1. Any county, city, town or village in this state may construct and operate a county or municipal levee system to protect the roads, streets and public facilities of such county, city, town or village, and to protect the life, safety and property of the residents of the county, city, town or village from damage and injury due to flood waters. Such a county, city, town or village may acquire property, rights-of-way and easements within the county, city, town or village through its power of eminent domain for the purpose of constructing, operating, repairing or maintaining levees, access roads and pumping sites, and acquiring suitable barrow* and dredge material disposal areas for the county or municipal levee system.

2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection 1 of this section to the contrary, any city wholly contained in a county of the first classification without a charter form of government which contains a campus of the University of Missouri may exercise the powers provided in this section within ten miles of such city.

Terms Used In Missouri Laws 246.271

  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Property: includes real and personal property. See Missouri Laws 1.020
  • State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020

3. Pursuant to section 70.220, any city, town or village which constructs or operates a municipal levee system or any county may enter into contracts or agreements with or cooperate with other political subdivisions, or with any agency of the state or federal government, for the purpose of the construction, operation, repair or maintenance of such levee system.

4. Public improvement, as used in section 71.290, shall include a municipal levee system, as described in this section, and as such, any city, town or village may pay for the cost of acquiring property, rights-of-way and easement through condemnation or otherwise, and may pay for the cost of the labor and materials used in the construction, operation, repair and maintenance of such a municipal levee system out of its general revenue. In addition, construction and operation of a municipal levee system is a city purpose, as described in Section 26(c) of Article VI of the State Constitution, and any such city, town or village may issue general obligation bonds for the purposes described in this section, subject to the provisions of law governing the issuance of municipal general obligation bonds.