§ 2710 — Special powers with regard to water facilities

§ 2710. Special powers with regard to water facilities. The authority\nshall have power:\n 1. to acquire, construct, purchase or lease, in the name of the\nauthority, any water facility, water supply system, water distribution\nsystem, including plants, works, instrumentalities or parts thereof and\nappurtenances thereto, lands, easements, rights in land and water\nrights, rights-of-way, contract rights, franchises, approaches,\nconnections, dams, reservoirs, water mains and pipe lines, pumping\nstations and equipment, wells or any other property incidental to and\nincluded in such system or part thereof, and any improvements,\nextensions and betterments, situated within the participating counties\nfor the purpose of supplying water for domestic, commercial and public\npurposes within the participating counties to any person, the state, any\npublic corporation or the United States; and as a means of so acquiring\nfor such purposes, the authority may purchase all of the assets of any\nexisting privately owned water corporation or company;\n 2. to have and take ownership, jurisdiction, control, possession and\nsupervision of any existing water system and to construct and develop\nany water facility including any water supply system or water\ndistribution system, including plants, works, instrumentalities, or\nparts thereof, and appurtenances thereto, dams, reservoirs, water mains,\npipe lines, pumping stations and equipment, wells, or any other property\nincidental to or included in such system or part thereof within the\nparticipating counties and to acquire, by condemnation, as provided in\nthis section or otherwise lands, easements, rights of land, and water\nrights and rights-of-way within the participating counties; or to\npurchase or lease lands, easements, rights in land, and water rights and\nrights-of-way in connection therewith within the participating counties\nand to own and operate, maintain, repair, improve, reconstruct, enlarge\nand extend, subject to the provisions of this title, any of its\nproperties acquired or constructed under this title, all of which,\ntogether with the acquisition of such properties are hereby declared to\nbe public purposes;\n 3. to establish a schedule of rates, rentals or charges, to be called\n"water rents," to be collected from all real property served by its\nwater facilities, and to prescribe the manner in which and the time at\nwhich such water rents are to be paid, provided that in no event shall\nthe 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 water rents may be determined by the authority on any\nequitable basis. Prior to the final adoption or modification of such\nschedule of water rents, the authority shall adopt a proposed schedule\nof such water rents and publish notice thereof once a week for three\nsuccessive weeks in each participating county served by the authority's\nwater facilities. The notice so published shall be dated as of the date\nof first publication thereof and shall state that the proposed schedule\nof water 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 water rents within sixty\ndays after the date of said notice. The schedule of water rents so\nadopted shall thereafter be the water rents to be charged all real\nproperty served by the sewer facilities of the authority. From and after\nthe due date thereof, such water rents shall constitute a lien upon the\nreal property served by the facilities. In the event that any such water\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 4. to adopt regulations in accordance with law providing that the\nauthority shall shut off the supply of water to any premises upon which\nwater rents have not been paid until the water rents are paid, together\nwith provision for an equitable charge for restoring water service to\nsaid premises;\n 5. to sell water, however acquired, by volume and at retail to\nconsumers including the United States within the participating counties\nfor domestic, commercial, industrial and public purposes, or by volume\nor in bulk and at wholesale to any or all persons, public corporations,\nthe United States or any privately owned public water supply and\ndistribution systems in the participating counties. To sell any water\nnot needed in such participating counties by volume and at retail to\nconsumers without the participating counties for domestic, commercial,\nindustrial and public purposes, or by volume or in bulk and at wholesale\nto any municipality, public corporation or privately owned public water\nsupply and distribution system outside of the participating counties,\nprovided that the authority shall not sell water in any area outside of\nthe participating counties unless the governing board of the\nmunicipality wherein such area is located shall enter into an agreement\nwith the authority for service or sale of water by it in such area or\nshall by resolution request the authority to sell water within such\narea. Any agreement between a municipality outside of the participating\ncounties and the authority for the sale of water to or within such\nmunicipality shall be subject to the approval of the legislative body of\nthe participating county or counties wherein the water facility\nsupplying such water is located. In addition to the powers hereinbefore\ngranted the authority may develop and provide a sufficient amount of\nwater so as to supply water outside of the participating counties to\nsell such water to consumers, any person, public corporation or\nprivately owned public water supply and distribution system provided\nhowever, that no such sale shall be made without the approval of the\nlegislative body of the county in which the water facility supplying\nsuch water is located;\n 6. to purchase water in bulk or by volume from any person, private\ncorporation or municipality when necessary or convenient for the\noperation of any water supply and distribution system developed by it,\nor when necessary or convenient for resale under the authority and\nprovisions of subdivision three of this section; and\n 7. to enter into cooperative agreements with other water authorities,\nmunicipalities, persons, or public benefit corporations, for the\ninterconnection of facilities, the exchange or inter-change of services\nand commodities, and to enter into contracts for the construction of\nwater supply and distribution systems by the authority for any\nmunicipality upon such terms and conditions as shall be determined to be\nreasonable including, but not limited to, the reimbursement of all costs\nof such construction provided, however, that any such agreement with a\nmunicipality located in a county, shall be subject to the approval of\nthe legislative body of such county; and\n 8. to enter into a contract or contracts with the board of\nsupervisors or county legislatures of each participating county for the\nacquisition, construction and development of a water supply and\ndistribution system, or any part or parts thereof and to contract for\nthe operation and management of such water supply and distribution\nsystem.\n