Current StatusView additional legislative information at the LPITS web site.Bill Number: 3518 Ratification Number: 332 Act Number 346 Introducing Body: House Subject: Related to the creation of the Gowensville Fire District in Greenville and Spartanburg counties
(A346, R332, H3518)
AN ACT TO CREATE THE GOWENSVILLE FIRE DISTRICT IN GREENVILLE AND SPARTANBURG COUNTIES, TO ESTABLISH A GOVERNING COMMISSION AND PRESCRIBE THE FUNCTIONS AND POWERS FOR THE COMMISSION.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Gowensville Fire District established
Section 1. There is created and established in Greenville and Spartanburg Counties the Gowensville Fire District. The district shall consist of areas of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties and more specifically described as follows:
The district is defined as an area encompassing approximately ten square miles. The boundary lines of the district are defined as follows: beginning at a point where South Carolina Highway 14 intersects with the Spartanburg-Greenville County lines; thence running in an easterly direction parallel to and 1,000 feet north of County Road 845 to its intersection with County Road 184; thence proceeding in a due easterly direction to a point 1,000 feet east of Road 184; thence running in a southerly direction 1,000 feet east of and parallel with County Road 184 to a point 1,000 feet north of Caldwell Road; thence running in a southeasterly direction parallel to and 1,000 feet north of Caldwell Road to its intersection with U. S. Highway 11; thence crossing Highway 11 in a southerly direction to a point 1,000 feet north of Ferree Road; thence following parallel to and 1,000 feet north of Ferree Road to a point 1,000 feet east of intersection of Ferree Road and Cole Roads thence in a southerly direction parallel to and 1,000 feet east of Cole Road to its intersection with Motlow Church Road; thence running in a southwesterly direction 1,000 feet east of and parallel with Motlow Church Road to a point 1,000 feet north of Rocky Road; thence running in an easterly direction parallel to and 1,000 feet north of Rocky Road to its intersection with County Road 347; thence crossing County Road 347 to a point 1,000 feet east of County Road 347 and north of County Road 210; thence running in a southwesterly direction parallel to and 1,000 feet east of County Road 347 to a point 1,000 feet east of the intersection of County Road 347 and County Road 876; thence running in a southeasterly direction 1,000 feet east of and parallel with County Road 876 to a point 1,000 feet northeast of the intersection of County Road 876 and County Road 52; thence running in a southeasterly direction 1,000 feet north of and parallel with County Road 52 to a point 1,000 feet east of State Highway 357; thence joining Holly Springs Fire District northern boundary and running parallel to said boundary in a westerly direction to the intersection of County Road 76; thence in a southwesterly direction parallel to Holly Springs Fire District boundary to County Road 75 to its intersection with Greenville and Spartanburg County boundaries; thence north to a point 1,000 feet south of Nodine Road; thence turning northwesterly direction 1,000 feet south of and parallel with Nodine Road to a point 1,000 feet south of and 1,000 feet west of the intersection of Nodine Road and Jug Factory Road; thence running 1,000 feet south of and parallel to Jug Factory Road to a point 1,000 feet south of the intersection of Jug Factory Road and Barnett Road; thence running westerly 1,000 feet south of and parallel to Barnett Road to a point 1,000 feet west of and 1,000 feet south of the intersection of Babb Road and Barnett Road and continuing to run parallel with Babb Road to its intersection with S. C. Highway 14; thence continuing in a northwesterly direction 1,000 feet west of and parallel with Pink Dill Mill Road to a point 1,000 feet south of the intersection of King Road with Pink Dill Mill Road; thence running 1,000 feet west of and parallel with King Road to a point 1,000 feet west of intersection of Pleasant Hill Road and King Road; thence running 1,000 feet west of Pleasant Hill Road to a point 1,000 feet south of Howe Road; thence running 1,000 feet south of and parallel with Howe Road to a point 1,000 feet west of the intersection of Howe Road and S. C. Highway 414; thence crossing Highway 414 and running 1,000 feet west of and parallel to Dill Road in a northerly direction crossing Tugaloo Road; thence continuing to follow the line 1,000 feet west of Dill Road to its intersection with Old S. C. Highway 11; thence running 1,000 feet north of and parallel with old Highway 11; thence to the intersection with new Highway 11 1,000 feet west of the intersection of old Highway 11 and new Highway 11 and thence running parallel with and north of new Highway 11 3,000 feet to an imaginary point; thence in a northeasterly direction to the intersection of Green Creek and Howard Road; thence following the centerline of Green Creek in a northwesterly direction 1,000 feet; thence turning in a northeasterly direction and running 1,000 feet north of and parallel with Howard Road (S. C. Highway 116) to a point 1,000 feet north of S. C. Highway 180; thence running parallel to and 1,000 feet north of Highway 180 to a point 1,000 feet west of S. C. Highway 14; thence running approximately 600 feet in a northerly direction parallel to and 1,000 feet west of Highway 14 to a point; thence in a southeasterly direction 1,000 feet to the point of beginning at the intersection of S. C. Highway 14 and the Greenville County-Spartanburg County line.
