maintain and operate hospitals, sanitarians and dispensaries;

    (42) (43) To acquire, by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, land within or near the corporate limits of the municipality for providing and maintaining proper places for the burial of the dead and to maintain and operate the same and regulate interments therein upon terms and conditions as to price and otherwise as may be determined by the governing body and, in order to carry into effect the authority, the governing body may acquire any cemetery or cemeteries already established;

    (43) (44) To exercise general police jurisdiction over any territory without the corporate limits owned by the municipality or over which it has a right-of-way;

    (44) (45) To protect and promote the public morals, safety, health, welfare and good order;

    (45) (46) To adopt rules for the transaction of business and the government and regulation of its governing body;

    (46) (47) Except as otherwise provided, to require and take bonds from any officers, when considered necessary, payable to the municipality, in its corporate name, with such sureties and in a penalty as the governing body may see fit, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of their duties;

    (47) (48) To require and take from the employees and contractors such bonds in a penalty, with such sureties and with such conditions, as the governing body may see fit;

    (48) (49) To investigate and inquire into all matters of concern to the municipality or its inhabitants;

    (49) (50) To establish, construct, require, maintain and operate such instrumentalities, other than free public schools, for the instruction, enlightenment, improvement, entertainment, recreation and welfare of the municipality's inhabitants as the governing body may consider necessary or appropriate for the public interest;

    (50) (51) To create, maintain and operate a system for the enumeration, identification and registration, or either, of the inhabitants of the municipality and visitors thereto, or the classes thereof as may be considered advisable;

    (51) (52) To require owners, residents or occupants of factory-built homes situated in a factory-built rental home community with at least ten factory-built homes, to visibly post the specific numeric portion of the address of each factory-built home on the immediate premises of the factory-built home of sufficient size to be visible from the adjoining street: Provided, That in the event no numeric or other specific designation of an address exists for a factory-built home subject to the authorization granted by this subdivision, the municipality has the authority to provide a numeric or other specific designation of an address for the factory-built home and require that it be posted in accordance with the authority otherwise granted by this section.

    (52) (53) To appropriate and expend not exceeding 25¢ per capita per annum for advertising the municipality and the entertainment of visitors;

    (53) (54) To conduct programs to improve community relations and public relations generally and to expend municipal revenue for such purposes;

    (54) (55) To reimburse applicants for employment by the municipality for travel and other reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred by the applicants in traveling to and from the municipality to be interviewed;

    (55) (56) To provide revenue for the municipality and appropriate the same to its expenses;

    (56) (57) To create and maintain an Employee Benefits Fund which may not exceed one tenth of one percent of the annual payroll budget for general employee benefits and which is set up for the purpose of stimulating and encouraging employees to develop and implement cost-saving ideas and programs and to expend moneys from the fund for these purposes;

    (57) (58) To enter into reciprocal agreements with governmental subdivisions or agencies of any state sharing a common border for the protection of people and property from fire and for emergency medical services and for the reciprocal use of equipment and personnel for these purposes;

    (58) (59) To provide penalties for the offenses and violations of law mentioned in this section, subject to the provisions of section one, article eleven of this chapter, and such penalties may not exceed any penalties provided in this chapter and chapter sixty-one of this code for like offenses and violations; and

    (59) (60) To participate in a purchasing card program for local governments authorized and administered by the State Auditor as an alternative payment method.

CHAPTER 17. ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.

ARTICLE 2A. WEST VIRGINIA COMMISSIONER OF HIGHWAYS.

§17-2A-8. Powers, duties and responsibilities of commissioner.

    In addition to all other duties, powers and responsibilities given and assigned to the commissioner in this chapter, the commissioner may:

    (1) Exercise general supervision over the state road program and the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of state roads and highways;

    (2) Determine the various methods of road construction best adapted to the various sections and areas of the state and establish standards for the construction and maintenance of roads and highways in the various sections and areas of the state;

    (3) Conduct investigations and experiments, hold hearings and public meetings and attend and participate in meetings and conferences within and without the state for purposes of acquiring information, making findings and determining courses of action and procedure relative to advancement and improvement of the state road and highway system;

    (4) Enter private lands to make inspections and surveys for road and highway purposes;

    (5) Acquire, in name of the department, by lease, grant, right of eminent domain or other lawful means all lands and interests and rights in lands necessary and required for roads, rights-of-way, cuts, fills, drains, storage for equipment and materials and road construction and maintenance in general;

    (6) Procure photostatic copies of any or all public records on file at the State Capitol of Virginia which may be considered necessary or proper in ascertaining the location and legal status of public road rights-of-way located or established in what is now the State of West Virginia, which when certified by the commissioner, may be admitted in evidence, in lieu of the original, in any of the courts of this state;

    (7) Plan for and hold annually a school of good roads, of not less than three or more than six days' duration, for instruction of his or her employees, which is held in conjunction with West Virginia University and may be held at the university or at any other suitable place in the state;

    (8) Negotiate and enter in reciprocal contracts and agreements with proper authorities of other states and of the United States relating to and regulating the use of roads and highways with reference to weights and types of vehicles, registration of vehicles and licensing of operators, military and emergency movements of personnel and supplies and all other matters of interstate or national interest;

    (9) Classify and reclassify, locate and relocate, expressway, trunkline, feeder and state local service roads and designate by number the routes within the state road system;

    (10) Create, extend or establish, upon petition of any interested party or parties or on the commissioner's own initiative, any new road or highway found necessary and proper;

