SECTIONS 33240-33249 - California Statutes

WATER CODE

SECTION 33240-33249

33240. Except as in this part expressly provided, the new Costa
Mesa County Water District shall be in all respects operated, managed
and governed, its directors and officers shall be elected or
appointed, and its revenue shall be raised and expended, as provided
by law for county water districts generally.

33241. Any and all actions and proceedings pending by or against
any of the districts dissolved hereby at the time of their
dissolution and merger into the new district may be prosecuted to
final judgment for or against said districts, or the new Costa Mesa
County Water District may be substituted as a party.

33242. After the effective date of the dissolution and merger of
the districts into the new Costa Mesa County Water District, no
action or proceeding shall be brought for or against the dissolved
and merged districts or their directors or officers or employees, but
shall be prosecuted by or against the Costa Mesa County Water
District.

33243. All outstanding bonded and other indebtednesses of the
dissolved and merged districts are hereby assumed by the Costa Mesa
County Water District, and all bondholders and creditors of such
districts may enforce any rights they may have against the Costa Mesa
County Water District in like manner as if the districts had not
been dissolved and merged into the Costa Mesa County Water District.
All property subject to taxation or assessment for the payment of the
principal of or interest on any such outstanding bonded and other
indebtedness shall, until such principal and interest is paid or
provision is made for the payment thereof, continue to be subject to
such taxation or assessment as fully as though said districts had not
been merged or dissolved, and all provisions of law which could have
been used against the legislative bodies and officers of the merged
or dissolved districts to compel the levy and collection of such
taxes or assessments had the merger or dissolution not occurred can
be used against the board of directors and officers of the Costa Mesa
County Water District. As the City of Costa Mesa has no present
bonded indebtedness, the new Costa Mesa County Water District is not
assuming any present or future indebtedness of the City of Costa
Mesa.

33244. Upon the dissolution of the named districts, their merger
into the Costa Mesa County Water District, and the transfer of the
water system by the City of Costa Mesa to the Costa Mesa County Water
District as in this part provided, there shall be transferred to the
General Fund of the Costa Mesa County Water District a sum equal to
three dollars ($3) for each connected consumer by each of the
districts and the City of Costa Mesa. All other funds of the district
shall be transferred to special accounts for the payment of bond
principal and interest of the respective assessment districts as
provided in this part. Any surplus remaining after the payment of all
bonded indebtedness or after setting aside sufficient funds to pay
all bonded indebtedness shall remain in the special fund for the
benefit of the territory of the district from which the funds were
collected, and shall be used from time to time, until expended, for
capital improvements within such territory.

33245. The boards of directors of the Newport Heights Irrigation
District, the Fairview County Water District, and the Newport Mesa
County Water District, and the city council of the City of Costa
Mesa, shall, on or before the first day of the first month following
the sixty-first day after this part becomes effective, appoint by
resolution a director to serve as a director of the Costa Mesa County
Water District. The four directors so appointed shall, within 60
days thereafter, appoint the fifth director. If they for any reason
should fail to appoint such a director within the time allowed, the
board of supervisors of the County of Orange shall appoint such
director. If any of the districts or the city fail to appoint a
director as herein provided, the directors who are appointed as
herein provided shall consider such office vacant and make an
appointment therefor. The directors so appointed shall proceed as
provided in Water Code Sections 30520 and following, to organize the
board, elect officers, and proceed to govern the affairs of the Costa
Mesa County Water District. Any director so appointed must qualify
as provided by county water district law, and the first directors
shall classify themselves by lot as provided in Water Code Section
30501.

33246. The board of directors of the Costa Mesa County Water
District shall, as soon as possible after the formation of the
district, cause an appraisal to be made of all operating (other than
pipelines, wells, reservoirs and appurtenances) and non-operating
assets acquired from each district and the city. The non-operating
assets shall be sold as soon as practicable and the proceeds
therefrom credited to the district or city from which received. The
operating assets necessary for the proper functioning of the
integrated system shall be retained and all surplus operating
property shall be sold and the proceeds therefrom credited to the
agency from which received. It is the intention of the Legislature
that the Costa Mesa County Water District equalize as much as
reasonably possible the contribution of retained operating property
(other than pipelines, wells, reservoirs and appurtenances) by each
of the agencies.

33247. The Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa County Water
District shall, by January 1, 1977, adopt a resolution dividing the
Costa Mesa County Water District into five divisions as nearly equal
in population as practicable for the purpose of electing directors
thereafter by divisions, as provided in Article 1 (commencing at
Section 30730) of Chapter 2, Part 4, Division 12 of the Water Code.

33248. The districts and the city shall, pursuant to this part,
execute any and all documents necessary to complete the transfer of
assets as herein provided.

33249. The Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa County Water
District shall enforce the same or similar provisions as Ordinance
No. 122 of the City of Costa Mesa, respecting extension of water
mains and costs thereof and the requirement of annexation to the City
of Costa Mesa for water service in the area formerly served by the
city system and the contiguous area northerly and easterly thereof,
until the full amount of the funds advanced or hereafter advanced by
the city for mainline extension, reservoir or well purposes has been
collected and refunded to the city.