1. Upon adoption of a proposal to establish a joint water utility, the member cities shall establish a joint water utility board, consisting of at least five members. The mayors of the participating cities shall appoint the members, subject to the approval of the city councils, and at least one member shall be appointed from each participating city. The board shall be responsible for the planning and operation of a joint water utility, subject to the provisions of this chapter.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 389.3

  • City utility: means all or part of a waterworks, gasworks, sanitary sewage system, storm water drainage system, electric light and power plant and system, heating plant, cable communication or television system, telephone or telecommunications systems or services offered separately or combined with any system or service specified in this subsection or authorized by other law, any of which are owned by a city, including all land, easements, rights-of-way, fixtures, equipment, accessories, improvements, appurtenances, and other property necessary or useful for the operation of the utility. See Iowa Code 362.2
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Joint water utility: means a water utility established by two or more cities which owns or operates or proposes to finance the purchase or construction of all or part of a water supply system or the capacity or use of a water supply system pursuant to this chapter. See Iowa Code 389.1
  • Joint water utility board: means the board of trustees established to operate a joint water utility. See Iowa Code 389.1
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A joint water utility is a political subdivision and an instrumentality of municipal government. The statutory powers, duties, and limitations conferred upon a city utility apply to a joint water utility, except that title to property of a joint water utility may be held in the name of the joint water utility. The joint water utility board shall have all powers and authority of a city with respect to property which is held by the joint water utility. A joint water utility shall have the power of eminent domain, including the powers, duties, and limitations conferred upon a city in chapters 6A and 6B, for the purposes of constructing and operating a joint water utility.
 3. The joint water utility board may purchase or construct all or part of any water supply system, and may finance the purchase or construction. The board may also contract to sell all or part of the joint water utility’s water supply, including any surplus, to a public or private agency, or an entity created to carry out an agreement authorizing the joint exercise of any of the governmental powers enumerated in section 28F.1. The board may contract for the purchase, from any source, of all or a portion of the water supply requirements of the joint water facility. A contract may include provisions for the payment for capacity or output of a facility whether the facility is completed or operating, and for establishing the rights and obligations of the parties to the contract in the event of a default by any of the parties.
 4. Payments made by a joint water utility pursuant to a contract shall constitute operating expenses of the joint water utility and shall be payable from the revenues derived from the operation of the joint water utility.
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