§ 1147-C — Sewer authority created

§ 1147-c. Sewer authority created. 1. A corporation known as the\nAlfred, Almond, Hornellsville Sewer Authority is hereby created for the\npurposes and charged with the duties and having the powers provided in\nthis title. The authority shall be a corporate governmental agency\nconstituting a public benefit corporation. The geographic boundaries of\nthe authority shall be all of the territory within the sewer districts\ncreated by section eleven hundred forty-seven-b of this title. The\nauthority shall be governed by a board of directors consisting of eight\nmembers, two of whom shall be appointed by the mayor of the village of\nAlmond, subject to the approval of the board of trustees of the village,\ntwo of whom shall be appointed by the town board of the town of Alfred,\ntwo of whom shall be appointed by the town board of the town of Almond\nand two of whom shall be appointed by the town board of the town of\nHornellsville. One member of the authority from each town and village in\nwhich the authority is wholly or partially located shall be an elected\nmember of the legislative body of such town or village and shall hold\noffice for a single term commencing on the date of their appointment and\nexpiring on the thirty-first day of December of the third year following\nthe first day of January after their appointment. Their successors shall\nthereafter be appointed for full terms of three years. In the event any\nsuch member ceases to hold office as elected member of the legislative\nbody of such town or village, such office shall become vacant and the\nvacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment\nfor the remainder of the unexpired term. One member shall be appointed\nby the mayor of Almond, subject to the approval of the board of\ntrustees, who shall serve a single term commencing on the date of\nappointment and ending on the thirty-first day of December following the\nfirst day of January of the second year after such appointment. His or\nher successor shall be appointed for a full three year term. One member\nshall be appointed by the town board of the town of Alfred for a single\nterm commencing on the date of the appointment and ending on the\nthirty-first day of December following the first day of January of the\nsecond year after such appointment. His or her successor shall be\nappointed for a full three year term. One member shall be appointed by\nthe town board of the town of Almond to serve a single term commencing\non the day of appointment and ending on the thirty-first day of December\nfollowing the first day of January of the year after such appointment.\nHis or her successor shall be appointed for a full three year term. One\nmember shall be appointed by the town board of the town of Hornellsville\nfor a single term commencing on the date of the appointment and ending\non the thirty-first day of December following the first day of January\nof the second year after such appointment. His or her successor shall be\nappointed for a full three year term. Each chief executive officer shall\nfile with the secretary of state a certificate of appointment of any\nmember appointed or reappointed to the board of directors within thirty\ndays of the appointment or reappointment. Members of the board of\ndirectors shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be\nentitled to reimbursement of their actual and necessary expenses,\nincurred in the discharge of their duties.\n 2. Any one or more of the members of the board of directors may be an\nofficial or an employee of a municipality situated, wholly or partially\nwithin the district. In the event that an official or an employee of\nsuch municipality shall be appointed as a member of the board of\ndirectors, acceptance or retention of such appointment shall not be\ndeemed a forfeiture of his or her municipal office or employment, or\nincompatible therewith or effect his or her tenure or compensation in\nany way.\n 3. No action shall be taken by the authority except pursuant to the\nfavorable vote of a majority of the members of the board of directors.\nSix members of the board shall constitute a quorum. Notwithstanding the\npresence of a quorum, no action shall be taken by the board of directors\nat such meeting unless board members who were appointed by not less than\nthree different towns or villages wholly or partially within the bounds\nof the authority are present.\n 4. The powers of the authority shall be vested in and shall be\nexercised by the board of directors at a meeting duly called and held.\nThe board of directors may delegate to one or more of its members, or to\none or more of the officers, agents or employees of the authority, such\npowers and duties as it may deem proper.