(a)

(1) Except as otherwise provided pursuant to subdivision (a)(9), effective September 1, 1998, there is created within each county a coordinating committee, which shall be composed of the following members:

(A) The county mayor or the county mayor's designee, to be confirmed by the county legislative body; provided, that a member of the county legislative body may serve as such designee subject to such confirmation;

(B) The mayor of each municipality or the mayor's designee, to be confirmed by the municipal governing body;

(C) One (1) member appointed by the governing board of the municipally owned utility system serving the largest number of customers in the county;

(D) One (1) member appointed by the governing board of the utility system, not municipally owned, serving the largest number of customers in the county;

(E) One (1) member appointed by the board of directors of the county's soil conservation district, who shall represent agricultural interests;

(F) One (1) member appointed by the board of the local education agency having the largest student enrollment in the county;

(G) One (1) member appointed by the largest chamber of commerce, to be appointed after consultation with any other chamber of commerce within the county; and

(H) Two (2) members appointed by the county mayor and two (2) members appointed by the mayor of the largest municipality, to assure broad representation of environmental, construction and homeowner interests.

(2) It is the duty of the coordinating committee to develop a recommended growth plan not later than January 1, 2000, and to submit such plan for ratification by the county legislative body and the governing body of each municipality. The recommended growth plan shall identify urban growth boundaries for each municipality within the county and shall identify planned growth areas and rural areas within the county, all in conformance with § 6-58-106. In developing a recommended growth plan, the coordinating committee shall give due consideration to such urban growth boundaries as may be timely proposed and submitted to the coordinating committee by each municipal governing body. The coordinating committee shall also give due consideration to such planned growth areas and rural areas as may be timely proposed and submitted to the coordinating committee by the county legislative body. The coordinating committee is encouraged to utilize planning resources that are available within the county, including municipal or county planning commissions. The coordinating committee is further encouraged to utilize the services of the county technical assistance service, and the municipal technical advisory service.

(3) Prior to finalization of the recommended growth plan, the coordinating committee shall conduct at least two (2) public hearings. The county shall give at least fifteen (15) days advance notice of the time, place and purpose of each public hearing by notice published in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the county.

(4) Not later than January 1, 2000, the coordinating committee shall submit its recommended growth plan for ratification by the county legislative body and by the governing body of each municipality within the county; provided, that, notwithstanding this chapter to the contrary, if a municipality is completely contiguous to and surrounded by one (1) or more municipalities, then the corporate limits of the surrounded municipality shall constitute the municipality's urban growth boundaries and such municipality shall not be eligible to ratify or reject the recommended growth plan. Not later than one hundred twenty (120) days after receiving the recommended growth plan, the county legislative body or municipal governing body, as the case may be, shall act to either ratify or reject the recommended growth plan of the coordinating committee. Failure by such county legislative body or any such municipal governing body to act within such one hundred twenty-day period shall be deemed to constitute ratification by such county or municipality of the recommended growth plan.

(5) If the county or any municipality therein rejects the recommendation of the coordinating committee, then the county or municipality shall submit its objections, and the reasons therefor, for resolution in accordance with subsection (b). In resolving disputes arising from disagreements over which urban growth boundary should contain specific territory, due consideration shall be given if one of the municipalities is better able to efficiently and effectively provide urban services within the disputed territory. Due consideration shall also be given if one of the municipalities detrimentally relied upon priority status conferred under prior annexation law and, thereby, justifiably incurred significant expense in preparation for annexation of the disputed territory.

(6)

(A) A municipality may make binding agreements with other municipalities and with counties to refrain from exercising any power or privilege granted to the municipality by this title, to any degree contained in the agreement including, but not limited to, the authority to annex.

(B) A county may make binding agreements with municipalities to refrain from exercising any power or privilege granted to the county by title 5, to any degree contained in the agreement including, but not limited to, the authority to receive annexation date revenue.

