Title 61 — Waters

The board shall meet annually on the same day as, and immediately following, the annual meeting of participating members, and may meet at other times it determines, or upon the call of the president or any two directors. At the first meeting of the initial board following its ele…

Each district board has the power to: 1. Sue and be sued in the name of the district. 2. Exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner provided by title 32 for the purpose of acquiring and securing any rights, titles, interests, estates, or easements necessary or proper to c…

If the cost of construction or maintenance of a project does not exceed the amount provided for construction of a public improvement under section 48-01.2-02, the work may be done on a day work basis or a contract may be let without being advertised. If the cost of the constructi…

A district may issue revenue bonds, not exceeding an aggregate total outstanding of fifty million dollars, to finance construction of projects and incidental facilities authorized by this chapter. Issuance of revenue bonds must be approved by two-thirds of all of the members of t…

As soon as reasonably possible after organizing a district, the board shall file with the department of water resources copies of the plans and specifications for, and estimates of the cost of, any improvements authorized by this chapter which the board proposes to construct or a…

If the capacity of the district's facilities permits, the district may sell water by contract to any political subdivision, other district, or other person, public or private, not within the boundaries of the district.

1. Owners of real property outside any district which can be served economically by the facilities of the district may petition to be attached to the district. The petition must be filed with the department of water resources, and the department shall proceed in substantially the…

A district has no power to levy any taxes. The facilities constructed or otherwise acquired by any district, including ponds, reservoirs, pipelines, wells, deck dams, and pumping installations, the revenues obtained by the district from the sale of water, and the revenue bonds or…

If it becomes apparent that any real property included within a district but contiguous to a border cannot economically or adequately be served by the facilities of the district, the owners of the real property or the board may file with the department of water resources a petiti…

A petition may be filed with the department of water resources requesting the department to dissolve an inactive district. The petition must: 1. List all real and personal property of any kind exclusive of records, maps, plans, and files and state all of its debts and obligations…

1. Upon the filing with the department of water resources of a petition under section 61-35-20 or 61-35-21, the department shall fix a time for consideration of the petition. The department may hold a hearing on the petition. After consideration of the petition, and after the hea…

If a district is dissolved, the department of water resources shall provide for the disposition of any property owned by the district and for the apportionment of the proceeds and any other moneys belonging to the district to an adjoining district. If there is no adjoining distri…

This chapter does not exempt any district from the requirements of any other statute under which the district is required to obtain the permission or approval of, or to notify, the state water commission, or the department of environmental quality, or any other agency of this sta…

A nonprofit corporation or cooperative association established under title 10 for the specific purpose of operating a rural water system may petition the department of water resources to organize a district, in the manner provided by section 61-35-02. The signatures of the corpor…

A district organized under this title or title 10 must be fairly compensated for losses resulting from annexation by a city under chapter 40-51.2. If a district has outstanding bonds, the annexation proceedings must be in accordance with the bond resolution or trust indenture. Th…

It is the intent of the legislative assembly that potable water should be available in sufficient quality and quantity to meet citizens' needs for a healthy and safe standard of living and to promote economic growth and development. In order to meet this objective in the most eco…

1. A city planning to expand water service through annexation shall develop a city water service area plan. The city shall consult with any other water service provider, including a district, whose water service area is affected by the city's water service area plan of the establ…

Before providing a grant or loan to a district or city for a water service project in any area within the extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction of any affected city, the commission shall require that district and city to have a water service agreement. The absence of a water servi…

1. If a water service agreement between the district and the city is not executed within sixty days after the city notifies the district that a city water service area plan has been developed, the matter must be submitted to a committee for mediation. The committee must be compri…

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a director, officer, employee, or other personnel of the board are not liable for the district's debts or obligations and a director, officer, employee, or volunteer of the board is not personally liable in that capacity for a claim b…

Any district board, before making any contract, levying special assessments, or issuing special assessment improvement bonds or revenue bonds, or before taking any special action, may commence a special proceeding in district court by which the proceeding leading up to the making…

A district, upon resolution of the district board, may organize and participate in an association of rural water systems organized under chapter 10-33.

The acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement, betterment, or extension of any project and the issuance of bonds in anticipation of the collection of the revenues of such project to provide funds to pay the associated costs may be authorized by a resolution of the bo…

Refunding bonds must be authorized by resolution of the board. The resolution may be adopted at a regular or special meeting, including the meeting at which it is introduced, by the affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the board, and takes effect immediately upon adop…

In determining the cost of a project, the board may include the estimated cost of bond issuance, all engineering, inspection, fiscal, and legal expenses, any bond reserves, and the estimated interest that will accrue during construction, and within six months after completion of …

The resolution authorizing the issuance of revenue bonds or refunding bonds under this chapter or resolutions adopted after the adoption of the original resolution must prescribe: 1. The rate or rates of interest, payable semiannually. 2. Whether the bonds will be in one or more …

Revenue bonds or refunding bonds must be sold at not less than ninety-eight percent of par. The bonds may be sold at private sale without notice or at public sale after notice of the sale has been published once at least five days before the sale in a newspaper circulating in the…

Revenue bonds or refunding bonds bearing the signatures of the appropriate officers who are in office on the date of signing are valid and binding obligations notwithstanding that before the delivery and payment any or all of the persons whose signatures appear on the bonds have …

Bonds issued under this chapter and their income are exempt from taxation by the state or by any political subdivision.

