The City shall have the power to buy, own or construct, and to maintain and operate, inside or outside the City limits, complete water system or systems, gas or electric lighting or power plant or plants, fertilizing plants, abattoirs, municipal railway terminals, ice plants or any other public service utility, and to demand and receive compensation for services furnished by the City for private purposes or otherwise, and to have final original jurisdiction to regulate by ordinance the collection or compensation for services rendered by all of such municipally owned and operated public utility services save and except telephone systems (the collection and compensation for telephone to be regulated by the State). The City shall have power to acquire by lease, purchase or condemnation, the property of any person, firm or corporation now or hereafter conducting any business, for the purpose of operating a public utility or utilities for the purpose of distributing service throughout the city, or any portion of it.
(Ordinance 75-44, adopted 11/11/1975; Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
Should the City determine to acquire any public utility, by purchase, condemnation or otherwise as provided in this Charter, the City shall have the power to obtain funds for the purpose of acquiring the public utility and paying the compensation of it, by issuing bonds or notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, and shall secure the debt by fixing a lien upon the property constituting the public utility so acquired and the security shall apply alone to the property so pledged.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
The City shall have the authority to manufacture its own electricity, gas or anything else that may be needed or used by it or the public; to make contracts with any person, firm or corporation for the purchase of gas, water, and electricity or any other commodity or articles used by it or the public, and to sell them to the public as may be determined by the governing authority.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
In the event the City shall acquire, by purchase, gift, devise, deed, condemnation or otherwise, any waterworks system, electric light or power system, gas system, street railway system, telephone system, or any other public service utility to operate and maintain for the purpose of serving the citizens of the City, the right to operate and maintain the public service utility so acquired shall be exclusive.
(Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
The City shall have the original jurisdiction to determine, fix and regulate the charges, fares and rates of any person, firm or corporation exercising, or that may hereafter exercise, any right or franchise and/or public privilege (save and except for any such entity furnishing telephone or other telecommunications services) in the City and to prescribe the kind of service to be furnished, the equipment to be used and manner in which services shall be rendered, and to change those regulations from time to time; that in order to ascertain all of the facts necessary for a proper understanding of what is or should be reasonable rate of regulation, the governing authority shall have full power to inspect the books and other records of such person, firm or corporation and compel the attendance of witnesses for such purpose; provided that in adopting such regulations and in fixing or changing such compensation, no stock or bond authorized or issued by any person, firm or corporation exercising the franchise or privilege shall be considered unless proof be made that the same have been actually issued by such person, firm or corporation for money, or its equivalent, paid and used for the development of the property under investigation. The City may delegate its rate-making authority in all franchised public utilities within the City to the Public Utilities Commission of Texas as prescribed by state statutes.
To require waterworks corporations, gas companies, street car companies, telephone companies, electric light and power companies or other companies, or individuals, exercising franchises, now or hereafter, from the city, to make and furnish extensions of their service to such territory as may be required by ordinance.
(Ordinance 75-44, adopted 11/11/1975; Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
(A) 
No funds collected from the furnishing of water and sanitary sewer services by the city, or federal, state or other grants proceeds applied for and funded for sanitary sewer and water projects or needs, shall ever be commingled with other City funds. None of those collected funds or grant proceeds shall be used for any purposes other than for the expansion, extension, operation, or maintenance of sewer and waterworks systems of the City, or to retire indebtedness for those, except in the event of a bona fide natural disaster, and then only upon the affirmative vote of four-fifths (⅘) of the City Commission.
(B) 
Except as hereinafter provided in paragraph (C) [of this section], neither of the systems shall receive funds from other departments of the City except in the event of a natural disaster, or as referenced above, resulting from unforeseen conditions, in which event the water and sanitary sewer systems may seek and receive emergency advancements and loans from any one or more of other City revenue sources, or from the City regular administrative government general fund, or other City sources. Such justifiable extreme emergency conditions shall be those under which it is necessary to obtain emergency funds in order to avoid curtailing water and sewer service by the City-owned department, to the injury of the citizens of the City of Harlingen. Any such emergency loans or advancements shall be duly reimbursed by the funds [system] borrowing such funds to the department lending such funds, from future revenues of such system, with such reimbursement to be budgeted as a part of the standard budgetary procedure.
