Senate File 353 - Reprinted SENATE FILE 353 BY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1180) (COMPANION TO HF 461 BY MAXWELL) (As Amended and Passed by the Senate February 23, 2021 ) A BILL FOR An Act relating to drainage and levee districts, by providing 1 for notices to interested persons including landowners 2 in the district, and for repairs that require a report 3 by an engineer or soil and water conservation district 4 conservationist. 5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 6 SF 353 (3) 89 da/ns/mb
S.F. 353 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 468.17A Unofficial notice by 1 electronic mail. 2 A person entitled to receive a notice pursuant to section 3 468.14, 468.16, or 468.17, or a person entitled to receive 4 a notice under another provision of this chapter by the 5 postal service or personal service, may request that the 6 board responsible for providing such notice to the person 7 also send an unofficial version of the notice to the person’s 8 electronic mail address. The board may retain the electronic 9 mail addresses of private persons for the purpose of sending 10 those persons electronic mail under this section or any 11 other correspondence if the person consents to receiving 12 that correspondence by electronic mail. The electronic mail 13 addresses retained by the board are confidential records under 14 section 22.7. A person is not required to file an electronic 15 mail address with a board and may demand that the person’s 16 electronic mail address be removed from the record used to send 17 notices and other correspondence to persons as described in 18 this section. The failure to notify a person as required in 19 this section is not a basis to challenge the validity of the 20 purpose of the notice including a hearing or a board action. 21 Sec. 2. Section 468.45, Code 2021, is amended to read as 22 follows: 23 468.45 Notice of hearing. 24 1. The board shall fix a time for a hearing upon the report 25 of the commissioners, and the auditor shall cause notice to be 26 served upon each person whose name appears as owner, naming the 27 person, and also upon the person or persons in actual occupancy 28 of any tract of land without naming the person or persons, of 29 the day and hour of such hearing , which . 30 2. The notice shall be for the same time and served in the 31 same manner as is provided for the establishment of a levee 32 or drainage or levee district, and including as provided in 33 sections 468.14 through 468.18, and shall state include all of 34 the following: 35 -1- SF 353 (3) 89 da/ns/mb 1/ 2
S.F. 353 a. A statement of the amount of the assessment of costs and 1 expenses of construction apportioned to each owner upon each 2 forty-acre tract or less , and that . However, the statement is 3 not required to be published as required in section 468.15 if 4 it is posted in the office of the county auditor and on the 5 county’s internet site. The county auditor shall provide a 6 copy of the statement upon request. 7 b. A statement that all objections thereto to the report 8 must be in writing and filed with the auditor at or before the 9 time set for such the hearing. 10 Sec. 3. Section 468.126, subsection 1, paragraph d, Code 11 2021, is amended to read as follows: 12 d. If a hearing is required under Notwithstanding paragraph 13 “c” “b” , if the estimated cost of the repair exceeds fifty 14 thousand dollars or the adjusted competitive bid threshold, 15 whichever is more, the board shall order an engineer’s report 16 or a report from the soil and water conservation district 17 conservationist regarding the matter to which shall be 18 presented at the hearing provided in paragraph “c” . The board 19 may waive the report requirement if a prior report on the 20 repair exists and that report is less than ten years old. At 21 the hearing, the board shall hear objections to the feasibility 22 of making the proposed repair. 23 -2- SF 353 (3) 89 da/ns/mb 2/ 2