(C) Any agreement made pursuant to this subdivision (a)(6) need not have a set term, but after the agreement has been in effect for five (5) years, any party upon giving ninety (90) days written notice to the other parties is entitled to a renegotiation or termination of the agreement.

(7)

(A) Notwithstanding this chapter or any other law to the contrary, any annexation reserve agreement or any agreement of any kind either between municipalities or between municipalities and counties setting out areas reserved for future municipal annexation and in effect on May 19, 1998, are ratified and remain binding and in full force and effect. Any such agreement may be amended from time to time by mutual agreement of the parties. Any such agreement or amendment may not be construed to abrogate the application of any provision of this chapter to the area annexed pursuant to the agreement or amendment.

(B) In any county with a charter form of government, the annexation reserve agreements in effect on January 1, 1998, are deemed to satisfy the requirement of a growth plan. The county shall file a plan based on such agreements with the committee.

(8) No provision of this chapter shall prohibit written contracts between municipalities and property owners relative to the exercise of a municipality's rights of annexation or operate to invalidate an annexation ordinance done pursuant to a written contract between a municipality and a property owner in existence on May 19, 1998.

(9)

(A) Instead of the coordinating committee created under subdivision (a)(1), in any county in which the largest municipality comprises at least sixty percent (60%) of the population of the entire county and on May 19, 1998, there is no other municipality in the county with a population in excess of one thousand (1,000), according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census, the coordinating committee in such county shall be the municipal planning commission of the largest municipality and the county planning commission, if the county has a planning commission. The mayor of the largest municipality and the county mayor of such county may jointly appoint as many additional members to the coordinating committee as they may determine. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection (a) with respect to the adoption or ratification of the recommended growth plan, in any county to which this subdivision (a)(9)(A) applies, upon adoption of a recommended growth plan, the coordinating committee shall submit its recommendation to the county legislative body for ratification. The county legislative body may only disapprove the recommendation of the coordinating committee if it makes an affirmative finding, by a two-thirds (⅔) vote, that the committee acted in an arbitrary or capricious manner or abused its official discretion in applying the law. If the county legislative body disapproves the recommendation of the coordinating committee, then the dispute resolution process of this section shall apply.

(B) Instead of the coordinating committee created pursuant to subdivision (a)(1), if the county legislative body and the governing body of each municipality located therein all agree that another entity shall perform the duties assigned by this chapter to the coordinating committee, then such other entity shall perform such duties of the coordinating committee, and such coordinating committee shall not be created or continued, as the case may be.

(b)

(1) If the county or any municipality rejects the recommended growth plan, then the coordinating committee shall reconsider its action. After such reconsideration, the coordinating committee may recommend a revised growth plan and may submit such revised growth plan for ratification by the county legislative body and the governing body of each municipality. If a recommended growth plan or revised growth plan is rejected, then the county or any municipality may declare the existence of an impasse and may request the secretary of state to provide an alternative method for resolution of disputes preventing ratification of a growth plan.

(2) Upon receiving such request, the secretary of state shall promptly appoint a dispute resolution panel consisting of a minimum of one (1) member and a maximum of three (3) members. The secretary of state shall have the discretion to determine the size of the panel. Each member of the panel shall be appointed from the ranks of the administrative law judges employed within the administrative procedures division. Each member shall possess formal training in the methods and techniques of dispute resolution and mediation. Panel members and their spouses and immediate family shall not be residents, property owners, officials or employees of the county or any municipality within the county.