(C) 
Nothing contained hereinabove shall prohibit:
(1) 
The City Commission from issuing general obligation bonds pursuant to the Charter of the City, required for water and sewer capital improvements, provided that such bonds shall be retired from surplus revenues of the water and sewer departments to the extent available; or
(2) 
The use of funds received by the City from grants, including, but not limited to, revenue sharing grants and community development grants, for water and sanitary sewer system capital improvements[; or]
(3) 
The City Commission from issuing certificates of obligation, but only upon the affirmative vote of four-fifths (⅘) of the City Commission.
(D) 
There shall be not less than one annual independent audit of the water and sewer department, independent of any other audit of other departments of the City, furnished to the City Commission. The audit may or may not be a fraud audit at the direction of the City Commission.
(Resolution 79-R-7, adopted 2/24/1979; Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006)
(A) 
The trustees.
The trustees shall consist of six (6) appointed members. Each member of the City Commission and the City Manager shall serve as ex-officio non-voting members. Each voting member must be of legal age, a legal and current resident of the City of Harlingen. The existing trustees at the time of this change will continue to serve their term of appointment and each designated successor will be appointed by each Harlingen City Commissioner, beginning with Place 1 nominating one member for the Public Service Trustees, and each trustee will be approved by a majority of the City Commission. Subsequent voting members shall be appointed by the City Commissioners, replacing their appointment at the end of the term as provided below. All persons appointed by the successor shall serve for four-year terms, except and except for vacancies resulting from death, resignation, failure to remain a resident of the City of Harlingen, or other causes, which shall also be filled by the Commissioner in the place who made the original appointment and approved by a majority of the City Commission and shall serve for the remainder of such vacant term. All appointees may not serve more than two consecutive four-year terms, provided that no trustee may serve more than ten consecutive years.
(B) 
Removal.
Any appointed trustee may be removed by a four-fifths (4/5) vote of the City Commission for any one or more of the following reasons: unexcused substantial absences from regular meetings, conflict of interest or conduct reasonably construed to be or become damaging to the public and efficient operation of the water and sewer system under the provisions this Charter.
(C) 
Effective date.
Whereas the City of Harlingen Waterworks System and Sanitary Sewer System are presently managed, controlled and operated by the current Board of Trustees of the City of Harlingen Waterworks System as duly and previously constituted, which board shall be dissolved and terminated under the terms of the provisions of the trust indenture establishing same, with such termination date being hereby declared by the passage of this amendment to be determined by resolution of the City Commission but in no event later than July 1, 1979, with said bonded indebtedness to be prepaid as of that date by the current board and said current board to cease to exist upon the passage of the hereinabove resolution; now, therefore, the City of Harlingen Utility Trustees, created by the adoption of this Charter amendment [section], shall begin and become effective upon the dissolution and termination date of such board of water trustees, provided that between January 20, 1979, and the date of the above referenced resolution (but not later than July 1, 1979); the said current board and newly appointed utility trustees shall act concurrently to effect a smooth transition of the water and sewer department to the new utility trustees. The elective commission may appoint one or more members of such board of water trustees to continue to serve for one year, in an advisory and consulting capacity, to and with such utility trustees, effective upon the inception date of the latter.
(D) 
Authority and duties.
The Utility Trustees shall have the management, control, and operation of the City's waterworks system and the City's sewer system that are owned and operated by the City as provided above; except for (1) the final adoption of retail rates and wholesale contracts for such city-owned utility systems (which shall be adopted by the City Commission); (2) any application for bond issuance shall be submitted to the City Commission for approval as set forth below. Sewer, sewer and sewer systems used herein shall mean the system of collection, treatment and disposal of sanitary sewer, which may sometimes be referred to as sewage or sewage facilities. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as the City's storm sewer or drainage system. The Public Service Trustees shall constitute a separate and independent section of the City's administrative government, subject only to their appointment and accountability to the City Commission as provided in this Charter. In the management, operation, and control of City-owned water and sewer utility systems, trustees are empowered to hire and/or terminate a water and sewer utility manager with the prior approval and consent of the City Commission as the full-time administrator and operator of City-owned water and sewer utility systems. The trustees shall determine the qualifications and compensation of such water and sewer utility manager with the prior approval and consent of the City Commission. Such water and sewer manager will serve at the discretion of the utility's trustees.