    (11) Exercise jurisdiction, control, supervision and authority over local roads, outside the state road system, to the extent determined by him or her to be expedient and practicable;

    (12) Discontinue, vacate and close any road or highway, or any part of any road or highway, the continuance and maintenance of which are found unnecessary and improper, upon petition and hearing or upon investigation initiated by the commissioner;

    (13) Close any state road while under construction or repair and provide a temporary road during the time of the construction or repair;

    (14) Adjust damages occasioned by construction, reconstruction or repair of any state road or the establishment of any temporary road;

    (15) Establish and maintain a uniform system of road signs and markers;

    (16) Fix standard widths for road rights-of-way, bridges and approaches to bridges and fix and determine grades and elevations therefor;

    (17) Test and standardize materials used in road construction and maintenance, either by governmental testing and standardization activities or through contract by private agencies;

    (18) Allocate the cost of retaining walls and drainage projects, for the protection of a state road or its right-of-way, to the cost of construction, reconstruction, improvement or maintenance;

    (19) Acquire, establish, construct, maintain and operate, in the name of the department, roadside recreational areas along and adjacent to state roads and highways;

    (20) Exercise general supervision over the construction and maintenance of airports and landing fields under the jurisdiction of the West Virginia state aeronautics commission, of which the commissioner is a member, and make a study and general plan of a statewide system of airports and landing fields;

    (21) Provide traffic engineering services to municipalities of the state upon request of the governing body of any municipality and upon terms that are agreeably arranged;

    (22) Institute complaints before the Public Service Commission or any other appropriate governmental agency relating to freight rates, car service and movement of road materials and equipment;

    (23) Invoke any appropriate legal or equitable remedies to enforce his or her orders, to compel compliance with requirements of law and to protect and preserve the state road and highway system or any part of the system;

    (24) Make and promulgate rules for the government and conduct of personnel, for the orderly and efficient administration and supervision of the state road program and for the effective and expeditious performance and discharge of the duties and responsibilities placed upon him or her by law;

    (25) Delegate powers and duties to his or her appointees and employees who shall act by and under his or her direction and be responsible to him or her for their acts;

    (26) Designate and define any construction and maintenance districts within the state road system that is found expedient and practicable;

    (27) Contract for the construction, improvement and maintenance of the roads;

    (28) Comply with provisions of present and future federal aid statutes and regulations, including execution of contracts or agreements with and cooperation in programs of the United States government and any proper department, bureau or agency of the United States government relating to plans, surveys, construction, reconstruction, improvement and maintenance of state roads and highways;

    (29) Prepare budget estimates and requests;

    (30) Establish a system of accounting covering and including all fiscal and financial matters of the department;

    (31) Establish and advance a right-of-way acquisition revolving fund, a materials revolving fund and an equipment revolving fund;

    (32) Enter into contracts and agreements with and cooperate in programs of counties, municipalities and other governmental agencies and subdivisions of the state relating to plans, surveys, construction, reconstruction, improvement, maintenance and supervision of highways, roads, streets and other travel ways when and to the extent determined by the department to be expedient and practical;

    (33) Report, as provided by law, to the Governor and the Legislature;

    (34) Purchase materials, supplies and equipment required for the state road program and system;

    (35) Dispose of all obsolete and unusable and surplus supplies and materials which cannot be used advantageously and beneficially by the department in the state road program by transfer of the supplies and materials to other governmental agencies and institutions by exchange, trade or sale of the supplies and materials;

    (36) Investigate road conditions, official conduct of department personnel and fiscal and financial affairs of the department and hold hearings and make findings thereon or on any other matters within the jurisdiction of the department;

    (37) Establish road policies and administrative practices;

    (38) Fix and revise from time to time tolls for transit over highway projects constructed by the Division of Highways after May 1, 1999, that have been authorized by the provisions of section five-b, article seventeen-a of this chapter;

    (39) Take actions necessary to alleviate any conditions as the Governor may declare to constitute an emergency, whether or not the emergency condition affects areas normally under the jurisdiction of the department of highways; and

    (40) Provide family restrooms at all rest areas along interstate highways in this state, all to be constructed in accordance with federal law.

    (41) Make and promulgate rules for the construction, reconstruction, repair and maintenance of state roads and highways, including allowing investments by private company or corporate sponsors to repair and maintain state roads and highways. In return for the investment for reconstruction, repair or maintenance of state roads and highways by private companies or corporations, the private companies or corporations may place advertising on state signs, to be placed along the affected road or highway, that feature the logo of the company or corporation, name and a statement that the company or corporation is sponsoring the road, highway or portion of the road or highway. A safety message may be included on the sign. The commissioner shall determine the rate private companies or corporations are to be charged for sponsorship of a road or highway. All moneys collected for advertising sponsorship by private companies or corporations shall be deposited into the State Road Fund. The commissioner shall set a goal of obtaining a minimum of ten sponsors within a period of four years after the implementation of this program.

 

 

    NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the construction of improvements of streets, alleys, sidewalks, roads and highways by private investors in the state, counties and municipalities. It permits advertising by the private investors of the improvements with signs erected at the place of improvement. The bill also authorizes the Commissioner of Highways, the county commission and the municipality, respectively, to determine the rates for the advertisements for the various improvements. And, the bill requires that money received for sponsorship by private investors for improvements of state roads and highways be deposited in the State Road Fund.

     

    Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

    §7-1-3pp is new; therefore strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.