\n 5. The officers of the authority shall consist of a chairperson,\ntreasurer, and secretary, who may, but need not be members of the board\nof directors. The officers of the authority shall be appointed by the\nboard of directors. The board of directors may appoint and at its\npleasure remove an attorney and an engineer, which positions, in\naddition to the officers above named, shall be in the exempt class of\nthe civil service, and such additional officers and employees as it may\nrequire for the performance of its duties, fix and determine their\nqualifications, duties, compensations and terms of office or tenure,\nsubject to the provisions of the civil service law and such rules as the\ncivil service commission may adopt and make applicable to the authority.\nThe authority may also from time to time contract for expert\nprofessional services. The duties of the officers shall be as follows:\n (a) Chairperson. The chairperson shall be the chief executive officer\nof the authority and it shall be the responsibility of the chairperson\nto:\n (i) preside at all meetings of the board of directors and of the\nofficers;\n (ii) manage the facilities, projects and construction of the authority\nand to effectuate the decisions of the board of directors;\n (iii) exercise supervision over the conduct of the officers and\nemployees of the authority;\n (iv) report annually to the residents and businesses within the bounds\nof the authority by publication once in a newspaper having general\ncirculation within the district that a report has been filed in the\noffice of the authority and in the offices of the clerks of the towns of\nAlfred, Almond and Hornellsville and the village of Almond and is\navailable for public inspection; such report shall include but not be\nlimited to the following:\n (1) a brief financial account on operations of the sewer system\nincluding, but not limited to, sewer rates, total revenues and sources\nof such revenues, operating and maintenance expenses, outstanding\nindebtedness and interest on bonds and notes;\n (2) the number of users of the sewer system by classification in the\nevent users are classified;\n (3) the extensions made of the system in the previous year, if any;\n (4) any actions taken to make any capital improvements to the system\nincluding any extension of the system;\n (5) the types of treatment to which the sewage is subjected before\nleaving the treatment plant or plants;\n (6) any compliance activities required by regulations of the\ndepartment of environmental conservation or the department of health or\nany local health department and any instances of noncompliance;\n (7) the present condition of the sewer system and any appurtenances\nthereto and any significant actions, as determined by the authority, to\nimprove, extend or maintain the system;\n (8) any special public services the authority provides during the\nyear;\n (v) execute all contracts in the name of the authority;\n (vi) institute, at the direction of the board of directors, all civil\nactions in the name of the authority;\n (vii) provide for the enforcement of all rules and regulations of the\nauthority and cause all violations thereof to be prosecuted;\n (viii) sign orders to pay claims when authorized by the board of\ndirectors;\n (ix) sign checks in the absence or inability of the treasurer or\ndeputy treasurer, if any, when authorized by the board of directors; and\na certified copy of the resolution of the board of directors to that\neffect shall be notice to the depository of such authorization;\n (x) appoint, subject to the approval of the board of directors,\nnon-elected officers, counsel, accountants and other financial advisors,\nengineers and other technical advisors;\n (xi) employ, promote and discharge managers, supervisors and\nemployees; and\n (xii) take all other reasonable and necessary actions to carry out his\nor her office as the chief executive officer of the authority. If the\nchairperson has not been appointed as a member of the board of directors\nof the authority pursuant to this section, such chairperson shall be\ndeemed an ex officio member of the board of directors. Such status shall\nnot carry with it the right to vote on matters coming before the board\nof directors nor shall the presence of such chairperson be counted for\nthe purpose of determining a quorum.\n (b) Secretary. (i) The secretary shall be the recording and\ncorresponding officer of the authority and the custodian of the records\nof the authority.\n (ii) The secretary shall prepare and send required notices of all\nmeetings when directed to do so by the chairperson or by the written\nrequest of four members who have specified the issues to be discussed at\nthe meeting.\n (iii) In the absence or disability of the secretary, the chairperson\nmay appoint a temporary secretary.\n (c) Treasurer. (i) The treasurer shall have custody of all moneys\nbelonging to the authority and keep accounts of all receipts and\nexpenditures in conformance with a uniform system of accounts formulated\nand prescribed by the comptroller pursuant to section thirty-six of the\ngeneral municipal law.