§ 37-90-140 — Inclusion of lands

Colorado § 37-90-140

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 37: Water and
• Art.: Underground Water

Text

(1) (a) The boundaries of any district
organized under the provisions of this article may be changed in the manner
prescribed in this section, but the change of boundaries of the district shall not
impair or affect its organization or its rights in or to property or any of its rights and
privileges whatsoever, nor shall it affect or impair or discharge any contract,
obligation, lien, or charge for or upon which it might be liable or chargeable had any
such change of boundaries not been made. An election for the inclusion of real
property in the district may be initiated by a petition, in writing, filed with the
secretary of the board.

(b) The petition shall describe the boundaries of the proposed additional
territory with such certainty as to enable a property owner to determine whether or
not his property is within the district and shall contain a prayer for the inclusion of
such additional territory. Such petition shall be signed by not less than fifteen
percent of the taxpaying electors within the territory sought to be included and
acknowledged in the same manner that conveyances of land are required to be
acknowledged.

(c) If lands proposed to be included within a district, duly organized under
the provisions of this article, are located within the water basin or aquifer within
which the district lies, as determined by the commission, such lands are eligible for
inclusion within said district under the provisions of this article and not otherwise.

(d) Within twenty-one days after the filing of the petition, the board shall
examine the petition, and, if it finds that it bears the requisite number of signatures
and otherwise meets the stated requirements, it shall accept the petition and shall
fix a time and place, not less than thirty-five days nor more than forty-two days
after the date of such acceptance, for a hearing thereon. The secretary of the board
shall publish a notice of such hearing by one publication in a newspaper of general
circulation in every county in which any portion of the district and the proposed
additional territory to be included in the district are located. The publication shall
be at least fourteen days prior to the date of the hearing. Such notice shall state
the nature of the petition, the description of the proposed additional territory, and
that any person owning any interest in real property within the district or within the
proposed additional territory to be included in the district may appear at the
hearing and show cause in writing why the petition should not be granted.

(2) The board, at the time and place fixed, or at such times to which the
hearing may be continued, shall proceed to hear the petition and all objections
thereto presented in writing. The failure of any person to object in writing shall be
deemed an assent on his part to the inclusion of the proposed additional territory in
the district as prayed for in the petition. Upon completion of the hearing, the board
may order changes in the boundaries of the proposed lands to be included in the
district by the inclusion or exclusion of land therefrom upon finding that such
change in boundaries would be hydrologically, geologically, and geographically
sound. The board, in its discretion, and on conditions to be determined by the board
and accepted by the petitioners, may grant the petition, deny it, or grant it as to
part of the proposed additional territory and deny it as to the remaining portion.
Unless the petitioners are the owners of all the territory proposed to be added to
the district, the board shall submit the question of the inclusion of the additional
territory as so determined, to the taxpaying electors within the territory to be
included, in an election held for that purpose.

(3) The board shall appoint three taxpaying electors of the district, including
two from the area sought to be included, as judges of the election. The secretary of
the board shall have published a notice of the time and place of said election to be
held in the territory proposed for inclusion in the district by one publication in a
newspaper of general circulation in the territory proposed for inclusion in the
district. Such election shall not be held less than twenty-one days after said
publication of notice.

(4) Such elections shall be held and conducted as nearly as may be in the
same manner for creating districts as set forth in section 37-90-124. At the
election, the taxpaying electors in the territory proposed for inclusion in the district
shall vote for or against such inclusion. The judges of election shall certify the
returns of the election to the board. If a majority of the votes cast at such election
are for the inclusion of the additional territory, the board shall make an order to that
effect and file the same with the secretary of the board.

(5) Any action of the board with respect to the inclusion of territory within an
existing district may be reviewed by the district court in appeal proceedings filed
within fourteen days after the board's decision has been announced.

(6) If the district within which the lands are included has incurred any prior
bonded indebtedness, outstanding at the time of such inclusion, such additional
land area shall be liable for its proportionate share of such prior indebtedness of
said district.

Legislative History

Source: L. 67: p. 278, � 11. C.R.S. 1963: � 148-18-40. L. 2012: (1)(d), (3), and (5) amended, (SB 12-175), ch. 208, p. 885, � 157, effective July 1.