§ 157-4. Notice, hearing and creation of authority; cancellation of certificate of incorporation.
§ 157‑4. Notice,hearing and creation of authority; cancellation of certificate ofincorporation.
Any 25 residents of a city and of the area within 10 miles from theterritorial boundaries thereof may file a petition with the city clerk settingforth that there is a need for an authority to function in the city and saidsurrounding area. Upon the filing of such a petition the city clerk shall givenotice of the time, place and purposes of a public hearing at which the councilwill determine the need for an authority in the city and said surrounding area.Such notice shall be given at the city's expense by publishing a notice, atleast 10 days preceding the day on which the hearing is to be held, in anewspaper having a general circulation in the city and said surrounding area,or, if there be no such newspaper, by posting such notice in at least threepublic places within the city, at least 10 days preceding the day on which thehearing is to be held.
Upon the date fixed for said hearing held upon notice as providedherein, an opportunity to be heard shall be granted to all residents andtaxpayers of the city and said surrounding area and to all other interestedpersons. After such a hearing, the council shall determine:
(1) Whether insanitary or unsafe inhabited dwellingaccommodations exist in the city and said surrounding area, and/or
(2) Whether there is a lack of safe or sanitary dwellingaccommodations in the city and said surrounding area available for all theinhabitants thereof.
In determining whether dwelling accommodations are unsafe orinsanitary, the council shall take into consideration the following: thephysical condition and age of the buildings; the degree of overcrowding; thepercentage of land coverage; the light and air available to the inhabitants ofsuch dwelling accommodations; the size and arrangement of the rooms; thesanitary facilities; and the extent to which conditions exist in such buildingswhich endanger life or property by fire or other causes.
If it shall determine that either or both of the above enumeratedconditions exist, the council shall adopt a resolution so finding (which neednot go into any detail other than the mere finding) and shall cause notice ofsuch determination to be given to the mayor who shall thereupon appoint, ashereinafter provided, not less than five nor more than nine commissioners toact as an authority. Said commission shall be a public body and a bodycorporate and politic upon the completion of the taking of the followingproceedings:
The commissioners shall present to the Secretary of State anapplication signed by them, which shall set forth (without any detail otherthan the mere recital):
(1) That a notice has been given and public hearing has beenheld as aforesaid, that the council made the aforesaid determination after suchhearing, and that the mayor has appointed them as commissioners;
(2) The name and official residence of each of thecommissioners, together with a certified copy of the appointment evidencingtheir right to office, the date and place of induction into and taking oath ofoffice, and that they desire the housing authority to become a public body anda body corporate and politic under this Article;
(3) The term of office of each of the commissioners;
(4) The name which is proposed for the corporation; and
(5) The location of the principal office of the proposedcorporation.
Theapplication shall be subscribed and sworn to by each of said commissionersbefore an officer authorized by the laws of the State to take and certify oaths,who shall certify upon the application that he personally knows thecommissioners and knows them to be the officers as asserted in the application,and that each subscribed and swore thereto in the officer's presence. TheSecretary of State shall examine the application and if he finds that the nameproposed for the corporation is not identical with that of a person or of anyother corporation of this State or so nearly similar as to lead to confusionand uncertainty he shall receive and file it and shall record it in anappropriate book of record in his office.
When the application has been made, filed and recorded, as hereinprovided, the authority shall constitute a public body and a body corporate andpolitic under the name proposed in the application; the Secretary of Stateshall make and issue to the said commissioners a certificate of incorporationpursuant to this Article, under the seal of the State, and shall record thesame with the application.
If the council, after a hearing as aforesaid, shall determine that neither of the above enumerated conditions exist, it shall adopt a resolutiondenying the petition. After three months shall have expired from the date ofthe denial of any such petitions, subsequent petitions may be filed asaforesaid and new hearings and determinations made thereon.
In any suit, action or proceeding involving the validity or enforcementof or relating to any contract of the authority, the authority shall beconclusively deemed to have been established in accordance with the provisionsof this Article upon proof of the issuance of the aforesaid certificate by theSecretary of State. A copy of such certificate, duly certified by the Secretaryof State, shall be admissible in evidence in any such suit, action or proceeding,and shall be conclusive proof of the filing and contents thereof.
The Secretary of State is authorized and empowered to revoke or tocancel a certificate of incorporation previously issued to an authority orhousing authority upon filing in his office a petition and resolution of thecouncil and a petition and resolution of the authority and its membersrequesting such revocation or cancellation and when the Secretary of State issatisfied that no indebtedness has been incurred or property acquired by saidhousing authority. (1935, c. 456, s.4; 1943, c. 636, s. 7; 1961, c. 987; 1971, c. 362, s. 1; c. 599.)