| 1 | The Committee on Local Government & Veterans' Affairs recommends |
| 2 | the following: |
| 3 |
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| 4 | Committee Substitute |
| 5 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 6 | A bill to be entitled |
| 7 | An act relating to the Loxahatchee Groves Water Control |
| 8 | District, Palm Beach County; amending chapter 99-425, Laws |
| 9 | of Florida; amending the district's election procedures; |
| 10 | clarifying that the power of the district with respect to |
| 11 | roadways and roads is not limited to roads shown on the |
| 12 | replat of Loxahatchee Groves and clarifying that the |
| 13 | levying of assessments by the district is pursuant to |
| 14 | chapter 298, Florida Statutes, or this act; eliminating |
| 15 | references to other types of assessments; providing a |
| 16 | procedure for the dedication of roads to the district; |
| 17 | amending the permitting of culverts, other drainage |
| 18 | systems, bridges, or culvert crossings; providing |
| 19 | procedures when such bridges or culvert crossings restrict |
| 20 | the normal conveyance of water within the district's |
| 21 | canals; providing that special assessments are not limited |
| 22 | to roads and roadways but may be levied for district |
| 23 | improvements; providing that the issuance of special |
| 24 | assessment bonds are not limited to roads and roadways but |
| 25 | may be used for district improvements; providing an |
| 26 | effective date. |
| 27 |
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| 28 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 29 |
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| 30 | Section 1. Subsection e. of section 2 and subsections c., |
| 31 | g., i., and j. of section 4 of section 2 of chapter 99-425, Laws |
| 32 | of Florida, are amended to read: |
| 33 | Section 2. Landowner's meeting and election of |
| 34 | supervisors.-- |
| 35 | e. Date of landowner's meeting; notice of intent to be |
| 36 | elected.--Notwithstanding any provision of s. 298.12, Florida |
| 37 | Statutes, to the contrary, for all elections held after 1999, in |
| 38 | order for a person to be elected as a supervisor of the |
| 39 | district, that person must notify the Supervisor of the Board of |
| 40 | Elections of Palm Beach County of his or her intent to be |
| 41 | elected as a supervisor at least 90 days prior to the annual |
| 42 | landowner's meeting, which shall take place on the 4th Monday of |
| 43 | June each year. The date of annual landowner's meeting may be |
| 44 | changed by majority of the board of supervisors of the district |
| 45 | provided that such change occurs at least 150 days prior to the |
| 46 | newly selected date of the landowner's meeting and further |
| 47 | provided that notice of such change of the date of the |
| 48 | landowner's meeting shall be published once a week for 2 |
| 49 | consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the |
| 50 | county in which the lands of the district are located, with the |
| 51 | first such publication to be not less than 10 nor more than 15 |
| 52 | days after the vote of the board of supervisors to change the |
| 53 | date of the annual landowner's meeting. No person who has not |
| 54 | timely provided notice to the supervisor of elections of his or |
| 55 | her willingness to be elected, as set forth above in this |
| 56 | section, may be elected as a supervisor of the district, unless |
| 57 | no individuals or unless fewer individuals than the number of |
| 58 | seats available for election, have timely provided notice to the |
| 59 | supervisor of elections, in which event the provisions of s. |
| 60 | 298.12(1), Florida Statutes, shall control. If the number of |
| 61 | persons timely providing notice to the supervisor of elections |
| 62 | is less than or equal to does not exceed the number of seats for |
| 63 | which supervisors are to be elected in that year, then those |
| 64 | individuals providing timely notice shall be deemed elected as |
| 65 | supervisors as of the date of the annual landowner's meeting and |
| 66 | no election, or notice of such election, shall be held. If the |
| 67 | length of terms varies for those persons who timely provide |
| 68 | notice, the length of terms will be assigned by lot. If the |
| 69 | number of persons timely providing notice to the supervisor of |
