House File 529 - Enrolled
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON
AGRICULTURE
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 401)
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A BILL FOR
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House File 529
AN ACT
RELATING TO DRAINAGE AND LEVEE DISTRICTS, BY PROVIDING FOR
MERGERS, REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS, AND ELECTIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
DIVISION I
MERGERS
Section 1. Section 468.265, subsection 2, Code 2015, is
amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu
thereof the following:
2. a. The auditor of the county where a participating
drainage or levee district is situated or the auditor
designated by the board shall deliver the notice required in
subsection 1 to all landowners in the district in the same
manner as provided in sections 468.14 through 468.18, as the
auditor deems appropriate.
b. If land is to be annexed as a condition of the merger,
as provided in this part, the auditor of the county where the
land to be annexed is situated or the auditor designated by the
board shall deliver the notice to the owners of such land by
ordinary mail.
Sec. 2. Section 468.265, subsections 3 and 4, Code 2015, are
amended by striking the subsections.
DIVISION II
THRESHOLD AMOUNTS FOR PERFORMING WORK
Sec. 3. Section 468.3, Code 2015, is amended by adding the
following new subsection:
NEW SUBSECTION. 01. As used in this chapter, unless the
context otherwise requires, the term "adjusted competitive
bid threshold" means the same as the adjusted competitive bid
threshold for vertical infrastructure applicable to counties as
established by the state department of transportation pursuant
to section 314.1B.
Sec. 4. Section 468.3, subsection 9, Code 2015, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 5. Section 468.34, Code 2015, is amended by striking
the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
468.34 Advertisement for bids.
The board shall publish notice once each week for two
consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county
where the improvement is located, and publish additional
advertisement and publication elsewhere as the board may
direct. The notice shall state the time and place of letting
the work of construction of the improvement, specifying the
approximate amount of work to be done in each numbered section
of the district, the time fixed for the commencement, and the
time of the completion of the work, that bids will be received
on the entire work and in sections or divisions of it, and that
a bidder will be required to deposit a bid security with the
county auditor as provided in section 468.35A. All notices
shall set the date that bids will be received and upon which
the work will be let. However, when the estimated cost of
the improvement is less than the adjusted competitive bid
threshold, the board may let the contract for the construction
without taking bids and without publishing notice.
Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 468.35A Bids == letting of work.
1. The board shall award a contract or contracts for each
section of the work to the lowest responsible bidder or bidders
therefor, bids to be submitted, received, and acted upon
separately as to the main drain and each of the laterals, and
each settling basin, if any, exercising their own discretion as
to letting such work as to the main drain as a whole, or as to
each lateral as a whole, or by sections as to both main drain
and laterals, and reserving the right to reject any and all
bids and readvertise the letting of the work.
2. A bid shall be in writing, specifying the portion
of the work upon which the bid is made, and filed with the
auditor. The bid shall be accompanied with a bid security.
The bid security shall be in the form of a deposit of cash, a
certified check on and certified by a bank in Iowa, a certified
share draft drawn on a credit union in Iowa, or a bid bond
with a corporate surety satisfactory to the board as provided
in section 73A.20. The bid security must be payable to the
auditor or the auditor's order at the auditor's office in a
sum equal to five percent of the amount of the bid. However,
if the maximum limit on a bid security would cause a denial
of funds or services from the federal government which would
otherwise be available, or if the maximum limit would otherwise
be inconsistent with the requirements of federal law, the
maximum limit may be suspended to the extent necessary to
prevent denial of federal funds or services or to eliminate
the inconsistency with federal requirements. The cash, check,
or share draft of an unsuccessful bidder shall be returned,
and the bid bond of an unsuccessful bidder shall be canceled.
The bid security of a successful bidder shall be maintained
as a guarantee that the bidder will enter into contract in
accordance with the bids.
Sec. 7. NEW SECTION. 468.36A Performance bond == return of
deposit.
A successful bidder is required to execute a bond with
sureties approved by the auditor in favor of the county for
the use and benefit of the levee or drainage district and all
persons entitled to liens for labor or material in an amount
not less than seventy=five percent of the contract price of the
work to be done, conditioned for the timely, efficient, and
complete performance of the contract, and the payment, as they
become due, of all just claims for labor performed and material
used in carrying out the contract. When a contract is executed
and bond approved by the board, the cash, certified check, or
certified share draft deposited with the bid shall be returned
to the bidder.
Sec. 8. Section 468.66, Code 2015, is amended to read as
follows:
468.66 Bids required.
In case If the board determines that a change described
in section 468.62 increases the cost of the improvement to
more than in excess of the adjusted competitive bid threshold
as provided in section 26.3, the board and any bidders shall
comply with the competitive bid requirements applicable to
a governing entity ordering the construction of a public
improvement in chapter 26 work shall be let by bids in the same
manner as is provided for the original construction of such
improvements.
Sec. 9. Section 468.126, subsection 1, paragraphs c and d,
Code 2015, are amended by striking the paragraphs and inserting
in lieu thereof the following:
c. If the estimated cost of the repair does not exceed fifty
thousand dollars, the board may order the work done without
conducting a hearing on the matter. Otherwise, the board shall
set a date for a hearing and provide notice of the hearing to
landowners in the district by publication in the same manner
as provided in section 468.15. However, if the estimated cost
of the repair exceeds the adjusted competitive bid threshold,
the board shall provide notice to the landowners pursuant to
sections 468.14 through 468.18. The board shall not divide a
proposed repair into separate programs in order to avoid the
notice and hearing requirements of this paragraph.
d. If a hearing is required under paragraph "c", the board
shall order an engineer's report or a report from the soil
and water conservation district conservationist regarding the
matter to be presented at the hearing. The board may waive the
report requirement if a prior report on the repair exists and
that report is less than ten years old. At the hearing, the
board shall hear objections to the feasibility of making the
proposed repair.
