Relating to the establishment, repair, and improvement of drainage and levee districts, including by requiring proof of professional liability insurance by civil engineers and providing for rights of landowners

GENERAL. Under Code chapter 468, drainage or levee districts are established and managed by different forms of governing bodies, including a board of supervisors, joint boards of supervisors governing intercounty districts, and an elected board of trustees. A board is required to appoint a civil engineer to establish a district and oversee work projects in the district. A board may order a repair to an improvement (to restore or maintain its capacity) or the construction of an improvement (to expand, enlarge, or otherwise increase its capacity). Usually, the work is ordered by the board after a competitive bid process and after a public hearing of affected landowners.3). REQUIREMENTS FOR ENGINEERS. The bill provides that a civil engineer appointed by a board is not required to post a bond but instead must provide proof of professional liability insurance in an amount required by the board. COMPETITIVE BID PROCESS. The bill eliminates the vertical infrastructure bid threshold used to determine when a board may order work in the district without using a competitive bid process. If the estimated construction cost is less than $50,000, the board and a contractor selected by the board may enter into a contract without a competitive bid. The board must appoint an engineer or the county’s secondary roads department to oversee the work. If the estimated construction cost is $50,000 or more but less than $100,000, the board may select two or more qualified contractors to submit competitive proposals using plans, specifications, and bid forms prepared by a supervising engineer. It also requires that the contract provide a completion date and liquidated damages for at least $100,000. The board is required to make monthly progress payments to the contractor on a monthly basis and withhold percent until completion. REPAIRS AND IMPROVEMENTS. The board may authorize one or more board members or trustees, watchpersons, or other employees of the district to identify minor maintenance needs, determine and recommend repairs, engage contractors, and oversee the repair work construction, if the cost is not more than $75,000. The board may also engage the county engineer and the secondary road department to manage the minor repairs and also larger repairs, if construction costs are less than the district’s repair cost threshold but not more than $150,000. The bill provides that in considering a proposed repair or improvement, the board must hold an informational meeting of interested landowners in the district whose land is affected by the board’s action ordering a repair or improvement. An informational meeting for a repair is not necessary if the repair must be made due to an emergency or the costs of the repair are minor. Notice is sent to affected landowners by ordinary mail. A failure to notify an interested landowner of the meeting does not confer any legal right to challenge a board’s action. The board is not required to hold a regular meeting concerning the repair or improvement if, according to an engineer’s report, a minimum cost threshold of the repair or improvement is satisfied. The method of calculating the threshold is different for repairs and improvements. In both cases, it is based on the estimated total size of the affected area (calculated in acres). For a proposed repair, this includes all parcels that would benefit from or be assessed for the proposed repair, and in the case of a proposed improvement, it includes all parcels that would benefit from the proposed improvement. In any case, a schedule is used in which a minimum threshold cost is assigned for each size category of land. The bill also provides for cases in which the board determines that a contemplated improvement is not to an existing facility in the district or it is to an existing facility but is primarily intended to bring land into the district without benefiting other facilities in the district. In such cases, the contemplated improvement must be made as a new drainage district or as a new subdrainage district.