| 70 | elections is less than the number of seats for which supervisors |
| 71 | are to be elected in that year, then the individual or |
| 72 | individuals providing timely notice shall be deemed elected as |
| 73 | set forth in this subsection and the seat or seats for which |
| 74 | persons have not filed will be subject to election pursuant to |
| 75 | the provisions of s. 298.12(1), Florida Statutes. In such event, |
| 76 | if the length of terms are different, the person or persons |
| 77 | timely providing notice to the supervisor of elections shall be |
| 78 | deemed elected to the longer or longest term. If the number of |
| 79 | persons providing timely notice to the supervisor of elections |
| 80 | exceeds the number of seats for which supervisors are to be |
| 81 | elected that year, then elections shall proceed forward at the |
| 82 | annual landowner's meeting in accordance with the provisions of |
| 83 | s. 298.12(1), Florida Statutes, as may be modified by this act. |
| 84 | In the event that pursuant to this subsection an election is not |
| 85 | required, notice as set forth in s. 298.12, Florida Statutes, |
| 86 | for the annual meeting need not be provided so long as the |
| 87 | annual meeting has been included among the meetings properly |
| 88 | noticed under the requirements of s. 189.417, Florida Statutes. |
| 89 | Section 4. Powers of the district.-- |
| 90 | c. In addition to the powers of Loxahatchee Groves Water |
| 91 | Control District, hereinafter referred to as the "district," |
| 92 | elsewhere provided by general or special law, the district shall |
| 93 | have the power to construct maintain, improve, and repair |
| 94 | roadways and roads necessary and convenient for the exercise of |
| 95 | any of the powers or duties of the district or the board of |
| 96 | supervisors thereof, including, but not limited to, all the |
| 97 | roads shown on the replat of Loxahatchee Groves, as recorded in |
| 98 | Plat Book 12, Page 29, Palm Beach County Public Records, or to |
| 99 | provide access to and development of areas within the district, |
| 100 | or both; to provide funds for such construction, maintenance, |
| 101 | improvement, or repair through the levying of assessments |
| 102 | pursuant to chapter 298, Florida Statutes, or this act |
| 103 | hereinafter referred to as "drainage assessments," or special |
| 104 | assessments, or both; and to acquire land, including any |
| 105 | interest therein, by purchase, gift, exchange, or eminent |
| 106 | domain, for such construction, maintenance, improvement, or |
| 107 | repair. The board of supervisors of the district, at its |
| 108 | discretion, may accept for dedication a road within the |
| 109 | boundaries of the district pursuant to the following procedures: |
| 110 | (1) The landowners possessing the easements to such road |
| 111 | must petition in writing the board for dedication of the road, |
| 112 | with those signing the petition agreeing to give the district |
| 113 | their respective easements at no cost to the district, pursuant |
| 114 | to policies established by the district. |
| 115 | (2) At least a simple majority of landowners on the road, |
| 116 | on a per-acre basis, must petition the board to dedicate the |
| 117 | road. |
| 118 | (3) The board of supervisors of the district shall then |
| 119 | determine whether or not to accept such petition. If the board |
| 120 | determines to accept the petition, the district will then |
| 121 | project all estimated costs involved in planning, designing, and |
| 122 | building the road or improving the existing road to meet |
| 123 | specifications acceptable to the district, including therewith |
| 124 | the cost of improving or replacing any culvert crossing or |
| 125 | bridge that connects the road to be dedicated to an existing |
| 126 | district road or roads, the cost of any eminent domain |
| 127 | proceeding to obtain road easements from those landowners who |
| 128 | did not sign the petition and to give the district their |
| 129 | respective easements, the cost of establishing the special |
| 130 | taxing unit, and any other costs anticipated to be incurred by |
| 131 | the district as a result of any action involved with such |
| 132 | dedication. |
| 133 | (4) The estimated cost information shall then be provided |
| 134 | to the affected landowners and a referendum shall be held among |
