The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 24 Appendix: Municipal Charters

Chapter 411: Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District

• Subchapter 001: Creation and Powers

• § 101. Creation and name

  In accordance with the provisions of 24 V.S.A. chapter 121, subchapter 3, there is hereby created a union municipal district that shall be known as the Northeast Kingdom Waste Management District at a place designated by the Board of Supervisors.

• § 102. Purpose

  The District is created and shall exist for the purpose of providing for the effective, economical, and environmentally sound management of solid waste generated by the member municipalities and their residents.

• § 103. Composition

  The District is composed of and includes all of the lands and residents within those municipalities that vote to approve this agreement at the time of the creation of the District, or that shall be subsequently admitted to the District in accordance with the procedures hereinafter set forth, and except for such municipalities as shall subsequently withdraw from the District in accordance with the procedures hereinafter set forth.

• § 104. Duration

  The District shall continue as a body politic and corporate until and unless dissolved in accordance with the procedures hereinafter set forth.

• § 105. Powers

  Except as otherwise provided or limited herein, the District shall have the following powers:

  (a) To operate, cause to be operated, or contract for the operation of facilities for the collection, transportation, recycling, composting, processing, and disposal of solid waste, hazardous waste, and to establish fees and charges for such services and to sell any products derived therefrom.

  (b) To purchase, sell, own, lease, rent, mortgage, improve, and use real and personal property in accordance with the purposes of the District.

  (c) To hire staff and fix compensation of employees.

  (d) To sue and be sued.

  (e) To enter into contracts with individuals, corporations, associations, authorities, agencies, municipalities, the State of Vermont, the United States of America, or any other legal entity for any term or duration.

  (f) To exercise the power of eminent domain.

  (g) To borrow money and issue evidence of indebtedness as provided for by 24 V.S.A. chapter 53 or other provisions of law authorizing general obligation or revenue debt, including the provisions of 10 V.S.A. chapter 12 and 24 V.S.A. chapter 119.

  (h) To appropriate and expend monies.

  (i) To establish sinking funds.

  (j) To establish capital reserve funds.

  (k) To accept and administer gifts, grants, and bequests from any individual or legal entity, in trust or otherwise, for the benefit of the District.

  (l) To establish, implement, and amend from time to time fees for waste disposal and other functions of the District, including per capita fees, charges for waste services, and other forms of revenue to meet the obligation and duties of the District.

  (m) To establish, enact, and enforce regulations and ordinances appropriate to the purposes of the District, as set forth herein.

  (n) To provide for public education on solid waste management issues.

  (o) To provide such compensation, if any, as it shall deem appropriate to member municipalities hosting District facilities.

  (p) To exercise all powers incident to a public corporation. (Amended 2017, No. M-2, § 1.)

• § 106. Sovereign immunity

  The District shall have the benefit of sovereign immunity to the fullest extent authorized by law, except to the extent that it shall have in force and effect liability or other insurance for itself and members of its Board of Supervisors. The District shall hold harmless and indemnify all members of the Board of Supervisors from all claims of every nature and kind arising out of or in connection with the exercise of a member’s duties as a supervisor, with the exception of those actions that shall be deemed to be wilfully negligent or criminal in nature.

• § 107. Responsibility to accept waste

  (a) The District shall not enter into any contract with nonmember municipalities or private entities for the management of solid waste generated outside the boundaries of the District unless the contract is deemed to be in the best interests of the District and approved by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Supervisors.

  (b) Each member municipality agrees to act as a host community for any District facility or facilities determined by all regulatory agencies having jurisdiction to be environmentally appropriate.

• Subchapter 002: Board of Supervisors

• § 201. Authority

  The legislative power and authority of the District and the administrative and general supervision thereof shall be vested in a governing body known as the Board of Supervisors, except as specifically provided in this agreement.

• § 202. Selection of supervisors and their alternates

  Board members and alternates shall be appointed by the legislative body, unless the voters of the municipality decide at a regular or special meeting warned for that purpose that the Board members and alternates will be elected by the voters of the municipality. If the Board members and alternates are to be elected by the voters, the election shall take place biennially at the annual meeting of the municipality in the same manner as elections for the legislative body. If the Board members and alternates are to be appointed, the legislative body shall make its appointments by the end of March in the year in which the term of the preceding Board member expires. The clerk of the municipality shall certify its appointments to the Clerk of the District.

