(A) After the establishment of any county sewer district, the board of county commissioners, if a water supply improvement is to be undertaken, may have the county sanitary engineer prepare, or otherwise cause to be prepared, for the district, or revise as needed, a general plan of water supply that is as complete as can be developed at the time. After the general plan, in original or revised form, has been approved by the board, it may adopt a resolution generally describing the water supply improvement that is necessary to be acquired or constructed in accordance with the plan, declaring that the improvement is necessary for the preservation and promotion of the public health and welfare, and determining whether or not special assessments are to be levied and collected to pay any part of the cost of the improvement.
(B) If special assessments are not to be levied and collected to pay any part of the cost of the improvement, the board, in the resolution provided for in division (A) of this section or in a subsequent resolution, including a resolution authorizing the issuance or incurrence of public obligations for the improvement, may authorize the improvement and the expenditure of the funds required for its acquisition or construction and may proceed with the improvement without regard to the procedures otherwise required by divisions (C), (D), and (E) of this section and by sections6103.06,6103.07, and6117.09to6117.24of the Revised Code. Those procedures shall be required only for improvements for which special assessments are to be levied and collected.
(C) If special assessments are to be levied and collected pursuant to a determination made in the resolution provided for in division (A) of this section or in a subsequent resolution, the procedures referred to in division (B) of this section as being required for that purpose shall apply, and the board may have the county sanitary engineer prepare, or otherwise cause to be prepared, detailed plans, specifications, and an estimate of cost for the improvement, together with a tentative assessment of the cost based on the estimate. The tentative assessment shall be for the information of property owners and shall not be levied or certified to the county auditor for collection. The detailed plans, specifications, estimate of cost, and tentative assessment, if approved by the board, shall be carefully preserved in the office of the board or the county sanitary engineer and shall be open to the inspection of all persons interested in the improvement.
(D) After the board's approval of the detailed plans, specifications, estimate of cost, and tentative assessment, and at least twenty-four days before adopting a resolution pursuant to division (E) of this section, the board, except to the extent that appropriate waivers of notice are obtained from affected owners, shall cause to be sent a notice of its intent to adopt a resolution to each owner of property proposed to be assessed that is listed on the records of the county auditor for current agricultural use value taxation pursuant to section5713.31of the Revised Code and that is not located in an agricultural district established under section929.02of the Revised Code. The notice shall satisfy all of the following:
(1) Be sent by first class or certified mail;
(2) Specify the proposed date of the adoption of the resolution;
(3) Contain a statement that the improvement will be financed in whole or in part by special assessments and that all properties not located in an agricultural district established pursuant to section929.02of the Revised Code may be subject to a special assessment;
(4) Contain a statement that an agricultural district may be established by filing an application with the county auditor.
If it appears, by the return of the mailed notices or by other means, that one or more of the affected owners cannot be found or are not served by the mailed notice, the board shall cause the notice to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county not later than ten days before the adoption of the resolution.
(E) After complying with divisions (A), (C), and (D) of this section, the board may adopt a resolution declaring that the improvement, which shall be described as to its nature and its location, route, and termini, is necessary for the preservation and promotion of the public health and welfare, referring to the plans, specifications, estimate of cost, and tentative assessment, stating the place where they are on file and may be examined, and providing that the entire cost or a lesser designated part of the cost will be specially assessed against the benefited properties within the district and that any balance will be paid by the county at large from other available funds. The resolution also shall contain a description of the boundaries of that part of the district to be assessed and shall designate a time and place for objections to the improvement, to the tentative assessment, or to the boundaries of the assessment district to be heard by the board. The date of that hearing shall be not less than twenty-four days after the date of the first publication of the notice of the hearing required by this division.
The board shall cause a notice of the hearing to be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or as provided in section7.16of the Revised Code, and on or before the date of the second publication, it shall cause to be sent by first class or certified mail a copy of the notice to every owner of property to be assessed for the improvement whose address is known.
The notice shall set forth the time and place of the hearing, a summary description of the proposed improvement, including its general route and termini, a summary description of the area constituting the assessment district, and the place where the plans, specifications, estimate of cost, and tentative assessment are on file and may be examined. Each mailed notice also shall include a statement that the property of the addressee will be assessed for the improvement. The notice also shall be sent by first class or certified mail, on or before the date of the second publication, to the clerk, or the official discharging the duties of a clerk, of any municipal corporation any part of which lies within the assessment district and shall state whether or not any property belonging to the municipal corporation is to be assessed and, if so, shall identify that property.
At the hearing, or at any adjournment of the hearing, of which no further published or mailed notice need be given, the board shall hear all parties whose properties are proposed to be assessed. Written objections to or endorsements of the proposed improvement, its character and termini, the boundaries of the assessment district, or the tentative assessment shall be received by the board for a period of five days after the completion of the hearing, and no action shall be taken by the board in the matter until after that period has elapsed. The minutes of the hearing shall be entered on the journal of the board showing the persons who appear in person or by attorney, and all written objections shall be preserved and filed in the office of the board.