| 135 | those landowners to create a special taxing unit, consisting of |
| 136 | all of the benefited land contiguous to and inclusive of the |
| 137 | road to be dedicated to cover such cost. Upon passage of the |
| 138 | referendum by majority vote, on a per-acre basis, the district |
| 139 | shall create a special taxing unit and levy assessments for the |
| 140 | costs as set forth in paragraph (3). |
| 141 | (5) The district shall then acquire by sale or through |
| 142 | eminent domain, under chapters 73 and 74, Florida Statutes, as |
| 143 | amended from time to time, the necessary easements and build the |
| 144 | road or make the necessary improvements to the existing road to |
| 145 | meet all district specifications. |
| 146 | (6) Thereafter, the road shall be dedicated to the |
| 147 | district and maintained by the district under its general |
| 148 | maintenance assessment. |
| 149 |
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| 150 | Notwithstanding anything contained herein, the district's |
| 151 | ability, under chapter 298, Florida Statutes, to create and |
| 152 | assess units of development shall be unaffected. |
| 153 | g. The district shall have the power to adopt, by |
| 154 | resolution, a uniform standard for culvert crossings, bridges, |
| 155 | culverts, or other drainage systems that connect with or cross |
| 156 | over any of the works of, or lie within the rights-of-way of, |
| 157 | the district. If the district so establishes a uniform |
| 158 | standard, the district shall by resolution adopt procedures: |
| 159 | (1) Which shall require notice of such uniform standards |
| 160 | to be given to persons owning lands upon which, adjacent to, or, |
| 161 | to the best of district's knowledge, using any culvert |
| 162 | crossings, bridges, culverts, or other drainage systems that |
| 163 | connect with or cross over any of the works of, or lie within |
| 164 | the rights-of-way of, the district and to such other persons as |
| 165 | the board of supervisors shall deem to be necessary or |
| 166 | desirable, or both. |
| 167 | (2) Which shall authorize granting permits for culvert |
| 168 | crossings, bridges, culverts, or other drainage systems, or |
| 169 | pursuant to such uniform standards, and the district may allow |
| 170 | for permits to be applied for by a single landowner or by |
| 171 | multiple landowners, provided that in the case of multiple |
| 172 | landowners, such landowners establish a single entity to |
| 173 | represent all such landowners to apply for and obtain the permit |
| 174 | and construct and maintain the culvert crossings, bridges, |
| 175 | culverts, or other drainage systems, subject to review by the |
| 176 | district to ensure that said entity has the legal authority to |
| 177 | assess such landowners for the cost of construction and |
| 178 | maintenance of such culverts, drainage systems, culvert |
| 179 | crossings, or bridges, that such power to assess runs with the |
| 180 | land of the landowners creating the entity, and that the |
| 181 | district can enforce such assessment power if necessary. |
| 182 | (3)(2) Which shall, except as hereinafter provided, |
| 183 | require as to culverts or other drainage systems not less than |
| 184 | 60-days' written notice to be given to persons owning lands upon |
| 185 | which any culvert crossings, bridges, culverts, or other |
| 186 | drainage systems exist in violation of any such uniform |
| 187 | standards prior to the taking of any enforcement action by the |
| 188 | district. |
| 189 | (3) Which may provide for Less than 30-days' notice, in |
| 190 | writing or otherwise, of violations of the uniform standards may |
| 191 | be provided in emergency situations. |
| 192 | (4) Which may provide that If, after such notice pursuant |
| 193 | to this paragraph (2) or paragraph (3), any landowner shall fail |
| 194 | to conform to such uniform standards, the district may enter |
| 195 | upon such lands and take such action as necessary to cause such |
| 196 | violation to be corrected and may assess the owner of such land |
| 197 | for the district's costs in connection therewith. |
| 198 | (5) Upon the failure of any property owner to pay any |
| 199 | assessment levied by the board of supervisors pursuant to this |
| 200 | paragraph (4) within 30 days of receipt by such owner of notice |
