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1967, ch. 754, sec. 439J; 1976 Code, sec. 15-10; 1978, ch. 739; 2000, ch. 601.
Any employee or agent of the County has the right of entry, at all reasonable hours, upon any private premises and into any building in the service area while in pursuit of his official duties, after reasonable notice and upon reasonable notice and first presenting proper credentials from the Board. The Board or the County’s agent or employees may order and require changes in plumbing, water usage, drainage or water or sewer connections as it deems necessary to eliminate leakage, loss of water, unnecessary or improper use of sewers. The Board shall exercise control of the water supply at all times and in case of shortage of water or, for any other reason, the Board, in the exercise of its discretion, may determine that the water supply should be conserved. The consumers, upon notice from the County, its agents or employees, or upon notice published in one newspaper published in Carroll County for one insertion, shall comply with any order passed by the Board to conserve the water supply. In addition to any other penalty prescribed in this title, the County may turn off the water supply of any person violating the order at any time without further notice. Any unreasonable restraint or hindrance offered by any owner, tenant, or agent or any other person, to the right of entry in this section provided or any violation of any order issued under this section is a misdemeanor punishable under § 14-801 of this title. Nothing in this section is applicable within any municipality or to any water and sewerage system operated by a municipality unless authorized under § 14-106 of this title.
1967, ch. 754, sec. 439K; 1976 Code, sec. 15-11; 1978, ch. 739; 2000, ch. 601.
The Board may enter upon and excavate any State or county street, road, or way, or any other public highway within the service area, for the purpose of installing, maintaining, and operating the water, sewerage, or drainage systems provided for under this title. The Board may construct in any street, road, way, or public highway, a water main, sewer, or drain or any appurtenances, without the receipt of a permit or the payment of a charge; provided that whenever any State or county highway within the service area is to be disturbed the public authority having control shall be duly notified; and provided further, that the highway shall be repaired and left by the Board in the same condition or in a condition not inferior to that existing before it was torn up, and that all incidental costs shall be borne by the County.
1967, ch. 754, sec. 439L; 1976 Code, sec. 15-12; 1978, ch. 739; 2000, ch. 601.
All individuals, firms, or corporations having buildings, conduits, pipes, tracks, poles, or other structures or obstructions in, on, over, or through any public road, street, or way, which blocks or impedes the construction and establishment of the County’s water, sewerage, or drainage systems, or other works, upon reasonable notice from the Board, shall promptly shift, adjust, accommodate, or remove structures or obstructions as fully to meet the exigencies occasioning action; provided, however, that the reasonable cost of the charges shall be borne by the County. Every public service corporation, company, or individual before it or they shall begin any excavation or construction in any street, road, way, or public highway shall file with the Board plans of the work and construction showing the location and depth in the street, road, way, or public highway of the proposed main, conduit, pole, pipe, or other structure, and the construction or work shall not begin until the plan is approved by the Board, nor shall any change be made in the approved plan or in the work or construction as shown by the plan, except on further approval of the Board. Whenever any main, conduit, pole, pipe, or other structure is installed without the filing of plans with the Board and the approval by it, or when any change is made in the location of the main, conduit, pipe, pole, or other structure as shown upon the plans approved by the Board, or any approved change, the Board, if and when such conduit, main, pipe, or pole, or other structure interferes with the construction of or operation of the water, sewerage or drainage system, or other works, may remove the conduit, main, pipe, pole, or other structures or change the location at the cost and expense of the party so putting them in, or their heirs, assigns, or successors, and without any liability upon the part of the County for damage that might be done to the conduit, main, pipe, pole, or other structures by reason of the Board’s operation in constructing or maintaining the system or works. Any violation of the provisions of this section is a misdemeanor punishable under § 14-801 of this title.
1967, ch. 754, sec. 439-O; 1976 Code, sec. 15-15; 1978, ch. 739; 1980, ch. 225; 2000, ch. 601.
(a) For the purpose of assisting in the engineering and the construction of needed water, sewerage and drainage systems, the Board may make general fund appropriations or borrow funds for this purpose, upon any terms and conditions as they deem right and proper.
(b) Any enterprise fund as that term is used in accounting, created for the purpose of complying with this title, shall reimburse the County’s general fund for any expense attributable to work performed by the County out of its general fund. Each year, the Board may determine a reasonable amount, by estimate, to satisfy the requirements of this section, which may be paid to the County from the enterprise fund by appropriation or any other lawful method.
(c) If no payment is made under the provisions of this section, then the amount established under subsection (b) of this section shall act as an appropriation under subsection (a) of this section.
1967, ch. 754, sec. 439P; 1969, ch. 494, sec. 439P(a); 1970, ch. 283, sec. 439P(a); 1970, ch. 363, sec. 439P(a); 1976 Code, sec. 15-16; 1978, ch. 739; 2000, ch. 601.
