Title 69, Waters, Waterways, Drains And Levees

The Tennessee soil and water conservation commission shall determine the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition and the exhibits to the petition, including the certification by the county clerk, or county assessor of property, required in § 69-6-103. If the petition and the…

(a) Upon receiving notification of the sufficiency of the petition from the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission, the acting chair of the board of the proposed district shall call a meeting of the board by mailing a written notice, fixing the time and place of such me…

(a) The board shall designate one (1) or more centrally located voting places within the proposed district, but if the territory of such proposed district lies in more than one (1) county, then at least one (1) voting place shall be designated within each county of the proposed d…

(a) The president and secretary shall cause a notice of the special election to be published for three (3) consecutive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation within the proposed district, the first publication to be not less than twenty-one (21) days prior to such electio…

(a) The vote at such election shall be by ballot, and such ballot shall comply with the usual requirements for an official ballot for public office insofar as such requirements are applicable. Upon such ballot shall be printed the following question: Shall the board of directors …

(a) If a majority of the landowners voting in the election provided in §§ 69-6-106 — 69-6-110 vote in favor of the organization and creation of the district, the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission shall issue a charter for the district in the same manner as other ge…

If a majority of the landowners voting on the proposition shall vote against the organization and creation of the district, the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission shall endorse that fact on the face of the petition and the proceedings shall be closed. A second appli…

(a) (1) The officers of the district shall be a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer.(2) The president presides over all meetings of the board and serves as chief executive officer of the district.(3) The vice president presides in the absence of the president and p…

All meetings of the board, including the organization's meeting provided for in §§ 69-6-106 — 69-6-110, are open to the public, and any landowner, landowner's agent or attorney, is entitled to attend and to be heard.

(a) The Tennessee soil and water conservation commission is not entitled to collect any fee for the filing of the petition, the issuing of the charter, or other services rendered by it under this chapter. (b) The fee of the county register for recording the charter of such distri…

(a) For the purpose of paying the costs of the election provided by §§ 69-6-106 — 69-6-110, and for the purpose of paying the costs of recording the charter of such district, and any other necessary expenses incurred in the organization of the district, the board is empowered to …

(a) As an alternative method for the establishment of a watershed district, any such district may be organized and established in the same manner as a levee and drainage district by the procedure set forth in chapter 5 of this title. (b) In event this alternative procedure is fol…

(a) Each watershed district incorporated under this chapter is a body politic and corporate and has the following powers necessary for carrying out the purposes set forth in this chapter to:(1) Adopt a seal;(2) Sue and be sued by its corporate name;(3) Purchase, hold, sell and co…

Upon the incorporation of the watershed district, the board shall cause a study to be made of the watershed area to be served by the district. The board has the power to employ engineers, surveyors and other personnel necessary for such study and to have prepared surveys, maps, p…

(a) In the event that such study shall establish that the areas embodied in the charter originally issued by the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission need to be enlarged or diminished, or that the boundaries set forth in the charter are substantially and materially in…

(a) The result shall be certified to the Tennessee soil and water conservation commission in accordance with §§ 69-6-106 — 69-6-110. (b) If the vote is favorable, an amended charter shall be issued and shall substantially follow the form prescribed in §§ 69-6-111 and 69-6-112, bu…

(a) All powers granted to watershed districts incorporated under this chapter shall be exercised by a board of directors, which shall be composed of not less than five (5) nor more than nine (9) members. (b) Representation on the board shall be fairly spread among the counties in…

(a) Within thirty (30) days after the permanent boundaries of the district are established as prescribed in §§ 69-6-119 — 69-6-121, an election shall be held for the election of directors. Notice of this election shall be given at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the elec…

(a) Regular meetings of the board of directors shall be held quarterly at the offices of the corporation on such day as is selected by the board. Notice of such meeting shall be mailed to each director at least five (5) days prior to the date of the meeting, and special meetings …

The directors of a watershed district are authorized to employ attorneys to assist in all matters relating to the affairs of the district, including preliminary matters necessary for the establishment of the district. The cost of such legal services shall be an obligation of the …

The county legislative body of any county, any part of which is located within a watershed district, or the governing body of any city or town within, adjacent to or in the proximity of a watershed district, has the right to contribute, out of the general fund of such county or c…

The landowners may provide for the establishment of a watershed district upon their own lands and at their own expense by mutual agreement in writing duly signed, acknowledged and filed with the county clerk.

Watershed districts may be merged or consolidated by the unanimous vote of the board of directors of such districts, concurred in by a majority of the voters of each district in an election conducted as provided in §§ 69-6-106 — 69-6-110. Such resolutions shall be recorded in the…

(a) (1) Before any contract is let or work begun upon any plan, improvement or project within the district, the cost of which, excepting rights-of-way and maintenance, is to be financed by special assessments, by obligations of the district, or by any method of deferred payments,…

(a) Upon the filing of a project petition, the court in which the petition is filed shall set a day for the hearing and direct that publication be made as to all landowners, lienholders, encumbrancers, mortgagees, occupants, or other persons interested in any way in the lands to …

(a) At the time and place set for such hearing, or at any subsequent date to which such hearing may be adjourned by order of court, the court shall proceed to hear proof and determine by decree:(1) The soundness and economic feasibility of the proposed plan or project;(2) The pro…

If the cost of the proposed improvement is to be paid from the proceeds of revenue bonds of the district, the county legislative body may authorize the issuance of the necessary revenue bonds, in accordance with title 9, chapter 21, with respect to a local government.

If the cost of the proposed improvement is to be raised by special assessment upon the lands to be benefited by the project, the court shall appoint three (3) commissioners who shall be disinterested financially in such proposed project.

(a) The commissioners shall study the plans for the proposed improvement and the cost of the same. They shall then go upon the lands within the district for the purpose of determining to what extent and in what proportion the lands affected by such project will be benefited accor…

(a) When the commissioners have filed their written report, including the proposed assessment for benefits upon the lands benefited by the project, the court shall set a date for the hearing of the matter upon the report of the commissioners and direct that publication be made fo…

Any person aggrieved may appeal from the decision or the decree of the court in making or levying the assessment or refusing to make or levy the assessment. The appeal is made in the same manner as the appeal of any other case in such court or as provided in chapter 5 of this tit…

(a) The assessment made or levied for watershed improvement shall be a lien on the respective tracts of land upon which it is assessed, and this lien shall be enforced in the same manner as provided for the enforcement of the lien for drainage assessment under chapter 5 of this t…

As soon as the assessment has been made, the court will fix the date or dates upon which such assessment and/or the annual installments of the same shall be payable. Whereupon, the county clerk shall make out an assessment list or book for the trustee of each county in which are …

(a) The trustee of each county in which lands so assessed are located shall collect such assessments upon the dates designated by the court and shall make settlement quarterly with the treasurer of the district for such collections. (b) The trustee shall be entitled to a commissi…

In the event assessments become delinquent, §§ 69-5-817 — 69-5-829 shall be applied, and the same are incorporated in this section by reference as fully and completely as if copied.

In the event of special assessments, the treasurer of the district shall be bonded at the expense of the district by a reputable and responsible corporate surety in an amount determined by the court, or as otherwise provided by law.

(a) The board of directors of each district shall cause an annual financial review of the district's receipts, disbursements, and balances to be made of the books and records of the district. The department of agriculture shall be responsible for determining that the annual finan…

(a) A written contract shall be entered into between the board of directors of the district and the successful bidder, after due advertisement for bids as is required in case of contracts for public improvements, in connection with each work plan or project of the district, the c…

In addition to the methods of financing authorized in this chapter, administrative costs of the district as well as the cost of any general plan, improvement, project, program or work benefiting all lands in the district generally may be financed by an ad valorem tax levied by sp…

(a) Ad valorem taxes would be collected by the trustee of the county in which the lands are located, in the same manner and at the same time in which other county taxes upon such lands within the watershed district are collected. (b) The trustee is entitled to a commission of one…

The board of directors, its representatives and employees, including engineers and contractors and their employees, have the right and authority to enter upon private lands within or without the boundaries of the district for the purpose of conducting tests, surveys and other wor…

(a) It is the duty of the board of directors to properly maintain any project constructed and operated within the district. (b) (1) The board, or landowners owning five percent (5%) of the acreage affected by any project, may petition the court in which such plan or project was a…

(a) A watershed district may be dissolved in the same way and manner as provided for general welfare and nonprofit corporations as set out in title 48, chapters 51-68. The watershed district shall file a true and correct copy of the dissolution with the Tennessee soil and water c…

This chapter is deemed to be supplemental to existing laws relating to drainage districts, flood control, irrigation, soil conservation, and related matters.