• § 203. Composition

  (a) Each member municipality shall be entitled to be represented by one District supervisor for each 2,500 people, or portion thereof, residing in the municipality, except that unorganized towns, gores, and grants shall be considered as a single municipality and represented by one supervisor and alternate. The population of each member municipality shall, for the purposes hereof, be determined by the latest available population estimates published by the State of Vermont Department of Health.

  (b) The District shall notify all member municipalities by January 15 of each year of the number of supervisors each member municipality is eligible to appoint or elect.

• § 204. Term of office

  (a) Board members and alternates shall serve two year terms, running from April 1st of the year in which selected to March 31st of the year their term expires, or until a successor is duly selected.

  (b) Member municipalities may appoint or elect a new Board member to replace any Board member who resigns or fails to attend five successive meetings of the Board of Supervisors.

  (c) Each Board member and alternate shall be eligible to be reappointed or reelected to successive terms.

  (d) Terms will be staggered to assure that no more than half the Board is subject to change in any one year in a manner to be determined by the Board.

• § 205. Organizational meeting

  (a) Annually, the Board of Supervisors shall have its organizational meeting on the second Tuesday of April.

  (b) At each organizational meeting, the Board shall elect from among its members a Chair, a Vice Chair, a Treasurer, and a Clerk, each of whom shall hold office for one year and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. All officers shall be eligible for reelection.

• § 206. Regular meetings

  A schedule of regular meetings of the Board of Supervisors shall be established at the organizational meeting.

• § 207. Special meetings

  The Chair has authority to call a special meeting of the Board of Supervisors. Upon written request of one-fourth of the District supervisors, the Clerk must call a special meeting. Each supervisor must be given at least 24 hours’ notice of any special meeting.

• § 208. Quorum

  (a) For the purpose of transacting business, 51 percent of the municipalities served by the District must be represented by at least one member of the Board of Supervisors to constitute a quorum. The members of the Board of Supervisors present may adjourn a meeting at which a quorum is not present to another date. Whenever the number of supervisors attending a meeting shall not be sufficient to constitute a quorum, the Clerk of the District shall so notify the legislative bodies of each municipality in the District, naming those supervisors who shall not have been in attendance.

  (b) If a time sensitive action must be taken and a quorum is not present, a quorum may be satisfied by attendance through the use of an auditory electronic device, provided that all supervisors hear each other.

• § 209. Proxies

  No voting by proxy shall be permitted at meetings of the Board of Supervisors.

• § 210. Voting

  (a) Each member or, in the absence of a member, his or her alternate member of the Board of Supervisors shall have one vote.

  (b) Any action adopted by a majority of the votes cast at a meeting of the Board of Supervisors at which a quorum is present shall constitute the action of the Board, except as otherwise provided in this agreement.

• § 211. Vacancy

  In the event a vacancy occurs on the Board of Supervisors, the legislative body of the municipality may appoint an interim replacement to serve until a new supervisor has been duly elected or appointed. A supervisor named to fill a vacancy shall serve until the expiration of the original term of the supervisor he or she is replacing. The appointment of the replacing supervisor shall be certified by the clerk of the member municipality to the Clerk of the District.

• § 212. Rules and procedures

  (a) Except as otherwise provided in this agreement, the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern all meetings.

  (b) The Board of Supervisors may adopt Rules of Procedure as it from time to time deems appropriate. Rules of Procedure adopted by the Board of Supervisors shall be made available to the public.

  (c) The Board of Supervisors shall have the authority to establish an Executive Board composed of the number of officers and supervisors it deems appropriate, and may delegate unto the Executive Board duties and responsibilities it deems appropriate.

  (d) The Board of Supervisors shall have the authority to establish any committees from time to time it deems appropriate.

• § 213. Composition of members of Board of Supervisors

  Each member municipality may pay such compensation, if any, as it deems appropriate to its representative(s) to the Board of Supervisors.

