West Virginia Code § 16-12-1

Incorporation as sanitary district for sewage disposal; petition, notice and
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hearing; election; form of ballot; expenses of election.
Whenever any area of contiguous territory shall contain one or more incorporated cities,
towns, and/or villages, and shall be so situated that the construction and maintenance of a
plant or plants for the purification and treatment of sewage and the maintenance of one or
more outlets for the drainage thereof, after having been so treated and puriefied by and
through such plant or plants will conduce to the preservation of the public health, comfort,
and convenience, the same may be incorporated as a sanitary district urnder this article in
the manner following, to wit:
Any 400 legal voters, residents within the limits of such proposed sanitary district, may
petition the county commission of the county in which the prtoposed sanitary district, or the
major portion thereof, is located, to cause the question to be submitted to the legal voters of
such proposed sanitary district, whether such proposed territory shall be organized as a
sanitary district under this article; such petition shall be addressed to the county commission
and shall contain a definite description of the boundaries of the territory to be embraced in
the such sanitary district, and the name of sucsh proposed sanitary district: Provided, That no
territory shall be included within more than one sanitary district organized under this
article.
Notice shall be given by such county commission within 10 days after receiving the petition,
of the time and place when a heearing on the petition for a sanitary district shall be held, by
publication of such notice as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions
of §59-3-1 et seq. of thisL code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the area
of the sanitary district. The first publication shall be made at least 20 days prior to such
hearing. The hearing on the petition for a sanitary district shall be held not later than 30
days after the county commission receives the said petition. At such hearing the president of
the county commission shall preside, and all persons resident within the limits of such
proposed sanitary district shall have an opportunity to be heard upon the question of the
locaWtion and boundary of such proposed sanitary district, and to make suggestions regarding
the same, and the said county commission, after hearing statements, evidence, and
suggestions, shall fix and determine the limits and boundaries of such proposed sanitary
district as stated in the original petition unless by a vote of the majority of the legal voters
resident within the limits of such proposed sanitary district, present at the said hearing, it
should be decided to alter and amend such petition to change and redetermine the limits and
boundaries of such proposed sanitary district.
After such determination by the county commission the same shall be incorporated in an
order which shall be spread at length upon the records of the county commission. Upon the
entering of such order, the county commission shall submit to the legal voters of the
proposed sanitary district, the question of organization and establishment of the proposed
sanitary district as determined by said county commission, at an election, to be held
concurrently with the next regularly scheduled primary or general election, notice whereof
shall be given by the county commission at least 20 days prior thereto by publication of such
notice as a Class II-O legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of §59-3-1 et
seq. of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the area of the
proposed sanitary district. Such notice shall specify briefly the purpose of such election, with
the description of such proposed sanitary district, and the time and place for holding such
election.
Each legal voter resident within such proposed sanitary district shall have tehe right to cast a
ballot at such election. Ballots at elections held under this section shall be in substantially
the following form, to wit: r
/ / For sanitary district. u
/ / Against sanitary district.
The ballots so cast shall be issued, received, returned,a and canvassed in the same manner
and by the same officers as is provided by law in the case of ballots cast for county officers,
except as herein modified. The county commission lshall cause a statement of the result of
such election to be spread on the records of thse county commission. If a majority of the votes
cast upon the question of the incorporation of the proposed sanitary district shall be in favor
of the proposed sanitary district, such propiosed sanitary district shall thenceforth be
deemed an organized sanitary distrigct under this article. All courts in this state shall take
judicial notice of the existence of all sanitary districts organized under this article.
The expenses of holding said special election shall be paid by the county commission of said
county, in which said proposed sanitary district, or the major portion thereof, is located, out
of the general funds of said county: Provided, That in the event such sanitary district is
established and incorporated under this article, then said sanitary district shall repay to said
county the expenses incurred in holding said special election within two years from the date
of incorporating said sanitary district.

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