NORTH CAROLINA GENERAL ASSEMBLY

1979 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 795

HOUSE BILL 798

 

 

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF LELAND, SUBJECT TO REFERENDUM.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1. The inhabitants and property of the area described in Section 2 of this act shall be and constitute a body politic and corporate under the name of the "Town of Leland" and shall be vested with all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges and immunities conferred by the Constitution and laws of the State of North Carolina upon municipalities and especially Chapter 160A of the General Statutes.

Sec. 2. The corporate boundaries of the Town of Leland shall be as follows until changed in accordance with law:

Beginning at a point in the western line of the corporate limits of the town of Navassa, said point being situated 1000 feet north of the center line of Seaboard Coastline Railroad right of way, and runs thence in a general southerly direction, with and along the western line of the corporate limits of the town of Navassa, to the run of Sturgeon Creek; thence in a general easterly direction, with and along the run of Sturgeon Creek and the southern line of the corporate limits of the Town of Navassa, to the run of Brunswick River; thence in a general southerly direction, with and along the run of Brunswick River, to the point where the run of said river is intersected by the centerline of U.S. Highway 17, 74, 76; thence in a general southwesterly direction, with and along the centerline of said highway, to the point where the centerline of said highway is intersected by the centerline of N.C. Highway 133; thence in a general southeasterly direction, with and along the centerline of said N.C. Highway 133, 1000 feet to a point, thence in a general westerly direction, and parallel with the centerline of U.S. Highways 74 and 76 and 1000 feet therefrom, to a point situated 1000 feet west of the centerline of secondary road number 1438; thence in a general northerly direction, parallel with said centerline and 1000 feet therefrom, to a point situated 1000 feet north of centerline of right of way of Seaboard Coastline Railroad; thence in a general southeasterly direction, parallel with said centerline and 1000 feet therefrom, to the beginning.

Sec. 3. Until the initial election hereinafter provided for, Lee Sullivan, Willie Beatty, Jr., James L. Clemmons, Van Hoyt Clark, Jeannie Mintz, Don Honeycutt, C. E. "Mike" Mitchell, Edison M. Moore, George Robbins, Herbert Long, V. A. Creech, Jr., and Harold Geedy are appointed as the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Leland. Bill Sue is appointed Mayor. The persons appointed shall exercise the powers granted by law to the Board of Commissioners until the 1979 election of municipal officers when their successors shall be elected and qualified. Notwithstanding the fact that 12 commissioners are appointed by this section to serve until the 1979 election of municipal officers, the elected officers of the Town shall be as provided in Section 4 of this act.

Sec. 4. The elected officers of the Town shall be a Board of Commissioners composed of five members and a Mayor elected by the voters of the Town. The term of the Mayor shall be two years, and after the initial election as provided for in Section 5, the terms of members of the Board of Commissioners shall be four years.

Sec. 5. At the regular municipal election in 1979, the three candidates for commissioner receiving the largest number of votes, shall be elected for four-year terms; the two candidates for commissioner receiving the next largest number of votes shall be elected for two-year terms. In 1981 and quadrennially thereafter, two commissioners shall be elected for four-year terms. In 1983 and quadrennially thereafter, three commissioners shall be elected for four-year terms.

Sec. 6. The officers of the Town shall be elected by the nonpartisan plurality method as provided in G.S. 163-292.

Sec. 7. The Town shall operate under the mayor-council form of government in accordance with Part 3 of Article 7 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes.

Sec. 8. Elections in the Town of Leland shall be conducted in accordance with Subchapter IX of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes.

Sec. 9. The Board of Commissioners and Mayor may adopt a budget ordinance for the 1979-80 fiscal year, following their qualification for office, without having to comply with the budget preparation and adoption timetable set out in the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act. If the initial budget is adopted after November 1, 1979, then taxes may be paid at par or face amount within 90 days of adoption of the budget, and thereafter according to the schedule in G.S. 105-360 as if the taxes had been due on September first.

Sec. 10. (a)  The Board of Elections in Brunswick County is hereby authorized and directed to call and conduct a special election on a date to be set by the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners, but no earlier than 60 days after ratification of this act and no later than 100 days after ratification of this act for the purpose of submitting to the qualified voters of the area hereinafter described as the proposed corporate limits of the Town of Leland, the question of whether or not such area shall be incorporated as a municipal corporation to be known as the Town of Leland. In conducting the election required to be held by this act, the Board of Elections of Brunswick County shall follow the procedures contained in G.S. 163-288.2, in this act, and the procedures contained in Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina regarding municipal elections, where the same are not in conflict with this act.

(b)       In the special election, those voters who favor the incorporation of the Town of Leland as provided in this act shall vote a ballot upon which shall be printed the words: "FOR Incorporation of the Town of Leland"; and those voters who are opposed to the incorporation of the Town of Leland as provided in this act shall vote a ballot upon which shall be printed the words: "AGAINST Incorporation of the Town of Leland".

Sec. 11. If the majority of the votes cast in such special election shall be cast "AGAINST Incorporation of the Town of Leland" then Sections 1 through 9 of this act shall have no force and effect.

Sec. 12. If a majority of the votes cast in the special election shall be cast "FOR Incorporation of the Town of Leland", then Section 1 through 9 of this act shall be in full force and effect from and after the date upon which the Brunswick County Board of Elections determines the result of the election.

Sec. 13. Sections 10 through 13 of this act are effective upon ratification. Sections 1 through 9 of this act are effective as provided in Section 12 of this act.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 6th day of June, 1979.