(a)        Notwithstanding N.C. Gen. Stat. § 162A-67 and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 162A-68, any time subsequent to the creation of a district, the district shall be expanded in accordance with this section to include territory of a requesting county if the governing board of the county submits a resolution requesting inclusion in the district and the county meets all of the following criteria:

(1)        The county is contracting with the district for bulk service.

(2)        The district has installed a sewage disposal system, sewerage system, sewers, or any portion thereof, in that county.

(3)        The district serves customers in that county as of the date of the resolution.

(b)        Upon receipt of a resolution described in subsection (a) of this section, the district board shall send to the Environmental Management Commission and the requesting county all of the following:

(1)        A map or maps of the district showing each of the following:

a.         The present and proposed new boundaries of the district.

b.         The existing sewage disposal system, sewerage system, and sewers.

c.         Any proposed extension of the sewage disposal system, sewerage system, sewer, including any sewer interceptors and outfalls.

(2)        A description of any proposed extension of sewerage services to the requesting county, which shall address all of the following:

a.         Extension of sewerage service to the requesting county on substantially the same basis and in the same manner as such services are provided within the rest of the district prior to inclusion of the new territory.

b.         A proposed time schedule for extension of sewerage service to the requesting county.

c.         The estimated cost of extension of sewerage service to the requesting county; the method by which the district board proposes to finance the extension; the outstanding existing indebtedness of the district, if any; and the valuation of assessable property within the district and within the requesting county.

(3)        An analysis of the inclusion of the territory in the district.

(c)        The Environmental Management Commission shall review the documents submitted under subsection (b) of this section and shall, in conjunction with the requesting county, set a time and place within the requesting county for a public hearing. The chair of the governing body of the requesting county shall give prior notice of such hearing by posting a notice at the courthouse door of the requesting county at least 30 days prior to the hearing and also by publication at least once a week for four successive weeks in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation in the district and in the requesting county, the first publication to be at least 30 days prior to such public hearing.

(d)       If, after the public hearing, the Environmental Management Commission determines that the inclusion of the territory will not adversely affect customer service in the district and will preserve and promote the public health and welfare of the district, the Environmental Management Commission shall adopt a resolution expanding and defining the boundaries of the district to include the territory in the district. Such resolution shall state an effective date of the inclusion of the territory in the district.

(e)        Any action or proceeding in any court to set aside a resolution of the Environmental Management Commission, or to obtain any other relief upon the ground that such resolution or any proceeding or action taken with respect to the inclusion of the requesting county within the district is invalid, must be commenced within 30 days after the effective date of the resolution adopted by the Environmental Management Commission. After the expiration of such period of limitation, no right of action or defense founded upon the invalidity of the resolution or the inclusion of the requesting county in the district shall be asserted, nor shall the validity of the resolution or the inclusion of the requesting county be open to question in any court upon any ground whatever, except in an action or proceeding commenced within such period.

(f)        Any territory of the requesting county included within an existing district by resolution of the Environmental Management Commission shall be subject to all debts of the district.

(g)        Upon inclusion in the district, the district board shall be expanded by two members, who shall be qualified registered voters residing in the territory added to the district and appointed by the governing body of the requesting county. The terms of office of the members appointed under this subsection may be varied for a period not to exceed six months from the terms provided for in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 162A-67 so that the appointment of successors to such members may more nearly coincide with the appointment of successors to members of the existing district board. All successor members shall be appointed for the terms provided for in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 162A-67

(h)        N.C. Gen. Stat. § 162A-67(a)(4) and N.C. Gen. Stat. § 162A-68 shall not apply to any expansion under this section. ?(2019-127, s. 1.)

Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 162A-68.5

  • district: shall mean a metropolitan sewerage district created under the provisions of this Article. See North Carolina General Statutes 162A-65
  • district board: shall mean a sewerage district board established under the provisions of this Article as the governing body of a district or, if such sewerage district board shall be abolished, any board, body, or commission succeeding to the principal functions thereof or upon which the powers given by this Article to the sewerage district board shall be given by law. See North Carolina General Statutes 162A-65
  • following: when used by way of reference to any section of a statute, shall be construed to mean the section next preceding or next following that in which such reference is made; unless when some other section is expressly designated in such reference. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • governing body: shall mean the board, commission, council or other body, by whatever name it may be known, of a political subdivision in which the general legislative powers thereof are vested, including, but without limitation, as to any political subdivision other than the county, the board of commissioners for the county when the general legislative powers of such political subdivision are exercised by such board. See North Carolina General Statutes 162A-65
  • property: shall include all property, both real and personal. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
  • sewage: shall mean the water-carried wastes created in and carried or to be carried away from residences, hotels, schools, hospitals, industrial establishments, commercial establishments or any other private or public buildings, together with such surface or groundwater or household and industrial wastes as may be present. See North Carolina General Statutes 162A-65
  • sewage disposal system: shall mean any plant, system, facility or property, either within or without the limits of the district, used or useful or having the present capacity for future use in connection with the collection, treatment, purification or disposal of sewage, or any integral part thereof, including but not limited to septic tank systems or other on-site collection or disposal facilities or systems, treatment plants, facilities for the generation and transmission of electric power and energy, pumping stations, intercepting sewers, trunk sewers, pressure lines, mains and all necessary appurtenances and equipment, and all property, rights, easements and franchises relating thereto and deemed necessary or convenient by the district board for the operation thereof. See North Carolina General Statutes 162A-65
  • sewers: shall mean any mains, pipes and laterals,? including pumping stations, either within or without the limits of the district, for the reception of sewage and carrying such sewage to an outfall or some part of a sewage disposal system. See North Carolina General Statutes 162A-65
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3