NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1961 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 746

HOUSE BILL 696

 

 

AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 139 OF THE GENERAL STATUTES RELATING TO SOIL CONSERVATION DISTRICTS, WATERSHED IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS, AND WATERSHED IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS, SO AS TO CHANGE THE NAME OF SUCH DISTRICTS, CHANGE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE, AND CLARIFY VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF SAID CHAPTER.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:

 

Section 1.  The General Statutes of North Carolina are hereby amended by striking out the words "soil conservation district" wherever they appear in Chapter 139 and any other place in the General Statutes, and inserting in lieu thereof in each instance the words "soil and water conservation district"; and by striking out the words "State Soil Conservation Committee" wherever they appear in Chapter 139 and at any other place in the General Statutes, and inserting in lieu thereof in each instance the words "State Soil and Water Conservation Committee."

Sec. 2.  Subsection (a) of G.S. 139‑4 is hereby amended by deleting the third and fourth sentences thereof and by inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"Three members shall consist each year of the President, first Vice President and the immediate past President of the North Carolina Association of Soil Conservation Districts. Vacancies arising in any of these three positions shall be filled through appointment by the executive committee of the North Carolina Association of Soil Conservation Districts. An additional member shall be designated by the State Soil Conservation Committee for a term of two years; appointment to be made by calendar years beginning January 1. No person so designated by the Committee may be appointed for more than two successive terms. The Committee shall invite the North Carolina State Conservationist, Soil Conservation Service, to serve as an advisory nonvoting member of the Committee."

Sec. 3.  G.S. 139‑17, as the same presently appears in the 1959 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 3B of the General Statutes, is hereby amended by rewriting subparagraph (3) of said Section to read as follows:

"(3)      A description of the area proposed to be organized as a watershed improvement district, and the names and addresses of those landowners therein who are known to petitioners. The description shall be sufficient if the boundaries of the land are described in such a way as to convey an intelligent understanding of the location of the land. In the discretion of the petitioners, the boundaries may be described by any of the following methods or any combination thereof: by reference to a map; by metes and bounds; by general description referring to natural boundaries, or to boundaries of existing political subdivisions or municipalities, or to boundaries of particular tracts or parcels of land;".

Sec. 4.  Subsection (m) of G.S. 139‑18, as the same presently appears in the 1959 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 3B of the General Statutes, is hereby amended by inserting therein immediately preceding the last sentence thereof the following:

"The boundary definition contained in said order shall be sufficient if the boundaries of the land are described in such a way as to convey an intelligent understanding of the location of the land, and said boundaries may be defined by any of the methods permitted in G.S. 139‑17(3) for description of boundaries. If the final order makes no change in the area proposed to be organized in the petition, a reference to a map or description of said area contained in the petition shall be a sufficient boundary definition for purposes of the order."

Sec. 5.  Article 2 of Chapter 139 is hereby amended by adding immediately after Section 139‑19, as the same presently appears in the 1959 Cumulative Supplement to Volume 3B of the General Statutes, a new Section to be designated Section 139‑19.1 and to read as follows:

"G.S. 139‑19.1.  Supervisors of multi-county soil conservation district may delegate powers. The supervisors of any multi-county soil conservation district may delegate to a county soil conservation committee of the district any of their powers, duties or functions respecting any watershed improvement district or proposed watershed improvement district lying wholly within the boundaries of the county represented by said committee."

Sec. 6.  All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed.

Sec. 7.  This Act shall be in full force and effect from and after its ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 13th day of June, 1961.