(a) For the purpose of providing funds for the design, construction, establishment, purchase, or condemnation of water, sewerage and drainage systems in Carroll County pursuant to this title, the County is authorized and empowered to borrow money, from time to time, and to evidence the borrowing by the issuance of bonds, which shall constitute a pledge of the full faith and credit and unlimited taxing power of the County. The authority conferred under this section is subject to the limitation that the County shall issue no amount of bonds pursuant to this section if, by the issuance, the total unpaid bonded indebtedness under this section, less the amount of any sinking funds or reserves for payment of bonds previously issued, shall exceed fifteen percent of the total assessed valuation of all property in Carroll County subject to unlimited County taxation during the fiscal year of the County most recently concluded. The bonds of each issue shall be dated, shall bear interest at the rate or rates, shall mature at the time or times not exceeding forty years from their date or dates, as may be determined by the County, and may be made redeemable before maturity, at the option of the Board, at the price or prices and under the terms and conditions as may be fixed by the Board before the issuance of the bonds. The Board shall determine the form of the bonds, including any interest coupons to be attached, and the manner of execution of the bonds, and shall fix the denomination or denominations of the bonds and the place or places of payment of principal and interest, which may be at any bank or trust company. In case any officer whose signature or a facsimile of whose signature shall appear on any bonds or coupons shall cease to be an officer before the delivery of the bonds or shall become an officer after the date of issue, the signature or facsimile shall nevertheless be valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if the officer had remained in office until the delivery or had held office on date of issue. All bonds issued under the provisions of this title shall have and are declared to have, as between successive holders, all the qualities and incidents of negotiable instruments under the negotiable instruments law of the State of Maryland. The bonds may be issued in coupon or in registered form, or both, as the Board may determine, and provision may be made for the registration of any coupon bonds as to principal alone; also as to both principal and interest, and for the reconversion into coupon bonds of any bonds registered as to both principal and interest. The issuance of the bonds shall not be subject to any limitations or conditions contained in any other law and the County may sell the bonds in a manner, either at public or private sale, and for a price, as it may determine to be for the best interests of the County. The bonds shall be issued under the signature and seal of the County. The bonds shall be signed by the chief executive officer of the County, with the seal of the County affixed and attested by the signature of either the Administrative Assistant or the Clerk to the County. At any time before the issuance of any bonds the Board may, in addition to any sums appropriated under any other provision of law, advance the sums as may be necessary to cover the expense of issuance of the bonds, which shall be treated and repaid as part of the costs of the project or projects financed with the proceeds of the bonds.
(b) The proceeds of the bonds shall be used solely for the payment of the cost of the project or projects on account of which the bonds are issued and shall be disbursed in a manner and under the restrictions, if any, as the Board may provide in the authorizing resolution. If the proceeds of the bonds, by error of estimates or otherwise, shall be less than the cost, additional bonds may in like manner be issued to provide the amount of the deficit, and, unless otherwise provided in the authorizing resolution, shall be deemed to be of the same issue and shall be entitled to payment from the same fund without preference or priority of the bonds first issued for the same purpose. If the proceeds of the bonds of any issue shall exceed the amount required for the purpose for which the bonds shall have been issued, the Board may, by appropriate resolution, apply the surplus to payment of the cost of an additional project or projects or the surplus shall be used for the retirement of bonds of the issue, as in the authorizing resolution provided. In every case where the proceeds of any issue of bonds shall be expended for the cost of one or more projects, the Board shall cause separate capital accounts to be created for each project, among which the bond proceeds shall be divided and from which the separate costs of each project shall be paid. As soon as each project is completed, the special assessments or other charges imposed or made by the Board with respect to the project shall be calculated in the manner as to provide a proportion of the annual debt service on the issue of bonds equal to the proportion of the proceeds of the issue expended on the project. The resolution authorizing any bonds issued pursuant to this title to finance a drainage system also shall identify the drainage area established pursuant to § 14-108 of this title in which any drainage system is to be built and state the amount being borrowed for the drainage area.
(c) The County’s full faith and credit and unlimited taxing power shall be unconditionally pledged to the payment of the principal of and interest on any bonds issued pursuant to this section. In the event that the funds available to the County from all sources are insufficient to pay any bonds issued under this title, together with the interest due, the Board, on behalf of the County, in each and every fiscal year in which bonds are outstanding shall levy and collect ad valorem taxes upon all the legally assessable property within the corporate limits of Carroll County in rate and amount sufficient to provide for the payments when due, together with accrued interest to the date of payment. In the event the proceeds from the taxes so levied in any fiscal year are inadequate for the above purposes, the Board, on behalf of the County, shall levy additional taxes in the succeeding fiscal year to make up any deficiency.
(d) In addition to any other authorizations contained in this title, the Board is empowered and directed to make payments to any municipality operating its own water, sewerage or drainage systems in an amount equal to the amount of ad valorem taxes levied and collected within such municipality under other provisions of this title, provided that the payments shall be used solely for the construction or maintenance of water, sewerage or drainage systems within the municipality. The Board is authorized to impose additional ad valorem taxes to provide for the payments but the imposition of the taxes shall be discretionary with the Board and shall be in addition to any other taxes or charges levied or imposed under this title. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as impairing the unconditional pledge of the County’s full faith and credit and unlimited taxing power to the payment of the principal of and interest on bonds issued under this title; all taxes levied and collected for the purpose of paying the principal and interest shall be kept separate and apart from any other revenues and receipts of the County and shall be used solely and only for the purpose for which they were levied.
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