• § 214. Access to meetings and records

  The conduct of all meetings, including public access thereto, and the maintenance of all records, books, and accounts of the District shall be governed by the Vermont Open Meeting Law, 1 V.S.A. chapter 5.

• § 215. Audit

  The Board of Supervisors shall cause an audit of the District’s financial records to be performed at least annually by a certified public accountant.

• Subchapter 003: Officers

• § 301. Officers

  The officers of the District shall be the Chair and the Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors, the Clerk of the District, and the Treasurer of the District, and other officers designated by the Board from time to time.

• § 302. Chair

  The Chair of the Board of Supervisors shall be elected by the Board of Supervisors from among the Board’s members. The Chair shall be the chief executive officer of the District. The Chair shall preside at all meetings of the Board of Supervisors and the Executive Board and shall make and sign all contracts on behalf of the District upon approval by the Board of Supervisors. The Chair shall perform all of the duties incident to the position and office.

• § 303. Vice Chair

  (a) The Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors shall be elected by the Board of Supervisors from among the Board’s members. During the absence or inability of the Chair to render or perform the duties of the Chair or exercise the powers of the Chair, the same shall be performed and exercised by the Vice Chair. When so acting, the Vice Chair shall have all the powers and be subject to all the responsibilities given to or imposed upon the Chair.

  (b) During the absence or inability of the Vice Chair to render or perform the duties of the Vice Chair or to exercise the powers of the Vice Chair, the Board of Supervisors shall elect from among its membership an acting Vice Chair who shall have the powers and be subject to all the responsibilities given or imposed upon the Vice Chair.

• § 304. Treasurer

  The Treasurer of the District shall be elected by the Board of Supervisors from among the Board’s members. The Treasurer shall have charge and custody of the funds of the District and shall be responsible for the disbursement thereof. When authorized by the Board of Supervisors, the Treasurer may sign, make, or endorse in the name of the District all checks and orders for the payment of money and pay out and disburse the same and receipt therefor. The Treasurer shall be responsible for seeing that a record is kept of every note or bond issued by the District and of every payment thereon of principal and interest and, if coupons are taken up, shall cancel and preserve them. The Treasurer shall ensure that correct books of account are kept of all the business and transactions of the District and shall maintain any other books and accounts as the Board of Supervisors may from time to time require. The Treasurer shall render a statement of the condition of the finances of the District at each regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors and at such other times as shall be required of him or her by the Chair or by the Board of Supervisors. The Treasurer shall prepare the annual financial statement and the budget for the District for distribution, upon approval of the Board of Supervisors, to the legislative bodies of the member municipalities. The Treasurer shall do and perform all of the duties appertaining to the office of treasurer of a body politic and corporate.

• § 305. Clerk

  The Clerk of the District shall be elected by the Board of Supervisors from among the Board’s members. The Clerk, with the approval of the Board, may appoint an Assistant Clerk. The Clerk shall be responsible for the records and the Seal of the District. The Clerk shall ensure that all votes and proceedings of the District, including meetings of the District and meetings of the Board of Supervisors, are recorded. The Clerk shall be responsible for the preparation, posting, publication, and delivery of all warnings for meetings of the District. Upon approval of the annual report by the Board of Supervisors, the Clerk shall cause the report to be distributed to the legislative bodies of the member municipalities. The Clerk shall be responsible for the preparation and distribution of other reports required by laws of the State of Vermont and by resolutions or rules of the Board. The Clerk shall open and conduct the meetings of the Board of Supervisors when the Chair and Vice Chair are not present until an acting Vice Chair shall have been selected. The Clerk shall perform all of the duties and functions incident to the office of secretary or clerk of a body politic and corporate.

• § 306. Bonding of officers

  Within 30 days following their election or appointment, all officers of the District shall post bond in the amounts determined by the Board. The cost of the bond shall be borne by the District.

• § 307. Compensation of officers

  Officers of the District may be paid such compensation, and be reimbursed for such expenses, as shall from time to time be determined by the Board of Supervisors.