Any resolution authorizing the issuance of bonds under this chapter to completely or partially finance or refinance the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement, betterment, or extension of a project may contain covenants that limit the exercise of powers conferred …

Revenue and refunding bonds issued under this chapter may not be payable from or charged upon any funds other than the revenue pledged to their payment and the district issuing the bonds may not be subject to any pecuniary liability. The holder of any such bonds may not enforce p…

To adequately secure the payment of bonds and interest on the bonds, any district issuing bonds under this chapter, and the district's officers, agents, and employees shall: 1. Pay or cause to be paid punctually the principal and interest of every bond on the dates, at the places…

Subject to any contractual limitations binding upon the holders of any issue of bonds, or a trustee for the holders, including the restriction of the exercise of any remedy to a specified proportion or percentage of the holders, any holder of bonds or trustee, for the equal benef…

If the district defaults in the payment of the principal or interest on any of the bonds when due, whether at maturity or upon call for redemption, and the default continues for a period of thirty days, or if the district or the board, or officers, agents, or employees of the dis…

A receiver appointed under section 61-35-42, directly or by agents and attorneys, shall immediately enter into and upon and take possession of the entire project and may exclude from the project the district, its board, officers, agents, and employees, and all persons claiming un…

After payment of all that is due upon the bonds and any other obligations that are a charge, lien, or encumbrance on the revenues of the project under any of the terms of any covenants or agreements with bondholders, and after all defaults have been made good, the court, after no…

A receiver under this chapter acts under the direction and supervision of the appointing court and is subject to the orders of that court and may be removed by it. This chapter does not limit the jurisdiction of the court to enter orders it deems necessary for the receiver to exe…

Powers under this chapter are in addition and supplemental to and not in substitution for, and the limitations imposed by this chapter do not affect the powers conferred by, any other law. Bonds may be issued under this chapter without regard to any other laws of this state, exce…

For an improvement project under section 61-35-48 and defraying the cost of the project by special assessments, a district may create water districts, sewer districts, and water and sewer districts, and may extend any such district when necessary. The appropriate special improvem…

Any improvement district created by a district may embrace two or more separate property areas. Each improvement district must be of such size and form as to include all properties which in the judgment of the board, after consultation with the engineer planning the improvement, …

After a special improvement district has been created, the board, if it deems it necessary to make any of the improvements set out in section 61-35-48 in the manner provided in this chapter, shall direct the engineer for the district, or some other competent engineer, to prepare …

After receiving the engineer's report required by section 61-35-54, the board may direct the engineer to prepare detailed plans and specifications for construction of the improvement. The plans and specifications must be approved by a resolution of the board. 61-35-56. District e…

The plans, specifications, and estimates prepared as directed under section 61-35-55 are the property of the district, must be filed in the district office, and must remain on file subject to inspection by any interested person.

Upon the filing of the engineer's report provided for in section 61-35-54, and after satisfying the requirements of section 61-35-55, the district board shall fix a date and place for public hearing on the proposed project. The place of hearing must be in the vicinity of the prop…

At the hearing, the affected landowners and any county, township, or city to be assessed must be informed when and where votes concerning the proposed project may be filed. Affected landowners and the governing body of any county, township, or city to be assessed have thirty days…

In order that there may be a fair relationship between the amount of liability for assessments and the power of objecting to the establishment of a proposed project, the voting rights of affected landowners on the question of establishing the project are as provided in this secti…

When the district board proposes to make any special assessment under this chapter, the board, prior to the hearing required under section 61-35-58 shall inspect any and all lots and parcels of land that may be subject to assessment and shall determine from the inspection the par…

Within ten days after the hearing under section 61-35-62, affected landowners and any political subdivision subject to assessment, having not less than twenty-five percent of the possible votes as determined under section 61-35-60, who believe that the assessment has not been fai…

After the requirements of this chapter have been satisfied and a contract and bond for any work for which a special assessment is to be levied have been approved by the district board, the board may direct special assessments to be levied for the payment of appropriate costs and …

The district board may hold at any time or, upon petition of any affected landowner or political subdivision which has been assessed after a project has been in existence for at least one year, shall hold a hearing for the purpose of determining the benefits of the project to eac…