\n (ii) The treasurer shall execute a bond, conditioned upon the faithful\nperformance of the duties of his or her office, the amount and\nsufficiency of which shall be approved by the board of directors and the\npremium therefor shall be paid by the authority.\n (iii) The treasurer shall deposit within ten days after receipt\nthereof, in the name of the authority, in one or more banks, and/or\ntrust companies, designated by the board of directors, all moneys\nreceived by him or her.\n (iv) The treasurer may sign checks with the facsimile signature of the\ntreasurer, as reproduced by a machine or device, when approved and\nauthorized by the board of directors.\n (v) The treasurer shall pay out moneys from the authority treasury\nonly as authorized by the board of directors and by law. All such\npayments, except as may be authorized by the board of directors for a\npetty cash account, shall be by check.\n (vi) The treasurer shall issue a report on the finances of the\nauthority at each regular meeting of the board of directors.\n (vii) The treasurer shall file in the office of the authority, within\nsixty days after the end of the fiscal year, a statement showing in\ndetail all revenues and expenditures during the previous fiscal year and\nthe outstanding indebtedness of the authority as of the end of the\nfiscal year. The members shall within ten days cause to be published\nonce in a newspaper having general circulation within the district, a\nnotice that the financial statement has been filed and is available for\ninspection or a summary of such statement in a form approved by the\ncomptroller, with an endorsement thereon that details thereof are on\nfile in the office of the authority.\n 6. The officers of the authority, other than members of the board of\ndirectors, shall receive such compensation as may be determined by the\nboard of directors and shall be reimbursed for all necessary and actual\nexpenses incurred in connection with their duties as such officers and\nin connection with carrying out the purposes of this title.\n 7. In addition to any powers granted to it by law, the governing body\nof each of the towns and of the village wholly or partially within the\nbounds of the authority, from time to time, may appropriate sums of\nmoney to defray project costs or any other costs and expenses of the\nauthority. Subject to the rights of bondholders, each governing body may\ndetermine if the moneys so appropriated shall be subject to repayment by\nthe authority to such towns and such village, and in such event, the\nmanner and time for such repayment.\n 8. It is hereby determined and declared that the authority and the\ncarrying out of its powers, purposes and duties are in all respects for\nthe benefit of the people of the municipalities within the bounds of the\nauthority and state, for the improvement of their health, welfare and\nprosperity and that the said purposes are a public purpose and that the\nauthority is and will be performing an essential governmental function\nin the exercise of the powers conferred upon it by this title.\n 9. (a) The mayor of the village of Almond and the supervisors of the\ntowns of Alfred, Almond and Hornellsville shall each, pursuant to the\nauthority granted to them by their respective governing boards, file on\nor before March thirty-first of the year following the year in which\nthis title shall take effect, in the office of the secretary of state, a\ncertificate signed by such mayor or supervisor setting forth: the name\nof the authority; the names of the members of the authority appointed by\nthe mayor of that village or by the town board of that town; and the\neffective date of the authority. The authority shall be perpetual in\nduration, except that if any such certificate is not filed with the\nsecretary of state on or before such date, then the corporate existence\nof the authority shall thereupon terminate and shall thereupon be deemed\nto be and shall be dissolved.\n (b) Except as provided in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the\nauthority and its corporate existence shall continue until terminated by\nlaw, provided, however, that no such law shall take effect so long as\nthe authority shall have bonds or other obligations outstanding unless\nadequate provision has been made for the payment or satisfaction\nthereof. Upon termination of the authority, all facilities, rights and\nproperty shall be disposed of as shall be agreed upon by all of the\nmembers of the authority. In the event no such agreement can be reached,\nthe issue of the disposition of such facilities, rights and property\nshall be submitted to arbitration in the manner provided by article\nseventy-five of the civil practice law and rules.\n