H-2235

AN ACT Relating to the administration of irrigation districts; amending RCW 87.03.051, 87.03.435, and 87.03.560; and adding a new section to chapter 87.03 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 87.03.051 and 1985 c 66 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

In districts with less than two hundred thousand acres, a person eighteen years old, being a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state and who holds title or evidence of title to assessable land in the district or proposed district shall be entitled to vote therein, and to be recognized as an elector. A ((~~domestic~~)) corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity formed pursuant to the laws of the state of Washington or qualified to do business in the state of Washington owning land in the district shall be recognized as an elector. As used in this section, "entity" means a corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, or other legal entity formed pursuant to the laws of the state of Washington or qualified to do business in the state of Washington. "Ownership" shall mean the aggregate of all assessable acres owned by an elector, individually or jointly, within one district. Voting rights shall be allocated as follows: Two votes for each five acres of assessable land or fraction thereof. No one ownership may accumulate more than forty-nine percent of the votes in one district. If assessments are on the basis of shares instead of acres, an elector shall be entitled to two votes for each five shares or fraction thereof. The ballots cast for each ownership of land or shares shall be exercised by common agreement between electors or when land is held as community property, the accumulated votes may be divided equally between husband and wife. Except for community property ownership, in the absence of the submission of the common agreement to the secretary of the district at least twenty-four hours before the opening of the polls, the election board shall recognize the first elector to appear on election day as the elector having the authority to cast the ballots for that parcel of land for which there is more than one ownership interest. A majority of the directors shall be residents of the county or counties in which the district is situated and all shall be electors of the district. If more than one elector residing outside the county or counties is voted for as director, only that one who receives the highest number of votes shall be considered in ascertaining the result of the election. An agent of ((~~a domestic corporation~~)) an entity owning land in the district, duly authorized in writing, may vote on behalf of the ((~~corporation~~)) entity by filing with the election officers his or her instrument of authority. An elector resident in the district shall vote in the precinct in which he or she resides, all others shall vote in the precinct nearest their residence. No director shall be qualified to take or retain office unless ((he)) the director holds title or evidence of title to land within the district.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 87.03 RCW to read as follows:

No irrigation district, its directors, officers, employees, or agents operating and maintaining irrigation works for any purpose authorized by law, including the production of food for human consumption and other agricultural and domestic purposes, is liable for damages to persons or property arising from the disposal of sewage and waste discharged by others into the irrigation works pursuant to federal or state statutes, rules, or regulations permitting the discharge.

Sec. 3. RCW 87.03.435 and 1990 c 39 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) ((Any person to whom a contract may have been awarded for the construction of a canal or any of the works of the district, or any portion thereof, or for the furnishing of labor or material, shall enter into a bond with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the board of directors, payable to the district for its use, for at least twenty-five percent of the amount of the contract price, conditioned for the faithful performance of said contract, and with such further conditions as may be required by law in the case of contracts for public work, and as may be required by resolution of the board. All works shall be done under the direction and to the satisfaction of the engineer of the district, and be approved by the board.)) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section and RCW 87.03.436, whenever in the construction of the district canal or canals, or other works, or the furnishing of materials therefor, the board of directors shall determine to let a contract or contracts for the doing of the work or the furnishing of the materials, a notice calling for sealed proposals shall be published. The notice shall be published in a newspaper in the county in which the office of the board is situated, and in any other newspaper which may be designated by the board, and for such length of time, not less than once each week for two weeks, as may be fixed by the board. At the time and place appointed in the notice for the opening of bids, the sealed proposals shall be opened in public, and as soon as convenient thereafter, the board shall let the work or the contract for the purchase of materials, either in portions or as a whole, to the lowest responsible bidder, or the board may reject any or all bids and readvertise, or may proceed to construct the work under its own superintendence. All work shall be done under the direction and to the satisfaction of the engineer of the district, and be approved by the board. The board of directors may require bidders submitting bids for the construction or maintenance for any of the works of the district, or for the furnishing of labor or material, to accompany their bids by a deposit in cash, certified check, cashier's check, or surety bond in an amount equal to five percent of the amount of the bid and a bid shall not be considered unless the deposit is enclosed with it. If the contract is let, then all the bid deposits shall be returned to the unsuccessful bidders. The bid deposit of the successful bidder shall be retained until a contract is entered into for the purchase of the materials or doing of such work, and a bond given to the district in accordance with chapter 39.08 RCW for the performance of the contract. The performance bond shall be conditioned as may be required by law and as may be required by resolution of the board, with good and sufficient sureties satisfactory to the board, payable to the district for its use, for at least twenty-five percent of the contract price. If the successful bidder fails to enter into a contract and furnish the necessary bond within twenty days from the award, exclusive of the day of the award, the bid deposit shall be forfeited to the district and the contract may then be awarded to the second lowest bidder.

(2) The provisions of this section in regard to public bidding shall not apply in cases where the board is authorized to exchange bonds of the district in payment for labor and material.

(3) The provisions of this section do not apply:

(a) In the case of any contract between the district and the United States;

(b) In the case of an emergency when the public interest or property of the district would suffer material injury or damage by delay, upon resolution of the board of directors or proclamation of an official designated by the board to act for the board during such emergencies. The resolution or proclamation shall declare the existence of the emergency and recite the facts constituting the emergency; or

(c) To purchases which are clearly and legitimately limited to a single source of supply or to purchases involving special facilities, services, or market conditions, in which instances the purchase price may be best established by direct negotiation.

Sec. 4. RCW 87.03.560 and 1889-90 p 694 s 48 are each amended to read as follows:

The holder or holders of title, or evidence of title, representing one-half or more of any body of lands ((~~adjacent to the boundary of an irrigation district, which are contiguous and which, taken together, constitute one tract of land,~~)) may file with the board of directors of ((~~said~~)) an irrigation district a petition in writing, praying that the boundaries of ((~~said~~)) the district may be so changed as to include ((~~therein said~~)) such lands. The petition shall describe the boundaries of ((~~said~~)) the parcel or tract of land, and shall also describe the boundaries of the several parcels owned by the petitioners, if the petitioners be the owners respectively of distinct parcels, but such descriptions need not be more particular than they are required to be when such lands are entered by the county assessor in the assessment book. Such petition must contain the assent of the petitioners to the inclusion within ((~~said~~)) the district of the parcels or tracts of land described in the petition, and of which ((~~said~~)) the petition alleges they are respectively the owners; and it must be acknowledged in the same manner that conveyances of land are required to be acknowledged.