| 201 | of said assessment, the district shall have a lien on all lands |
| 202 | and premises affected thereby. Such lien shall be superior and |
| 203 | paramount to the interest in such land and premises of any |
| 204 | owner, lessee, tenant, mortgagee, or other person except the |
| 205 | lien of state, county, or district taxes and shall be on a |
| 206 | parity with the lien of any such state, county, or district |
| 207 | taxes. Such lien shall bear interest at an annual rate equal to |
| 208 | the interest rate due on judgments, pursuant to s. 55.03, |
| 209 | Florida Statutes, per year and shall, until paid, remain in |
| 210 | effect in perpetuity. |
| 211 | (4) Which shall provide that in the event any culvert |
| 212 | crossing or bridge, whether or not permitted by the district, is |
| 213 | determined by the district to be restricting the normal |
| 214 | conveyance of water in a district canal, the district shall |
| 215 | notify the permitholder of said structure, or if there is no |
| 216 | permit on file with the district for said structure, the |
| 217 | district shall notify the landowner or landowners using such |
| 218 | structure that the following options are available regarding the |
| 219 | structure: |
| 220 | (a) The structure may be repaired, by the permitholder or |
| 221 | the landowner or landowners using the structure, in conformance |
| 222 | with current district standards (as determined by a licensed |
| 223 | engineer), including obtaining a permit from the district |
| 224 | pursuant to its uniform standards and procedures. |
| 225 | (b) The structure may be abandoned and removed by the |
| 226 | permitholder at its expense or, if the structure has not been |
| 227 | permitted, the district shall remove the structure and the |
| 228 | district shall not be liable to any person or entity that uses |
| 229 | such structure for its removal. |
| 230 | (c) The landowner or landowners using such structure may |
| 231 | apply for a permit to construct a conforming replacement |
| 232 | structure. This process shall require obtaining a permit issued |
| 233 | by the district pursuant to its uniform standards and |
| 234 | procedures, said permit to be contingent upon the removal of the |
| 235 | nonconforming structure and the construction of a replacement |
| 236 | structure at the sole expense of said landowner or landowners. |
| 237 | (d) With respect to subparagraphs (a) and (c), in the |
| 238 | event that there are multiple landowners involved, the |
| 239 | landowners may establish a single entity as set forth in |
| 240 | paragraph (2) to represent all such landowners. |
| 241 | (e) Alternatively, the affected landowners may request the |
| 242 | district, via referendum of the landowners utilizing the |
| 243 | structure, upon a majority vote of such landowners, on a per- |
| 244 | acre basis, to establish a special taxing unit of all such |
| 245 | landowners to pay a special assessment to cover the initial |
| 246 | costs, including, but not limited to, engineering fees, removal |
| 247 | cost, repair or replacement construction cost, dedication of |
| 248 | adjoining road, and permit fees and the structure shall |
| 249 | thereafter be a district-owned structure maintained by the |
| 250 | district. |
| 251 | (f) The permitholder of a structure restricting the normal |
| 252 | conveyance of water in a district canal, or if said structure is |
| 253 | unpermitted, the landowner or landowners as reasonably |
| 254 | determined by the district to be using such structure, shall |
| 255 | have 60 days after notice is sent to respond to the district |
| 256 | regarding which option set forth in this paragraph has been |
| 257 | chosen and an additional 120 days to repair or remove said |
| 258 | structure. If the district does not receive a written response |
| 259 | within the first 60 days after the notice has been sent, the |
| 260 | structure shall be reviewed by the district's board of |
| 261 | supervisors, which may deem the structure to be abandoned. In |
| 262 | emergency situations, the time periods for notice and response |
| 263 | may be shortened by the district as is reasonable under the |
| 264 | circumstances. |
| 265 |
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| 266 | Notwithstanding any provisions contained in this subsection, the |
| 267 | ability of the district's board of supervisors under chapter |