Gowensville District Commission
Section 2. The district shall be governed by a commission to be known as the Gowensville Fire District Commission. The Commission shall consist of five resident electors of the district who shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district. The election shall be conducted by the Greenville and Spartanburg County Election Commissions upon a date set by the Commissions. The Election Commissions in both counties shall certify the five candidates receiving the highest vote as the elected commissioners of the district. All terms of commissioners shall be for a term of four years. Any vacancy occurring on the commission by reason of death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by special election. Upon any commissioner moving out of the area of the district, his position becomes automatically vacant.
Any resident qualified elector of the district may be a candidate for the position of commissioner by filing with the County Elections Commission in which he resides, such intention at least two weeks prior to the election.
Functions of district
Section 3. There is committed to the district the functions of constructing, operating, maintaining, improving and extending a fire protection and fire control district. To that end the commission shall be empowered as follows:
1. Have perpetual succession.
2. Sue and be sued.
3. Adopt, use and alter a corporate seal.
4. Make bylaws for the management and regulations of its affairs.
5. Acquire, purchase, hold, use, lease, mortgage, sell, transfer, and dispose of any property, real, personal or mixed or any interest therein.
6. Build, construct, operate, and maintain water lines and water mains throughout the district and all apparatus necessary for the proper functioning of same in the control and prevention of fires.
7. Purchase or otherwise acquire a supply of water sufficient to furnish proper fire protection and fire control to residents of the district.
8. Enter into contracts for the purchase of water and for maintenance of water pipes, hydrants, valves, and all equipment necessary to provide water for protection against and control of fire.
9. Appoint officers, agents, employees and servants, prescribe the duties of such, fix their compensation, and determine if and to what extent they shall be bonded for the faithful performance of their duties.
10. Make contracts for construction, engineering and other services with or without competitive bidding.
11. To purchase such fire fighting equipment as the commission deems necessary for controlling fires and furnishing fire protection in the district.
12. To select the sites or places within the area where the fire fighting equipment shall be kept.
13. To provide personnel, voluntary or otherwise, necessary to man such equipment.
14. To provide and supervise the training of any volunteers used in manning such equipment with the end that the equipment shall be fully utilized for the protection and control of fire within the district.
15. To be responsible for the upkeep, maintenance and repairs of the trucks and other fire fighting equipment and to make regular inspection of all equipment and operations.
16. To promulgate such regulations as it may deem necessary and proper to insure that the equipment shall be utilized for the best advantage of the area.
