§ 2709 — Special powers with regard to sewerage facilities

§ 2709. Special powers with regard to sewerage facilities. The\nauthority shall have power:\n 1. to acquire, construct, purchase or lease, in the name of the\nauthority, any sewerage facility, sewer system, including plants, works,\ninstrumentalities or parts thereof and appurtenances thereto, lands,\neasements, rights in land and water rights, rights-of-way, contract\nrights, franchises, approaches, connections and pipe lines, pumping\nstations and equipment or any other property incidental to and included\nin such sewerage facility system or part thereof, and any improvements,\nextensions and betterments, situated within the participating counties\nfor the purpose providing adequate sanitary and storm water drainage to\nusers, including the United States, within the participating counties;\nand as a means of so acquiring for such purposes, the authority may\npurchase all of the assets of any existing privately owned sewerage\ncorporation or company;\n 2. to have and take ownership, jurisdiction, control, possession and\nsupervision of any existing sewer system and any sewer facility\nfinanced, constructed or acquired pursuant to this title; to maintain,\noperate, reconstruct and improve the same as a comprehensive sewerage\nsystem and to make additions, betterments and extensions thereto, and to\nhave all the rights, privileges and jurisdiction necessary or proper for\ncarrying such power into execution. No enumeration of powers in this or\nany other general, special or local law shall operate to restrict the\nmeaning of this general grant of power or to exclude other powers\ncomprehended within this general grant;\n 3. to dispose of the sewage and waste of all persons, public\ncorporations, the state, and the United States in the participating\ncounties;\n 4. upon the filing by the governing body of any municipality within a\nparticipating county with the secretary of state of the state of New\nYork, of its certificate delineating the existing sewer system and such\nmunicipality's intention and desire to transfer the existing sewer\nsystem to the authority, thereupon, and by virtue of this title, the\nexisting sewer system, together with all contracts, books, maps, plans,\npapers and records of whatever description pertaining to subjects or\nmatters relating to the design, construction, operation and affairs of\nthe existing sewer system shall be assigned, transferred and dedicated\nto the use of and be in the possession of and under the jurisdiction,\ncontrol and supervision of the authority and the authority is empowered\nto take possession thereof for its uses and purposes. The authority\nshall thereafter have complete jurisdiction, control, possession and\nsupervision of the existing sewer system and of all the facilities in\nthe municipality for the disposal of sewerage and storm water, and shall\ncontinue to exercise such power for a period not to exceed thirty years\nas contained in such certificate and so long thereafter as any of the\nbonds and liabilities of the authority shall remain unpaid or shall not\nhave otherwise been discharged. When all of the bonds and liabilities of\nthe authority shall have been paid in full or shall have otherwise been\ndischarged and the authority shall have ceased to exist, the powers,\njurisdiction and duty of the authority shall cease and the property and\nassets acquired or held by it pursuant to this section, together with\nany additions within the boundaries of such municipality shall\nthereafter become the property of, and shall be under the jurisdiction,\ncontrol, possession and supervision of such municipality;\n 5. to establish a schedule of rates, rentals or charges, to be called\n"sewer rents," to be collected from all real property served by its\nsewerage facilities, and to prescribe the manner in which and the time\nat which such sewer rents are to be paid, provided that in no event\nshall the authority collect rents within any city within a participating\ncounty, and to change such schedule from time to time as may be deemed\nadvisable. Such sewer rents may be determined by the authority on any\nequitable basis. Prior to the final adoption or modification of such\nschedule of sewer rents, the authority shall adopt a proposed schedule\nof such sewer rents and publish notice thereof once a week for three\nsuccessive weeks in each participating county served by the authority's\nsewer facilities. The notice so published shall be dated as of the date\nof first publication thereof and shall state that the proposed schedule\nof sewer rents will remain open for inspection in the office of the\nauthority for thirty days from the date of such notice, and that\nobjections thereto may be filed during said period with the authority by\nany person conceiving himself aggrieved thereby. The authority shall\nhear and examine any such complaints and may modify the proposed\nschedule and shall adopt a final schedule of sewer rents within sixty\ndays after the date of said notice. The schedule of sewer rents so\nadopted shall thereafter be the sewer rents to be charged all real\nproperty served by the sewer facilities of the authority. From and after\nthe due date thereof, such sewer rents shall constitute a lien upon the\nreal property served by the facilities. In the event that any such sewer\nrent shall remain unpaid for a period of ninety days, the authority, or\nfor property within any city within a participating county, such city,\nmay bring and maintain an action in the supreme court for the\nforeclosure of such lien;\n 6. to adopt regulations in accordance with law providing that the\nauthority shall shut off the supply of water to any premises upon which\nsewer rents have not been paid until the sewer rents are paid, together\nwith provision for an equitable charge for restoring water service to\nsaid premises.\n