§ 262-370. Powers.

The district shall have, and the board may exercise, any or all of the powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes of this article, including the following powers:

(1)

To contract and be contracted with; to sue and be sued in the name of the district; to adopt and use a seal; to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, eminent domain (except as limited herein), or otherwise, property, real or personal, or any estate therein, within the district, to be used for any of the purposes of this article.

(2)

To adopt water management and control plans and to establish, construct, operate and maintain a system of lakes, main and lateral canals, drains, ditches, levees, dikes, dams, sluice, locks, revetments, reservoirs, holding basins, floodways, pumping stations, syphons, culverts, and storm sewers to provide water management and control systems for the lands within the district and to connect some or any of them with roads and bridges as in the judgment of the board is deemed advisable to provide access to such facilities.

(3)

To acquire and maintain appropriate sites for storage and maintenance of the equipment of the district; to acquire and maintain and construct a suitable building to house the office and records of the district.

(4)

To borrow money and issue bonds, certificates, warrants, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, of the district as hereinafter provided; to levy such tax and special assessments as may be authorized; and to charge, collect, and enforce fees and other user charges.

(5)

To build and construct any other works and improvements deemed necessary to preserve and maintain the works in the district, to acquire, construct, operate, maintain, use, sell, convey, transfer or otherwise provide for machines, materials and equipment for any purpose authorized by this article; and to contract for the purchase, construction, operation, maintenance, use, sale, conveyance and transfer of the said machinery, materials and equipment.

(6)

To construct or enlarge, or cause to be constructed or enlarged any and all bridges or culverts that may be needed in the district, across any drain, ditch, canal, floodway, holding basin, excavation, public highway, tract, grade, fill or cut; to construct roadways over levees and embankments; to construct any and all of said works and improvements across, through, or over any public right-of-way, highway, grade, fill or cut in the district.

(7)

To hold, control and acquire by donation, purchase or condemnation, any easement, reservation, or dedication in the district, for any of the purposes herein provided. To condemn lands within the district as provided by F.S. chs. 73 and 74, or acquire, by purchase or grant for the use in the district any land or property within the district necessary for the purposes of this article.

(8)

To assess and impose upon lands in the district ad valorem taxes, benefits taxes and maintenance taxes as hereinafter provided.

(9)

To impose and foreclose special assessments liens as hereinafter provided.

(10)

To prohibit, regulate and restrict by appropriate resolution all structures, materials, things, whether solid, liquid, or gas, whether permanent or temporary in nature, which come upon, come into, connect to or be a part of any facility owned or operated by the district, limited to water, sewer or surface water management.

(11)

To administer and provide for the enforcement of all of the provisions herein, including the making, adopting, promulgating, amending and repealing of all rules and regulations necessary or convenient for the carrying out of the duties, obligations and powers conferred on the district created hereby.

(12)

To cooperate with or contract with other special tax districts or other governmental agencies as may be necessary convenient, incidental or proper in connection with any of the powers, duties or purposes of the district as stated in this article.

(13)

To employ engineers, attorneys, agents, employees, and representatives as the board of supervisors may from time to time determine necessary and to fix their compensation and duties. The board shall also have the power to apply for coverage of its employees under the state retirement system in the same manner as if such employees were state employees, subject to necessary action by the district to pay employer contributions into the state retirement fund.

(14)

To exercise all of the powers necessary, convenient, incidental or proper in connection with any of the powers, duties or purposes of said district as stated in this article.

(15)

To construct, improve and maintain roadways and roads necessary and convenient to provide access to water, sewer and surface water management facilities.

(16)

To make use of any public easements, dedications to public use, platted reservations for public purposes, within the boundaries of the district.

(17)

To lease as lessor or lessee to or from any person, firm, corporation, association or body, public or private, any projects of the type that the district is authorized to undertake and facilities or property of any nature for the use of the district to carry out any of the purposes of this article.

(18)

To regulate the supply and level of water within the district; to divert waters from one area, lake, pond, river or stream, basin and water control facility to another; to regulate control and restrict the development and use of natural or artificial streams or bodies of water, lakes or ponds; and to take all measure determined by the board to be necessary or desirable to prevent or alleviate land erosion. The powers granted to the district by this subsection shall be concurrent within the boundaries of the district with other public bodies, agencies, or authorities as may be authorized by law. The district shall be eligible to receive monies, disbursements and assistance from the state or federal government available for any of the projects authorized by this article.