17. To construct, if necessary, buildings to house the equipment provided for herein.
18. The commission is empowered to issue general obligation bonds of the district not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars of the proceeds of which shall be used to defray the costs of constructing and establishing a fire protection and control system in the district. For the purpose of this section, the term "construct and establish" shall embrace the cost of direct construction, the cost of all land, property, rights, easements and franchises acquired which are deemed necessary for such fire protection system, the cost of all machinery, equipment, and apparatus needed therefor, payment to contractors, laborers, or others for work done or material furnished, financing charges, interest prior to and during construction and for six months after completion of construction, cost of engineering services, legal services, legal expenses, plans, specifications, surveys, administrative expenses and such other expenses as may be necessary or incidental to the construction of a fire control or fire protection system, and the placing of same in operation. General obligation bonds shall be issued only in the event the election provided for in this act shall result favorably. If pursuant to this paragraph, the bonds are issued:
(a) They shall be issued as a single issue, or, from time to time, as several separate issues. They shall bear such date or dates as the commission shall determine and the bonds of any issue shall mature in such equal or unequal annual installments as may be determined by the commission. They shall be made payable at such place or places as the commission shall prescribe and shall bear interest at such rate or rates, payable in such manner as the commission may determine. The bonds may be registered with the privilege to the holder of having them registered as to principal on the books of the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties and the principal thus made payable to the registered holder, unless the last registered transfer shall have been to bearer, upon such conditions as the commission may prescribe. Any bond issued pursuant to this paragraph may be made subject to redemption prior to its stated maturity on such terms and conditions, and with such redemption premium, as the commission shall prescribe.
(b) They shall be sold at not less than par and accrued interest to the date of their respective deliveries at public sale and, at least thirty days prior to any sale, notice announcing the intention to receive bids for the sale of such bonds shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the State of South Carolina. In offering the bonds for sale the commission shall reserve the right to reject any and all bids, and if all bids shall be rejected the commission may negotiate privately for the disposition of such bonds.
(c) Such bonds and all interest to become due thereon shall have the tax exempt status prescribed by Section 12-1-60 of the 1976 Code.
(d) Such bonds shall be executed in the name of "Gowensville Fire District" by the Chairman of the Gowensville Fire District Commission and by the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties and under the seal of the district. The coupons attached to such bonds may be authenticated by the facsimile signatures of the Chairman of the Gowensville Fire District and the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties who are in office at the date of such bonds. The delivery of any bonds so executed and authenticated shall be valid, notwithstanding any changes in offices occurring after such execution or authentication.
(e) There shall be irrevocably pledged for the payment of the bonds and interest, as the same mature, the full faith, credit and resources of the district and the auditors and treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties are authorized and directed to levy and collect annually a tax upon all taxable property within the district sufficient to pay the bonds and interest as they respectively mature, and to create such sinking fund as may be necessary for the redemption of the bonds and interest at their respective maturities. The bonds may be additionally secured by a pledge of the net revenues which the district may derive from the operation of any revenue-producing facility. In such event, such net revenues as shall be available shall be delivered to the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties prior to the occasion when the auditor fixes the annual levy. The annual ad valorem tax herein directed to be levied may be reduced in each year by the amount of net revenues actually in the hands of the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties at the time the tax for such year is required to be levied, and the tax may be entirely suspended for any year in case such monies on hand, applicable as aforesaid, are sufficient to pay both principal and interest then due or falling due in such year and remaining unpaid.
(f) The pledge of net revenues authorized by item (e) of this item need not, in the discretion of the commission, be exclusive and the commission may reserve the right to issue further bonds, payable in whole or in part, from such net revenues, on a parity with the bonds authorized by this subitem under such conditions as the commission may prescribe.
(g) The proceeds derived from the sale of such bonds shall be deposited with the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties in a separate and special fund and shall be expended upon the warrants or orders of the commission for the purpose specified in this act, and no others except that any premium received shall be deposited with the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties and applied by them to the first installment of principal becoming due on the bonds, and any accrued interest received shall be applied by the Treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties to the first installment of interest becoming due on the bonds. Neither the purchasers of the bonds, nor any subsequent holders thereof, shall be responsible for the proper application of the proceeds of sale.
