§16-12-1 Incorporation as sanitary district for sewage disposal; petition, notice and hearing; election; form of ballot; expenses of election. - West Virginia Statutes

§16-12-1. Incorporation as sanitary district for sewage disposal; petition, notice and hearing; election; form of ballot; expenses of election.
That whenever any area of contiguous territory shall contain one or more incorporated cities, towns and/or villages, and shall be so situated that the construction and maintenance of a plant or plants for the purification and treatment of sewage and the maintenance of one or more outlets for the drainage thereof, after having been so treated and purified by and through such plant or plants will conduce to the preservation of the public health, comfort and convenience, the same may be incorporated as a sanitary district under this article in the manner following, to wit:

Any four hundred legal voters, residents within the limits of such proposed sanitary district, may petition the county court of the county in which the proposed sanitary district, or the major portion thereof, is located, to cause the question to be submitted to the legal voters of such proposed sanitary district, whether such proposed territory shall be organized as a sanitary district under this article; such petition shall be addressed to the county court and shall contain a definite description of the boundaries of the territory to be embraced in the such sanitary district, and the name of such proposed sanitary district: Provided, however, That no territory shall be included within more than one sanitary district organized under this article.

Notice shall be given by such county court within ten days after receiving the petition, of the time and place when a hearing on the petition for a sanitary district will be held, by publication of such notice as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the area of the sanitary district. The first publication shall be made at least twenty days prior to such hearing. The hearing on the petition for a sanitary district shall be held not later than thirty days after the county court receives the said petition. At such hearing the president of the county court shall preside, and all persons resident within the limits of such proposed sanitary district shall have an opportunity to be heard upon the question of the location and boundary of such proposed sanitary district, and to make suggestions regarding the same, and the said county court, after hearing statements, evidence and suggestions, shall fix and determine the limits and boundaries of such proposed sanitary district as stated in the original petition unless by a vote of the majority of the legal voters resident within the limits of such proposed sanitary district, present at the said hearing, it should be decided to alter and amend such petition to change and redetermine the limits and boundaries of such proposed sanitary district.

After such determination by the county court, the same shall be incorporated in an order which shall be spread at length upon the records of the county court. Upon the entering of such order, the county court shall submit to the legal voters of the proposed sanitary district, the question of organization and establishment of the proposed sanitary district as determined by said county court, at a special election, to be held within sixty days after the entering of such order, notice whereof shall be given by the county court at least twenty days prior thereto by publication of such notice as a Class II-O legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the area of the proposed sanitary district. Such notice shall specify briefly the purpose of such election, with the description of such proposed sanitary district, and the time and place for holding such election.

Each legal voter resident within such proposed sanitary district shall have the right to cast a ballot at such election. Ballots at elections held under this section shall be in substantially the following form, to wit:

/ / For sanitary district.

/ / Against sanitary district.

The ballots so cast shall be issued, received, returned and canvassed in the same manner and by the same officers as is provided by law in the case of ballots cast for county officers, except as herein modified. The county court shall cause a statement of the result of such election to be spread on the records of the county court. If a majority of the votes cast upon the question of the incorporation of the proposed sanitary district shall be in favor of the proposed sanitary district, such proposed sanitary district shall thenceforth be deemed an organized sanitary district under this article. All courts in this state shall take judicial notice of the existence of all sanitary districts organized under this article.

The expenses of holding said special election shall be paid by the county court of said county, in which said proposed sanitary district, or the major portion thereof, is located, out of the general funds of said county: Provided, however, That in the event such sanitary district is established and incorporated under this article, then said sanitary district shall repay to said county the expenses incurred in holding said special election within two years from the date of incorporating said sanitary district.