(3) The panel shall attempt to mediate the unresolved disputes. If, after reasonable efforts, mediation does not resolve the disputes, then the panel shall propose a non-binding resolution. The county legislative body and the municipal governing bodies shall be given a reasonable period in which to consider the proposed resolution. If the county legislative body and the municipal governing bodies do not accept and approve the resolution, the secretary of state shall appoint a new panel of administrative law judges, composed and selected in the same manner specified in subdivision (b)(2), for the purpose of adopting a growth plan. The panel may initiate formal proceedings, if they are necessary to obtain sufficient information for adopting a growth plan. These proceedings shall be conducted subject to the open meetings provisions of title 8, chapter 44, but need not be in compliance with the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5. The panel may consult with experts in urban planning, growth and development, and may commission or contract for additional studies and reports on population growth and projections, land utilization and needs, environmental impacts, and the development and production of maps adequate for the use of the panel in mediating a dispute or in adopting a growth plan. The costs associated with obtaining the services of experts, the production of studies, reports, maps and other documents shall be a reasonable and necessary cost associated with the panel's development of the growth plan.

(4) The secretary of state shall certify the reasonable and necessary costs incurred by the dispute resolution panel, including, but not necessarily limited to, salaries, supplies, travel expenses and staff support for the panel members. The county and the municipalities shall reimburse the secretary of state for such costs, to be allocated on a pro rata basis calculated on the number of persons residing within each of the municipalities and the number of persons residing within the unincorporated areas of the county; provided, that if the dispute resolution panel determines that the dispute resolution process was necessitated or unduly prolonged by bad faith or frivolous actions on the part of the county and/or any one (1) or more of the municipalities, then the secretary of state may, upon the recommendation of the panel, reallocate liability for such reimbursement in a manner clearly punitive to such bad faith or frivolous actions.

(5) If a county or municipality fails to reimburse its allocated or reallocated share of panel costs to the secretary of state after sixty (60) days notice of such costs, the department of finance and administration shall deduct such costs from such county's or a municipality's allocation of state shared taxes.

(c)

(1)

(A) No later than July 1, 2001, the growth plan recommended or revised by the coordinating committee and ratified by the county and each municipality therein or alternatively adopted by a dispute resolution panel shall be submitted to and approved by the local government planning advisory committee.

(B) IF urban growth boundaries, planned growth areas and rural areas were recommended or revised by a coordinating committee and ratified by the county and each municipality therein;

(C) In addition, in any county with a charter form of government, the annexation reserve agreements in effect on January 1, 1998, are deemed to satisfy the requirement of a growth plan, and the local government planning advisory committee shall approve such plan.

(D) In all other cases:

(E) Such alternative urban growth boundaries, planned growth areas and/or rural areas shall supersede and replace all conflicting urban growth boundaries, planned growth areas and/or rural areas and shall immediately become effective as the growth plan.

(2) After the local government planning advisory committee has approved a growth plan, the committee shall forward a copy to the county mayor who shall file the plan in the register's office. The register may not impose a fee on the county mayor for this service.

(d)

(1) After the local government planning advisory committee has approved the county's initial growth plan, the plan shall stay in effect for not less than three (3) years absent a showing of extraordinary circumstances. After the initial three-year period, a growth plan may be amended as often as deemed necessary by the county and cities. Any time after the expiration of the initial three-year period, the mayor of any municipality in the county or the county mayor or county executive may propose an amendment to the growth plan by filing notice with the county mayor or county executive and with the mayor of each municipality in the county. Upon receipt of such notice, the county mayor or county executive shall take appropriate action to reconvene or reestablish the coordinating committee within sixty (60) days of the receipt of the notice. Except as provided for in this subdivision (d)(1), the procedures for amending the growth plan shall be the same as the procedures in this section for establishing the original plan. The burden of proving the reasonableness and necessity of the proposed amendment shall be upon the party proposing the change. It is the duty of the coordinating committee to submit the proposed amendment with its recommendation either for or against the amendment to the county legislative body and to the governing body of each municipality within the county for their approval or disapproval within six (6) months of the date of the coordinating committee's first meeting on the proposed amendment. After the proposed amendment is approved by the county legislative body and the governing body of each municipality and by the local government planning advisory committee, the amendment shall become part of the county's growth plan.

(2) In any county with a charter form of government with annexation reserve agreements in effect on January 1, 1998, any municipality or the county may immediately file a proposed amendment after May 19, 1998, in accordance with this subsection (d).