Sec. 10. Section 468.126, subsection 1, Code 2015, is
amended by adding the following new paragraphs:
NEW PARAGRAPH. e. Following a hearing, if required in
paragraph "c", the board shall determine whether the repair is
necessary or desirable, and feasible.
NEW PARAGRAPH. f. Any interested party has the right
of appeal from such orders in the manner provided in this
subchapter, parts 1 through 5.
NEW PARAGRAPH. g. The right of remonstrance does not apply
to a repair as provided in this section.
Sec. 11. Section 468.126, subsection 2, Code 2015, is
amended to read as follows:
2. In the case of a minor repair, or in the eradication of
brush and or weeds along the open ditches, not in excess of
twenty thousand dollars the adjusted competitive bid threshold,
where the board finds that a saving to the district will
result, the board may cause the repairs or eradication to be
done by secondary road fund equipment, or weed fund equipment,
and labor of the county and then reimburse the secondary road
fund or the weed fund from the fund of the drainage district
thus benefited.
Sec. 12. Section 468.126, subsection 4, Code 2015, is
amended to read as follows:
4. a. For the purpose of this subsection, an "improvement"
in a drainage or levee district in which any ditch, tile drain,
or other facility has previously been constructed is a project
intended to expand, enlarge, or otherwise increase the capacity
of any existing ditch, drain, or other facility above that for
which it was designed.
a. b. When the board determines that an improvement is
necessary or desirable, and feasible, the board shall appoint
an engineer to make surveys as seem appropriate to determine
the nature and extent of the needed improvement, and to file
a report showing what improvement is recommended and its
estimated cost, which report may be amended before final
action.
c. If the estimated cost of the improvement does not
exceed fifty thousand dollars, the board may order the work
done without conducting a hearing on the matter. Otherwise,
the board shall set a date for a hearing on whether to
construct the proposed improvement and whether there shall be
a reclassification of benefits for the cost of the proposed
improvement.
(1) (a) The board shall provide notice to landowners in
the district by publication in the same manner as provided
in section 468.15. However, if the estimated cost of the
improvement exceeds the adjusted competitive bid threshold,
the board shall provide notice to the landowners pursuant to
sections 468.14 through 468.18.
(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph division (a), and in lieu
of publishing the notice, the board may mail a copy of the
notice to each address where a landowner within the district
resides by first class mail if the cost of mailing is less
than publication of the notice. The mailing shall be made
during the time the notice would otherwise be required to be
published.
(2) The board shall not divide proposed improvements into
separate programs in order to avoid compliance with this
paragraph "b" "c".
d. At the hearing, if required in paragraph "c", the board
shall hear objections to the feasibility of the proposed
improvements and arguments for or against a reclassification
presented by or for any taxpayer of the district. Following
a the hearing, if required by section 26.12, the board shall
order that the improvements improvement it deems necessary or
desirable and feasible be made and shall also determine whether
there should be a reclassification of benefits for the cost
of improvements the improvement. If it is determined that a
reclassification of benefits should be made, the board shall
proceed as provided in section 468.38. In lieu of publishing
the notice of a hearing as provided by section 331.305, the
board may mail a copy of the notice to each address where
a landowner in the district resides by first class mail if
the cost of mailing is less than publication of the notice.
The mailing shall be made during the time the notice would
otherwise be required to be published.
b. When ordering the construction of an improvement under
this subsection, the board shall comply with the competitive
bid requirements applicable to a governing entity ordering
the construction of a public improvement in chapter 26. If
the improvement is more than fifty thousand dollars but less
than the competitive bid threshold in section 26.3, the board
shall conduct a hearing on the matter of making the proposed
improvement. The board shall provide notice of the hearing as
provided in sections 468.14 through 468.18.
c. e. If the estimated cost of the improvements improvement
exceeds the adjusted competitive bid threshold as provided in
section 26.3, or the original cost of the district plus the
cost of subsequent improvements in the district, whichever
amount is the greater amount, a majority of the landowners,
owning in the aggregate more than seventy percent of the
total land in the district, may file a written remonstrance
against the proposed improvements improvement, at or before the
time fixed date set for hearing on the proposed improvements
improvement as provided in paragraph "c", with the county
auditor, or auditors in case the district extends into more
than one county. If a remonstrance is filed, the board shall
discontinue and dismiss all further proceedings on the proposed
improvements and charge the costs incurred to date for the
proposed improvements to the district. Any interested party
may appeal from such orders in the manner provided in this
subchapter, parts 1 through 5. However, this section does not
affect the procedures of section 468.132 covering the common
outlet.
DIVISION III
JUDGES OF TRUSTEE ELECTIONS
Sec. 13. Section 468.521, Code 2015, is amended to read as
follows:
468.521 Elections == how conducted.
1. After the first election of trustees, the board of
trustees shall act as judges of election; however, a trustee
standing for election shall not serve as a judge and shall be
replaced as judge by a person not standing for election who is
eligible to be elected as a trustee.
2. The clerk of the board shall act as one of the clerks and
some an owner of land in the district shall be appointed by the
board to act as another clerk.
3. The trustees board shall fill all vacancies in the
election board any vacancy of an acting election judge by
appointing a person who resides in the county where all or
part of the drainage or levee district is located and who is
eligible to vote in a general election in that county.
4. The result of each election shall be certified to the
auditor or the several county auditors if the district is
located in more than one county.
KRAIG PAULSEN
Speaker of the House
PAM JOCHUM
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 529, Eighty=sixth General Assembly.
CARMINE BOAL
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved , 2015
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor
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