The trustees shall adopt the rules and regulations for their meetings and operation.
It shall be the duty of such trustees to plan and arrange for the installation of water and sewer lines; to provide for the expansion and maintenance of the water and sewerage system; provide for the acquisition and supply of water; and to provide for the expansion of sewerage and water treatment facilities. The public service trustees will determine the administrative staff and organization of the department. The City of Harlingen's personnel policy will apply to all employees of the water and sewer department, except that any changes or amendments to the policy must be approved by a minimum of three affirmative votes of the City Commission prior to implementation. Public utility trustees shall, in all things, comply with the City of Harlingen Charter, the statutes and Constitution of the State of Texas, and all federal laws, rules, and regulations, including, but not limited to, provisions covering competitive bidding, open meetings, affirmative action plans, and the rules and regulations of appropriate government agencies.
(E) 
Financing.
The trustees may obtain capital improvements and operating capital from bonds and other borrowed money, provided that such requests be approved by and issued by the City Commission, and the bond funds and other borrowed money shall be funded by revenues from the City-owned water and sewer utilities systems.
(F) 
Fiscal year and budget.
The trustees shall operate the City-owned water and sewer utilities systems by the City fiscal year and shall preplan its operations by annual budgets fully adopted prior to the inception of such fiscal year of operation. The budgets shall be presented to the City Commission for their approval.
(G) 
Coordination.
Harlingen Waterworks System shall collaborate, cooperate and coordinate with the City as to expansion, operation and maintenance of the water and sewer systems. The water and sewer utilities manager shall attend City Commission meetings at the direction of the City Commissioners for the purpose of furnishing information and reports as requested by the City Commission with reference to the operations of the utility trustees from time to time. In matters of coordination between the water and sewer utilities and other City departments where conflict arises, the City Manager shall be the final authority. In all other matters, the utility manager shall be answerable directly to the trustees.
(H) 
Appeal.
Any citizens of the City of Harlingen, including City Commissioners individually, or acting as the City Commission, shall be entitled to appeal, in writing, any decision of the utility trustees directly to the City Commission within ten (10) days of such decision by the utility trustees. Within ten (10) days after such written appeal is filed with the City Secretary, a date for a hearing shall be set by the City Commission. The City Commission of the City of Harlingen shall have full, complete and total authority to overrule or reverse such appealed decision, by an affirmative vote of not less than four (4) Commissioners. The decision of the City Commission shall be final. If an affirmative decision of the utility trustees is overruled by the City Commission, there need be no further action taken by the utility trustees. If a negative decision of the utility trustees is overruled by the City Commission, the City Commission shall then prescribe what action shall be taken by the utility trustees and/or the water and sewer department. Such action prescribed by the City Commission shall be carried out by the personnel of the water and sewer department.
(I) 
Conflicts.
The water and sewer systems and departments administering them, shall be exempt from the provisions of Article IV, Section 11, of this Charter, and this section shall not be considered to be in conflict therewith.
(J) 
Policy.
Any extension policies of the sewer department or the water department of the City of Harlingen shall be set forth, in writing, as an ordinance of the City of Harlingen, to be approved by the City Commission, as in the manner of other ordinances codified in the Code of the City of Harlingen.
(K) 
Real property.
Any acquisition or conveyance of real property by the City of Harlingen Waterworks System and Sanitary Sewer System shall be presented to the City Commission for its approval, which must be obtained for the proposed acquisition or conveyance. The City of Harlingen Waterworks and Sanitary Sewer System shall take title to any real property it acquires as follows: City of Harlingen Waterworks System, a Department of the City of Harlingen, a municipal corporation.
(Resolution 79-R-7, adopted 2/24/1979; Ordinance 06-14, adopted 3/1/2006; Resolution 06R-19, adopted 5/17/2006; Resolution 2024-57 adopted 11/14/2024)