• § 308. Recall of officers

  Any officer may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the members of the Board of Supervisors whenever, in its judgment, it shall determine that the best interest of the District will be served by the removal of such officer.

• § 309. Delegation to District staff

  If the Board of Supervisors authorizes, the District may delegate duties to the District staff when necessary and appropriate to aid the officers.

• Subchapter 004: Fiscal Affairs

• § 401. Fiscal year

  The fiscal year of the District shall be the calendar year. The fiscal year shall constitute the budget and accounting year for the District.

• § 402. Budget preparation

  On or before November 15th of each year, the Board of Supervisors shall prepare a budget for the District for the ensuing fiscal year, which budget shall include an estimate of all revenues anticipated to be received by the District from disposal fees and other sources, and an estimate of all expenses anticipated to be incurred by the District for planning, solid waste management debt service, and other expenses. The budget shall also show actual and estimated income and expenditures incurred or to be incurred by the District for the current fiscal year, and the actual income and expenditures incurred by the District for the preceding fiscal year, and any proposal or recommendation for incurring short-term indebtedness to be repaid in five years or less.

• § 403. Budget hearing and adoption

  (a) The Board of Supervisors shall call at least one meeting of the legal voters of the member municipalities to be held on or before December 15th in each fiscal year for the purpose of having the Board of Supervisors present its proposed budget for the District for the ensuing fiscal year and for the purpose of receiving comment thereupon from the registered voters of the District. The meeting or meetings shall be warned by the publishing of a notice thereof in a newspaper of general circulation within each member municipality at least 15 days prior to the meeting. The notice shall contain a brief summary of the proposed budget, together with the date, time, and place of the meeting. In addition, a copy of the notice and a copy of the proposed budget shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the clerk of each member municipality at least 15 days prior to such meeting.

  (b) The Board of Supervisors shall review the proposed budget in light of the oral comments received at hearings and written comments received up to and including the day of the public hearing and shall prepare a final budget to be acted upon by the Board of Supervisors by January 15.

  (c) If the annual budget for any fiscal year is not approved as of the beginning of that fiscal year, the District shall continue to operate on the budget for the immediately preceding fiscal year until a new budget is approved.

  (d) Notwithstanding any disapproval of the budget, the District shall be obligated to pay the principal of and interest on bonds, notes, and other evidence of indebtedness of the District; to satisfy any other obligations relating to the bonds, notes, and other evidence of indebtedness; and to pay obligations under any long-term contracts. To the extent provided by the terms of the bonds, notes, other evidence of indebtedness, or long-term contracts, each member municipality shall be obligated to pay its share of the indebtedness and obligations under long-term contracts. Unless otherwise provided in the vote authorizing the same, a municipality’s share of indebtedness shall be determined by the Board of Supervisors and shall be in an amount proportionate to the actual or estimated tonnage or volume of solid waste generated by that municipality as determined by the Board of Supervisors pursuant to section 404 of this charter. (Amended 2023, No. M-4, § 2, eff. May 8, 2023.)

• § 404. Revenues and appropriations

  (a) The Board of Supervisors shall establish a fee structure for the purpose of generating revenues for the District, which fee structure shall be designed to generate sufficient revenue to enable the District to operate and carry out its functions and financial obligations, including the timely payment of its long-term indebtedness, bonded indebtedness, and anticipated closure costs. The surcharge fee schedule shall be based upon the actual tonnage collected and reported by District-registered haulers from each member municipality. The fee schedule shall be expressed in dollars per ton or dollars per cubic yard, as the Board of Supervisors shall determine to be most appropriate. Fees may include the rate of surcharge, tipping fees for recycling, charges for waste services, per capita fees, and amount to be assessed against each member municipality of the District for all waste generated within the member municipality and managed by the District, which assessment shall be billed with such frequency as the Board of Supervisors shall determine appropriate. “Per capita” means charges based on the most recent decennial census of towns.

  (b) In the event disposal fees assessed by the District shall at any time generate insufficient revenues to enable the District to meet its financial obligations as set forth and contained in the District’s adopted budget, the Board of Supervisors shall immediately amend its waste disposal fee schedule to the extent necessary to raise the amount of revenue projected by the duly adopted budget.