19. The Election Commissions for Greenville and Spartanburg Counties shall make provision for the holding of a special election in the district, on a date to be fixed by the Election Commissions, at which time there shall be submitted to the qualified electors of the district the question of issuing bonds of the district for the purposes authorized by item 3 of this section. The election shall be conducted by the commissioners of election for Greenville and Spartanburg Counties who shall give notice by publication sixty and forty-five days prior to the election, in one or more newspapers with general circulation in the district, stating the question to be submitted at the election, and specifying the amount in dollars of the bonds proposed to be issued. The election shall be conducted in each of the several precincts of the district as the same are now established by law, and at the regular voting place therein, if such be within the district; otherwise, the commissioners of election shall designate a suitable voting place within such precinct. The question submitted shall show on its face the primary purpose or purposes for which the proceeds of the bond issue are to be expended and with the blank set forth therein approximately completed. The question shall be substantially in the following form:
"Shall the Gowensville Fire District issue bonds, the proceeds of which shall be used to construct and establish a fire prevention and fire control system in the district?
YES
NO"
The ballot shall contain suitable instructions, advising the voter that if he favors the issuance of bonds he shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark "YES", and that if he is opposed to the issuance of bonds, he shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the word "NO". The managers of election at each precinct shall count the ballots and forthwith return the result of the election, together with the original ballots and tally sheets, to the Commissioners of Election of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties who shall declare the result of the election. If the commissioners determine that a majority of the voters voting in the election voted in favor of the issuance of bonds, the bonds, or any part thereof, may be issued as provided in item (18) of this section; but if the commissioners determine that a majority of the ballots cast in the election be against the issuance of bonds, then no bonds shall be issued under the provisions of item (18) of this section. Except as provided by this act, the election shall be conducted pursuant to Title 7 of the 1976 Code, mutatis mutandis.
20. Do all other acts necessary or convenient to carry out any function or power granted to the district.
21. The commission is vested with the power to raise funds for discharging the duties vested in it by levying a tax therefor. The commission shall notify the auditors and treasurers of Greenville and Spartanburg Counties of any desired tax, and they shall assess and collect the tax as requested and the treasurers shall hold the funds and disburse them as directed by the commission. All such taxes shall constitute a lien upon the property against which the same are levied, on a parity with the lien of county taxes, and the provisions of law relating to penalties for the nonpayment or tardy payment of county taxes, and the provisions relating to sale of property for delinquent county taxes shall apply to taxes levied pursuant to this Act.
Revenues
Section 4. All revenues derived by the commission from the operation of any revenue-producing facility, which may not be required to discharge covenants made by it in issuing bonds, notes or other obligations authorized by this act, shall be disposed of by the commission from time to time for the purpose of the district.
Rates
Section 5. The rates charged for services furnished by any revenue-producing facility of the district, as constructed, improved, enlarged or extended, shall not be subject to supervision or regulation of any state bureau, board, commission or other like instrumentality or agency thereof.
Property to be tax exempt
Section 6. The property of and income of the district shall be exempt from all taxes levied by the State, county, or any municipality, division, subdivision or agency thereof direct or indirect.
Powers not to be diminished
Section 7. So long as the district shall ,be indebted to any person on any bonds, notes or other obligations issued pursuant to the authority of this Act, the provisions of this act and the powers granted to the district and the Commission shall not be in any way diminished or restricted, and this provision of this act shall be deemed a part of the contract between the district and the holders of such obligations.
Fire chief to have supervision over equipment
Section 8. The fire chief or equivalent official of the truck company to which the equipment is assigned shall have complete supervision over its usage and operation, and it shall be his responsibility to insure that the equipment is readily available for use at all times.
Members of truck company may control traffic
Section 9. All members of the truck company or fire districts, employees or volunteers may direct and control traffic at the scene of any fire in the area of the county and enforce the laws of this State relating to the following of fire apparatus, the crossing of fire hose and interfering with firemen in the discharge of their duties in connection with a fire in the same manner as provided for the enforcement of such laws by law enforcement officers.
Penalties
Section 10. It shall be unlawful for any person to wilfully destroy or damage any facility of the district, or equipment used in the operation of such facility, to interfere with a member of a fire department in the discharge of his duties in the district or to interfere with any fire apparatus used by the fire department in the district. Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be fined not exceeding one hundred dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding thirty days.
Time effective
Section 11. This act shall take effect upon the approval by the Governor.