247.040. Formation of public water supply district--procedure.
Formation of public water supply district--procedure.
247.040. 1. Proceedings for the formation of a public water supplydistrict shall be substantially as follows: a petition in duplicatedescribing the proposed boundaries of the district sought to be formed,accompanied by a plat of the proposed district, shall be filed with theclerk of the circuit court of the county wherein the proposed district issituate, or with the clerk of the circuit court of the county having thelargest acreage proposed to be included in the proposed district, in theevent that the proposed district embraces lands in more than one county.Such petition, in addition to such boundary description, shall set forth anestimate of the number of customers of the proposed district, the necessityfor the formation of the district, the probable cost of the improvement, anapproximation of the assessed valuation of taxable property within thedistrict and such other information as may be useful to the court indetermining whether or not the petition should be granted and a decree ofincorporation entered. Such petition shall be accompanied by a cashdeposit of fifty dollars as an advancement of the costs of the proceeding,and the petition shall be signed by not less than fifty voters or owners ofreal property within the proposed district and shall pray for theincorporation of the territory therein described into a public water supplydistrict. The petition shall be verified by at least one of the signers ofthe petition, including a statement confirming that service has been madeby certified mail to the city manager or the business office of anymunicipality with boundaries located not more than one mile from anyboundary of the proposed district.
2. Upon the filing of the petition, the same shall be presented tothe circuit court, and such court shall fix a date for a hearing on suchpetition, as herein provided for. Thereupon the clerk of the court shallgive notice of the filing of the petition in some newspaper of generalcirculation in the county in which the proceedings are pending, and if thedistrict extends into any other county or counties, such notice shall alsobe published in some newspaper of general circulation in such other countyor counties. The notice shall contain a description of the proposedboundary lines of the district and the general purposes of the petition,and shall set forth the date fixed for the hearing on the petition, whichshall not be less than seven nor more than twenty-one days after the dateof the last publication of the notice and shall be on some regular judicialday of the court wherein the petition is pending. Such notice shall besigned by the clerk of the circuit court and shall be published in threesuccessive issues of a weekly newspaper or in a daily newspaper once a weekfor three consecutive weeks.
3. The court, for good cause shown, may continue the case or thehearing thereon from time to time until final disposition thereof.
4. Exceptions to the formation of a district, or to the boundariesoutlined in the petition for the incorporation thereof, may be made by anyvoter or owner of real property in the proposed district or by anymunicipality with boundaries located not more than one mile from anyboundary of the proposed district; provided, such exceptions are filed notless than five days prior to the date set for the hearing on the petition.Such exceptions shall specify the grounds upon which the exceptions arebeing made. If any such exceptions be filed, the court shall take theminto consideration in passing upon the petition and shall also consider theevidence in support of the petition and in support of the exceptions made.Should the court find that the petition should be granted but that changesshould be made in the boundary lines, it shall make such changes in theboundary lines as set forth in the petition as to the court may seem meetand proper, and thereupon enter its decree of incorporation, with suchboundaries as changed.
5. Should the court find that it would not be to the public interestto form such a district, the petition shall be dismissed at the costs ofthe petitioners. If, however, the court should find in favor of theformation of such district, the court shall enter its decree ofincorporation, setting forth the boundaries of the proposed district asdetermined by the court pursuant to the aforesaid hearing. The decree ofincorporation shall also divide the district into five subdistricts andshall fix their boundary lines, all of which subdistricts shall haveapproximately the same area and shall be numbered. The decree shallfurther contain an appointment of one voter from each of such subdistricts,to constitute the first board of directors of the district. No two membersof such board so appointed or hereafter elected or appointed shall residein the same subdistrict, except as provided in section 247.060. If noqualified person who lives in the subdistrict is willing to serve on theboard, the court may appoint, or the voters may elect, an otherwisequalified person who lives in the district but not in the subdistrict. Thecourt shall designate two of such directors so appointed to serve for aterm of two years and one to serve for a term of one year. And thedirectors thus appointed by the court shall serve for the terms thusdesignated and until their successors shall have been appointed or electedas herein provided. The decree shall further designate the name and numberof the district by which it shall hereafter be officially known.
6. The decree of incorporation shall not become final and conclusiveuntil it shall have been submitted to the voters residing within theboundaries described in such decree and until it shall have been assentedto by a majority of the voters as provided in subsection 9 of this sectionor by two-thirds of the voters of the district voting on the proposition.The decree shall provide for the submission of the question and shall fixthe date thereof. The returns shall be certified by the judges and clerksof election to the circuit court having jurisdiction in the case and thecourt shall thereupon enter its order canvassing the returns and declaringthe result of such election.
7. If, upon canvass and declaration, it is found and determined thatthe question shall have been assented to by a majority of two-thirds of thevoters of the district voting on such proposition, then the court shall, insuch order declaring the result of the election, enter a further orderdeclaring the decree of incorporation to be final and conclusive. In theevent, however, that the court should find that the question had not beenassented to by the majority above required, the court shall enter a furtherorder declaring such decree of incorporation to be void and of no effect.No appeal shall lie from any such decree of incorporation nor from any ofthe aforesaid orders. In the event that the court declares the decree ofincorporation to be final, as herein provided for, the clerk of the circuitcourt shall file certified copies of such decree of incorporation and ofsuch final order with the secretary of state of the state of Missouri, andwith the recorder of deeds of the county or counties in which the districtis situate and with the clerk of the county commission of the county orcounties in which the district is situate.
8. The costs incurred in the formation of the district shall be taxedto the district, if the district be incorporated, otherwise against thepetitioners.
9. If petitioners seeking formation of a public water supply districtspecify in their petition that the district to be organized shall beorganized without authority to issue general obligation bonds, then thedecrees relating to the formation of the district shall recite that thedistrict shall not have authority to issue general obligation bonds and thevote required for such a decree of incorporation to become final andconclusive shall be a simple majority of the voters of the district votingon such proposition.
(RSMo 1939 § 12623, A.L. 1978 H.B. 971 merged with H.B. 1634, A.L. 1991 H.B. 619, A.L. 1993 S.B. 392, A.L. 1995 H.B. 88, A.L. 1998 H.B. 1622 merged with S.B. 479, A.L. 1999 H.B. 450 merged with S.B. 160 & 82, A.L. 2002 S.B. 984 & 985, A.L. 2004 S.B. 987)(1969) An appeal will lie from a determination of the trial court regarding the extension or enlargement of the boundaries of a water supply district in a proceeding brought in compliance with this section. Public Water Supply District No. 7 v. City of Pevely (A.), 437 S.W.2d 108.