CHAPTER 9
H.P. 886 - L.D. 1212
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. Territorial limits; corporate name. Pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, chapter 64, that part of the Town of Northport described as follows:
Beginning on the shore of the west side of Penobscot Bay at a point marking the southerly line of the property identified on the Town of Northport tax map U-9 as lot 2; thence southwesterly in a straight line to the intersection of U.S. Route 1 and the Pound Hill Road; thence northwesterly in a straight line to the intersection of the Rocky Road and the Bog Road; thence southwesterly by the center of the Bog Road 500 feet; thence northwesterly following a line 500 feet west of Rocky Road to the Belfast town line; thence following the town boundaries to the shore of the west side of Penobscot Bay; thence northeasterly, southeasterly and southerly by said bay to point of beginning and its inhabitants constitute a standard district under the name Bayside Utilities District, referred to in this Act as "the district."
Sec. 2. Powers; authority; duties. The district has all the powers and authority and is subject to all the requirements and restrictions provided in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, chapter 64.
Sec. 3. Authority to purchase water. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 6404, the district is authorized to purchase water from the Belfast Water District.
Sec. 4. Additional powers. The district is authorized to provide water and sewage treatment and collection systems for public purposes and for the health, comfort and convenience of the inhabitants of the district.
Sec. 5. Power to take water and sewer. The district is authorized to take, hold, use and distribute water and sewage from the Northport Village Corporation.
Sec. 6. Number of trustees. The board of trustees of the district is composed of 5 trustees, 4 must be Northport Village Corporation eligible voters as defined in Private and Special Law 1915, chapter 136, section 12 and one must be a trustee at large who is a utility user of the district.
Sec. 7. Election of first board. The first board is elected in an election called by the municipal officers of the Town of Northport and the municipal officers of the Northport Village Corporation within 6 months of approval of this Act by the voters in accordance with this Act. The terms of the first board are governed by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 6410.
Sec. 8. Terms of trustees. After the election of the first board, trustees are elected to 3-year terms. Terms are staggered and no trustee may serve more than 4 3-year terms consecutively.
Sec. 9. Authorized to acquire property and franchises of Northport Village Corporation. The district, through its trustees, shall acquire by purchase in accordance with this section the plants, properties, franchises, rights and privileges owned by the Northport Village Corporation, including all lands, buildings, waters, water rights, reservoirs, tanks, standpipes, mains, pumps, pipes, machinery, fixtures, hydrants, meters, services, tools, equipment, apparatus and appliances used or usable in supplying water in the area of the district and all sewers, reservoirs, flush tanks, manholes, catch basins, filtration plants, pumping stations and other appliances and property used or usable for collecting, holding, purifying and disposing of sewage matter and waste waters.
The Northport Village Corporation existing pursuant to Private and Special Law 1915, chapter 136 shall sell, transfer and convey to the district by appropriate instruments of conveyance all, and not less than all, of their plants, properties, assets, franchises, rights and privileges, including, without limitation, lands, buildings, waters, water rights, springs, wells, reservoirs, tanks, standpipes, mains, pumps, pipes, machinery, fixtures, hydrants, meters, services, tools, equipment, apparatus and appliances used or useful in supplying water for domestic, commercial, industrial and municipal purposes, and all sewers, reservoirs, flush tanks, manholes, catch basins, filtration plants, pumping stations and other appliances and property used or usable for collecting, holding, purifying and disposing of sewage matter and waste waters in consideration of the assumption by the district of all of the outstanding water-related and sewer-related debts, obligations and liabilities of the Northport Village Corporation, including, without limitation, the assumption of any outstanding water-related and sewer-related notes or bonds of the Northport Village Corporation that are due on or after the date of transfer.
The sale and transfer by the Northport Village Corporation to the district of its plants, properties, assets, franchises, rights and privileges; the assumption by the district of all of the outstanding debts, obligations and liabilities of the district pursuant to this section; and the subsequent use of the plants, properties, assets, franchises, rights and privileges by the district within the limits of the district are subject to the approval of the Public Utilities Commission as may be required by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, Part 1.
Sec. 10. Continuation of Northport Village Corporation. Nothing in this Act is intended to alter or affect or may be interpreted as altering or affecting the Northport Village Corporation Charter.
Sec. 11. Referendum; effective date. This Act takes effect when approved only for the purpose of permitting its submission to the eligible voters of the Northport Village Corporation at its annual meeting and to the legal voters within the territory described in section 1 of this Act at elections called for that purpose and held within one year of the effective date of this Act. The elections must be called, advertised and conducted according to the law relating to municipal elections, except that the registrar of voters is not required to prepare or the clerk to post a new list of voters. For the purpose of registration of voters, the registrar of voters must be in session the secular day preceding the election. The subject matter of this Act is reduced to the following questions. The question to be submitted to the eligible voters of the Northport Village Corporation must read as follows:
"Do you favor permitting the Bayside Utilities District to acquire the water-related and sewer-related assets of the Northport Village Corporation?"
The question to be submitted to the legal voters within the district must read as follows:
"Do you favor creating the Bayside Utilities District?"
The voters shall indicate by a cross or check mark placed against the word "Yes" or "No" their opinion of the same.
The results must be declared by the municipal officers of the Town of Northport and due certificate of the results filed by the clerk with the Secretary of State.
This Act takes effect for all purposes immediately upon its approval by a majority of the eligible voters of the Northport Village Corporation at its annual meeting and by a majority of the legal voters voting at the election. Failure to achieve the necessary approval in any referendum does not prohibit subsequent referenda consistent with this section, provided the referenda are held prior to January 1, 2005.
Effective pending referendum.
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