| 268 | 298, Florida Statutes, to create and assess "units of |
| 269 | development" shall be unaffected. |
| 270 | i. The board of supervisors of the district, in order to |
| 271 | carry out any of the powers set forth in subsections c.-g. may |
| 272 | levy and impose special assessments against any or all of the |
| 273 | real property within the district upon a determination that the |
| 274 | construction, maintenance, improvement, repair, or operation of |
| 275 | said improvements or services provided to existing improvements |
| 276 | the roads or roadways provide a benefit to such real property. |
| 277 | The assessments shall be imposed upon the property specially |
| 278 | benefited by such construction, maintenance, improvement, |
| 279 | repair, or operation in proportion to the benefits to be derived |
| 280 | therefrom, and the special benefits shall be determined and |
| 281 | prorated by a method prescribed by the board of supervisors. |
| 282 | j. The district is authorized to provide from time to time |
| 283 | for the issuance of special assessment bonds of the district to |
| 284 | pay all or any part of the cost of a system of roads and |
| 285 | roadways and any improvements thereto. The principal of and |
| 286 | interest on any bonds shall be payable from special assessments |
| 287 | sufficient to pay the bonds in the manner provided in the bonds, |
| 288 | in this act, and the resolution authorizing such bonds. The |
| 289 | bonds shall be authorized by resolution or resolutions of the |
| 290 | board of supervisors of the district, adopted by a majority of |
| 291 | the supervisors present and voting at a meeting of the |
| 292 | supervisors. The bonds shall bear interest at a rate or rates |
| 293 | not in excess of the maximum rates permitted by general law, may |
| 294 | be in one or more series, may bear such date or dates, and may |
| 295 | mature at any time or times not exceeding 40 years from their |
| 296 | respective dates, may be payable in such medium of payment, at |
| 297 | such place or places within or without the State of Florida, may |
| 298 | carry such registration privileges, may be subject to redemption |
| 299 | prior to maturity, with or without premium, may be executed in |
| 300 | such manner, may contain such terms, covenants, and conditions, |
| 301 | and may be in such form otherwise as such resolution or |
| 302 | subsequent resolutions shall provide. The bonds may be sold or |
| 303 | exchanged for refunding bonds, or delivered to contractors in |
| 304 | payment for any part of the work or improvements financed by |
| 305 | such bonds, or delivered in exchange for any properties, either |
| 306 | real, personal, or both, to be acquired for such works or |
| 307 | improvements, in such manner as the district in its discretion |
| 308 | shall determine. Pending the preparation of the definitive |
| 309 | bonds, interim certificates or receipts or temporary bonds in |
| 310 | such form and with such provisions as the district may determine |
| 311 | may be issued to the purchaser or purchasers of the bonds issued |
| 312 | hereunder. The bonds and such interim certificates or receipts |
| 313 | or temporary bonds shall be fully negotiable and shall be and |
| 314 | constitute negotiable instruments within the meaning of and for |
| 315 | all purposes of the law merchant and the Uniform Commercial Code |
| 316 | of the State of Florida. The proceeds of the sale of any such |
| 317 | bonds shall be used solely for the payment of the costs of the |
| 318 | district incurred or to be incurred in carrying out the powers |
| 319 | set forth in subsection c., subsection d., subsection e., or |
| 320 | subsection f., or subsection g., and shall be disbursed in such |
| 321 | manner and under such restrictions as the district may provide |
| 322 | in the authorizing resolution. The district may also provide |
| 323 | for the replacement of any bonds which become mutilated or are |
| 324 | stolen, destroyed, or lost, upon proper indemnification. A |
| 325 | resolution providing for the issuance of special assessment |
| 326 | bonds may also contain such limitations upon the issuance of |
| 327 | additional bonds secured on a parity with the bonds theretofore |
| 328 | issued as the district may deem proper. |
| 329 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |