0001| AN ACT | 0002| RELATING TO WATER AND SANITATION DISTRICTS; AMENDING SECTION | 0003| 73-21-16 NMSA 1978 (BEING LAWS 1943, CHAPTER 80, SECTION 14, AS | 0004| AMENDED) TO AUTHORIZE MANDATORY PARTICIPATION IN WATER AND SANITATION | 0005| DISTRICT REFUSE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES. | 0006| | 0007| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO: | 0008| Section 1. Section 73-21-16 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1943, Chapter | 0009| 80, Section 14, as amended) is amended to read: | 0010| "73-21-16. GENERAL POWERS.--For and on behalf of the district, | 0011| the board shall have the following powers: | 0012| A. to have perpetual existence; | 0013| B. to have and use a corporate seal; | 0014| C. to sue and be sued and be a party to suits, actions and | 0015| proceedings; | 0016| D. except as otherwise provided in the Water and Sanitation | 0017| District Act, to enter into contracts and agreements affecting the | 0018| affairs of the district, including contracts with the United States | 0019| and any of its agencies or instrumentalities. Except in cases in | 0020| which a district will receive aid from a governmental agency, a notice | 0021| shall be published for bids on all construction contracts for work or | 0022| material or both involving an expense of five thousand dollars | 0023| ($5,000) or more. The district may reject any and all bids, and if it | 0024| appears that the district can perform the work or secure material for | 0025| less than the lowest bid, it may proceed to do so; | 0001| E. to borrow money and incur indebtedness and evidence the | 0002| indebtedness by certificates, notes or debentures and to issue bonds | 0003| in accordance with the provisions of the Water and Sanitation District | 0004| Act; | 0005| F. to acquire, dispose of and encumber real and personal | 0006| property, water rights, water and sewer works and plants and any | 0007| interest in them, including leases and easements; | 0008| G. to refund any bonded indebtedness or revenue bonds of | 0009| the district without an election in accordance with the provisions of | 0010| the Water and Sanitation District Act; | 0011| H. to have the management, control and supervision of all | 0012| the business and affairs of the district and the construction, | 0013| installation, operation and maintenance of district improvements; | 0014| I. to hire and retain agents, employees, engineers and | 0015| attorneys; | 0016| J. to have and exercise the power of eminent domain and | 0017| dominant eminent domain and, in the manner provided by law for the | 0018| condemnation of private property for public use, to take any property | 0019| necessary to the exercise of the powers granted in the Water and | 0020| Sanitation District Act, both within and without the district; | 0021| K. to construct and maintain works and establish and | 0022| maintain facilities across or along any public street or highway and | 0023| in, upon or over any vacant public lands, which public lands are now | 0024| or may become the property of the state, and to construct works and | 0025| establish and maintain facilities across any stream of water or | 0001| watercourse; provided, however, that the district shall promptly | 0002| restore any such street or highway to its former state of usefulness | 0003| as nearly as may be and shall not use the street or highway in such | 0004| manner as to completely or unnecessarily impair its usefulness; | 0005| L. to fix and from time to time to increase or decrease | 0006| water and sewer rates, tolls or charges for services or facilities | 0007| furnished or made available by the district, including without | 0008| limiting the generality of the foregoing standby charges for both | 0009| water and sewers, and to pledge that revenue for the payment of any | 0010| indebtedness of the district. Until paid, all rates, tolls or charges | 0011| constitute a perpetual lien on and against the property served, and | 0012| any such lien may be foreclosed in the same manner as provided by the | 0013| laws of New Mexico for the foreclosure of real estate mortgages. The | 0014| board shall shut off or discontinue service for delinquencies in the | 0015| payment of the rates, tolls or charges or in the payment of taxes | 0016| levied pursuant to the Water and Sanitation District Act and prescribe | 0017| and enforce rules and regulations for the connection with and the | 0018| disconnection from properties of the facilities of the district. For | 0019| health and sanitary purposes, the board shall have the power to compel | 0020| the owners of inhabited property within a sanitation district to | 0021| connect their property with the sewer system of the district, and, | 0022| upon a failure to connect within sixty days after written notice by | 0023| the board, the board may cause the connection to be made and a lien to | 0024| be filed against the property for the expense incurred in making the | 0025| connection; provided, however, that no owner shall be compelled to | 0001| connect his property with such system unless a service line is brought | 0002| by the district to a point within four hundred feet of his dwelling | 0003| place; | 0004| M. to provide for the collection and disposal of refuse in | 0005| any manner deemed suitable by the district, including: | 0006| (1) appointing or contracting with a refuse collector | 0007| and prescribe the duties and compensation of a refuse collector; | 0008| (2) requiring each person owning or controlling real | 0009| property within the district boundaries and connected to the district | 0010| water or sewer system to pay a reasonable fee for the collection and | 0011| disposal of refuse whether or not the refuse collection service is | 0012| used by the person; and | 0013| (3) determining if the district or the refuse | 0014| collector shall collect the fee for the collection and disposal of | 0015| refuse; | 0016| N. to adopt and amend bylaws not in conflict with the | 0017| constitution and laws of the state for carrying on the business, | 0018| objects and affairs of the board and of the district; and | 0019| O. to have and exercise all rights and powers | 0020| necessary or incidental to or implied from the specific powers | 0021| granted in this section. Such specific powers shall not be | 0022| considered as a limitation upon any power necessary or appropriate | 0023| to carry out the purposes and intent of the Water and Sanitation | 0024| District Act." |