(19)

To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend and improve water systems and sewer systems or combined water and sewer systems; to regulate the use of sewers and the supply of water within the district and to prohibit or regulate the use and maintenance of outhouses, privies, septic tanks or other sanitary structures or appliances within the district; to prescribe methods of pretreatment of wastes not amenable to treatment with domestic sewage before accepting such wastes for treatment and to refuse to accept such wastes when not sufficiently pretreated as may be prescribed, and to prescribe penalties for the refusal of any person or corporation to so pretreat such wastes; to sell or otherwise dispose of the effluent, sludge or other by-products as a result of sewage treatment; and to construct and operate connecting, intercepting or outlet sewers and sewer mains and pipes and water mains, conduits or pipelines in, along or under any street, alleys, highways, or other public places or ways within the district, when deemed necessary or desirable by the board. The plans for any water or sewer system shall be subject to the approval of state agencies when required by law.

(20)

To issue general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, assessment bonds or any other bonds or obligations authorized by the provisions of this article or any other law, or any combination of the foregoing, to pay all or part of the cost of the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, extension, repair, improvement, maintenance or operation of any project or combination of projects, to provide for any facility, service or other activity of the district and to provide for the retirement or refunding of any bonds or obligations of the district, or for any combination of the foregoing purposes.

Bonds may be authorized by resolution of the board of supervisors at any regular or special meeting and such resolution may provide that the bonds be issued at one time or in blocks from time to time as provided in such resolution.

(21)

To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend, improve and provide access to parks, playgrounds, picnic grounds, camping facilities, docks, boating and fishing facilities, bathing beaches and other water recreation facilities.

(22)

To build, install, maintain and operate streetlights.

(23)

To own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, equip, operate, maintain, extend and improve parking facilities, to install or cause to be installed parking meters on or near the curbs of streets, roads and other public ways within the district, and to adopt such regulations and impose such charges in connection with any parking facilities and parking meters as the board of supervisors may deem necessary or desirable. Any construction on county right-of-way is subject to approval of the board of county commissioners.

(24)

To preserve, conserve and maintain the designated property for the purposes set forth in subsection 262-369(h) hereof to charge user fees and to take any action necessary, including the filing of lawsuits, to achieve the purposes of this article.

(25)

The provisions of this article shall be strictly construed. None of the powers granted in this act shall usurp any permitting requirements of the county, state or federal governments in any area but particularly in the areas of the environment of the coastal area of Collier County.

(26)

For the limited purpose of the acquisition and supplying of water to and sewer service for the district, to acquire by purchase, gift, devise, lease or by means other than eminent domain, property, real or personal, or any estate therein, equipment, franchises, easements, public or private, and facilities outside of the boundaries of the district; to construct, operate and maintain wells, pumping stations, pipelines, sewers, sewer mains, conduits and any other facilities outside of the boundaries of the district necessary to acquire and supply water to and sewer services for the district for use therein; to acquire and utilize public and private easements outside of the boundaries of the district; and to take any other action outside the district reasonably necessary to the acquisition and supplying of water to and sewer service for the district.

(27)

To borrow money, issue bonds, certificates, warrants, notes, or other indebtedness of the district, and expend funds for the acquisition, financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of the property, real or personal, or any estate therein, equipment, franchises, easements, public or private, wells, pumping stations, pipelines, sewers, sewer mains, conduits and other facilities set forth in subsection (26) hereof outside of the boundaries of the district reasonably necessary for the acquisition and supply of water to and sewer service for the district.

(28)

To plan, establish, acquire, construct or reconstruct, enlarge or extend, equip, operate, and maintain systems and facilities for the following:

a.

District roads equal to or exceeding the specifications required by local government having jurisdiction.

b.

Security and school buildings and related structures for use in the security and educational system when authorized by proper governmental agencies, which may be leased, sold, or donated to the appropriate authority. Any school building or related structure for use in the educational system shall have prior approval of the Collier County school board.

c.

Control and elimination of mosquitoes and other arthropods of public health importance.

(Laws of Fla. ch. 74-462, § 5; Laws of Fla. ch. 77-531, § 3; Laws of Fla. ch. 78-492, § 1; Laws of Fla. ch. 82-280, § 1)