15-7-502. General powers and duties; bonds and contracts generally.

(a) Any city or town may:

(i) Construct, reconstruct, improve and extend, or acquire, improve, extend and operate a sewerage system, within or without its corporate limits and may apply for and accept loans or grants or any other aid from the United States of America or any agency or instrumentality thereof under any federal law to aid in the prevention and abatement of water pollution, or may borrow money from any other source;

(ii) Issue its revenue bonds for the purposes specified in paragraph (i) of this subsection, payable solely from the revenues derived from the operation of the sewerage system;

(iii) Enter into contracts and agreements with other local public bodies covering the joint construction, operation and maintenance of a sewerage system;

(iv) Accept contributions and other aid from commercial, industrial and other establishments to aid in the prevention or abatement of water pollution, and in furtherance of that purpose enter into contracts and agreements with commercial, industrial and other establishments covering the:

(A) Collection, treatment and disposal of sewage and industrial wastes from any commercial, industrial and other establishments;

(B) Use and operation by any city or town of sewerage collection, treatment and disposal facilities owned by any commercial, industrial and other establishment; and

(C) Coordination of the sewage collection, treatment and disposal facilities of the city or town with the sewage collection, treatment, and disposal facilities of commercial, industrial and other establishments.

(v) Provide for the operation as a single enterprise of its waterworks and sewerage systems;

(vi) Issue refunding revenue bonds to refund, pay or discharge all or any part of its outstanding sewer revenue bonds, including interest, if any, in arrears or about to become due, provided the relevant provisions of this article pertaining to revenue bonds for sewerage systems are applicable in the authorization and issuance of refunding revenue bonds, including their terms and security, the bond ordinance, rates and other aspects of the bonds, except it is not necessary to submit the proposition of issuing refunding revenue bonds to a vote of the people of the city or town.

(b) The bonds specified in paragraph (a)(ii) of this section may be issued with maturities not exceeding forty (40) years and in the amounts necessary to provide sufficient funds to pay all the costs of construction, improvement, reconstruction, extension or acquisition, extension and improvements of the sewerage system, including engineering, legal and other expenses, together with interest to a date six (6) months after the estimated date of completion. The bonds shall bear interest at a designated rate or rates payable annually, semiannually or at other designated intervals and shall mature at a time or serially at times in regular numerical order at annual or other designated intervals in amounts designated and fixed by the governing body. Bonds issued under the provisions of this article are negotiable instruments and shall be executed by the mayor and clerk and sealed with the corporate seal of the city or town. If an officer whose signature appears on the bonds or coupons ceased [ceases] to be an officer before delivery of the bonds, the signatures remain valid and sufficient for all purposes the same as if the officer had remained in office until their delivery.

(c) Repealed by Laws 1985, ch. 209, § 3.

(d) If the governing body determines to operate its waterworks and sewerage system as a single enterprise pursuant to paragraph (a)(v) of this section, it may issue revenue bonds in the manner provided in this article, payable solely from the revenue derived from the operation of the combined waterworks and sewerage system to pay for improvements, additions and extensions to the combined waterworks and sewer systems. If there are any outstanding bonds payable solely from the revenue of the waterworks or sewerage systems, or from the combined waterworks systems, the new bonds may include an amount sufficient to retire the outstanding bonds or may be made subordinate to the outstanding bonds with respect to the payment of principal, interest and security. Any law which requires that revenue derived from the operation of a waterworks system by a city or town applies only to the payment of the principal and interest of water bonds is inapplicable if the municipality operates its waterworks and sewerage system as a single enterprise, and in that case the revenues derived from operation of the water system may be used to retire either water bonds or sewerage system bonds.