§ 11-50-314 — Powers of Corporation Generally; Provisions in Mortgages, Deeds of Trust, or Pledge Agreements Executed by Corporation as to Rights of Parties Thereto, Etc

Alabama § 11-50-314

• Jurisdiction: Alabama
• Title 11: Counties and Municipal Corporations
• Ch. 50: Public Utilities
• Art. 9: Boards for Operation of Water, Sewer, Gas and Electric Systems

Text

(a) Each corporation formed or the certificate of incorporation of which is amended under this article shall have the following powers together with all powers incidental thereto or necessary to the discharge thereof in corporate form:
(1) To have succession by its corporate name for the duration of time (which may be in perpetuity) specified in its certificate of incorporation or until dissolved as provided in this article;
(2) To sue and be sued and to defend civil actions against it;
(3) To make use of a corporate seal and to alter the same at pleasure;
(4) To acquire, purchase, construct, operate, maintain, enlarge, extend, and improve any system or systems, the operation of which is provided for in the certificate of incorporation of such corporation or in any amendment thereto (whether or not such system or systems were in existence and whether or not such system or systems were privately owned prior to acquisition by such corporation and whether such system or systems are located within or without or partly within and partly without the limits of the municipality which authorized the organization of such corporation or within the limits of another municipality) and to receive, acquire, take, and hold, whether by purchase, gift, lease, devise, or otherwise, real, personal, and mixed property of any nature whatsoever that its board of directors may deem a necessary or convenient part of such system or systems;
(5) To borrow money for any corporate function, use, or purpose and to issue in evidence of the borrowing interest-bearing bonds payable solely from the revenues derived from the operation of any one or more of its systems (regardless of the system or systems for the benefit of or with respect to which such borrowing may be made);
(6) To pledge for payment of its bonds any revenues from which such bonds are made payable and to mortgage, pledge, or otherwise convey as security for such bonds the system or systems the revenues from which are so pledged;
(7) To transport and to sell at wholesale all or any part of its water, gas, or electric supply to any other corporation organized or the articles of incorporation of which are amended under the provisions of this article or under the provisions of Sections 11-50-230 through 11-50-241, or to any municipality for distribution to the inhabitants thereof and the surrounding territory;
(8) To transfer and to distribute and to sell to any one or more customers water, gas, and electricity and to furnish services from any system the operation of which is provided for in its certificate of incorporation or in any amendment thereto, and to establish and collect and alter charges for water, gas, electric, and sewer services and all services of any kind sold or furnished by it; provided, that charges for services from any sewer system shall be established in such manner that there shall be no charge with respect to any portion of such sewer system that may have been paid for wholly or in part by assessments against the property specially benefitted thereby, but any person whose property is served in part by a portion of a sewer system so paid for and in part by a portion of a sewer system not so paid for may be charged an appropriate rate for the service rendered such property by a sewer disposal plant, a sewage treatment plant, or any other portion of a sewer system which has not to any extent been paid for by such assessments;
(9) To adopt a schedule of rates:
a. Providing that the corporation may render combined statements or bills for services furnished from its systems and that it may decline to accept payment of charges for services from any of its systems without payment of charges for services from any one or more of its other systems, and
b. Providing for discontinuance of service from a system or systems to any customer who shall be delinquent in payment of charges for service from any system owned by such corporation;
(10) To lease, exchange, sell, convey, and otherwise dispose of its real, personal, or mixed property by any form of legal conveyance or transfer; provided, however, that the governing body of the municipality in which such system authorized under this article is incorporated shall consent to the lease, exchange, sale, conveyance, or other disposition and such consent shall be evidenced by a duly adopted ordinance of the said governing body, which ordinance shall be adopted within 30 days of such lease, exchange, sale, conveyance, or other disposition;
(11) To exercise all powers of eminent domain now or hereafter conferred on municipalities in this state;
(12) To appoint and employ such officers and agents, including attorneys, as its business may require; and
(13) To provide for such insurance as its board of directors may deem advisable.
(b) Any mortgage, deed of trust, or pledge agreement made by such corporation may contain such agreement as the board of directors may deem advisable respecting the operation and maintenance of the property and the use of the revenues subject to such mortgage, deed of trust, or pledge agreement and respecting the rights or duties of the parties to such instrument or the parties for the benefit of whom such instrument is made; provided, that no such mortgage or deed of trust shall be subject to foreclosure.

Legislative History

(Acts 1951, No. 175, p. 416, §4; Acts 1953, No. 176, p. 230; Acts 1969, No. 633, p. 1159.)