  (c) In the event the District shall conclude a fiscal year with a surplus in an amount in excess of five percent of the amount reflected in the annual budget, the Board of Supervisors shall, unless affirmatively determined by a majority of the Board of Supervisors that such surplus, or some portion thereof, should be retained by the District, refund the surplus to the member municipalities. The amount of any refund to the member municipalities shall be the total amount of surplus to be refunded multiplied by the fraction, the numerator of which shall be the volume of waste disposed of by or from the member municipality during that fiscal year, and the denominator of which shall be the volume of waste disposed of by or from all member municipalities during that fiscal year. (Amended 2017, No. M-2, § 2.)

• § 405. Assessments

  The Treasurer of the District shall, within one week after a schedule is adopted or amended, notify the treasurer of each member municipality and the registered haulers of the District of the adoption of the fee schedule. The amount of assessment thereunder shall be paid to the Treasurer of the District within 30 days from the date of mailing of said assessment. In the event a member municipality or registered hauler shall fail to pay any assessment when due, then and in that event shall interest thereupon accrue at the legal rate then in effect.

• § 406. Short-term indebtedness

  The Board of Supervisors is authorized to borrow money through the issuance of notes for the purpose of paying the current expenses of the District. Such notes must bear a maturity date within one year but may be renewed in accordance with the provisions of 24 V.S.A. chapter 53.

• § 407. Long-term indebtedness; long-term contracts

  Upon resolution adopted by a majority vote of the Board of Supervisors at a regular or special meeting, which resolution shall set forth that the Board of Supervisors determines that the interests of the District require either the undertaking of capital improvements that cannot be financed through the current budget of the District, or the entering into a long-term contract, or upon petition signed by at least five percent of the legal voters of the District, the Board of Supervisors shall take such steps as are required by the provisions of this agreement and by the laws of the State of Vermont to submit the proposal to the legal voters of the District at an annual or special meeting duly warned for that purpose.

• § 408. Sinking fund

  The Board of Supervisors shall establish and provide for the sinking fund or funds as it determines appropriate to provide for the retirement of bond issue or other debt, or to provide security for the payment thereof.

• § 409. Capital reserve fund

  The Board of Supervisors shall establish and provide for a capital reserve fund or funds as it determines appropriate to pay for improvements or repairs to and replacement of District buildings, equipment, and other capital assets of the District. When so established, a capital reserve fund or funds shall be kept intact and separate from other monies of the District and shall be accounted for as a pledged asset for the purpose for which the fund was established. The cost of contributions to such capital reserve fund or funds shall be included in the annual budget of the District.

• Subchapter 005: District Meetings

• § 501. Annual meetings

  Annual meetings of the District shall be held on the first Tuesday in March for the purpose of member towns’ consideration of any properly warned District business. (Amended 2023, No. M-4, § 2, eff. May 8, 2023.)

• § 502. Special meetings

  The Board of Supervisors may call a special meeting of the District whenever a majority of the Board of Supervisors shall deem it necessary or prudent so to do and shall call a special meeting of the District upon receipt of a petition signed by at least five percent of the legal voters of the District. The Board of Supervisors may rescind the call for a special meeting called by it but may not rescind the call for a special meeting by petition. A special meeting called for by petition shall be held within 60 days of receipt of the petition by the Board of Supervisors.

• § 503. Place of meetings

  Annual and special meetings of the District shall be held at such place within the District as the Board of Supervisors shall deem appropriate. All articles calling for action to be taken by the legal votes of the District shall be voted upon by the legal voters of the District at the polling place or places within each member municipality that are designated by the member municipality as a polling place in accordance with the provisions of 17 V.S.A. chapter 51.

• § 504. Warnings required

  The Board of Supervisors of the District shall warn all annual and special meetings of the District by filing a notice thereof with the Clerk of the District, who, in turn, shall file a copy of the notice thereof with the clerk of each member municipality who shall post a copy of the notice thereof in at least three public places within his or her municipality not less than 30 nor more than 40 days prior to the meeting. In addition, the Clerk of the District shall cause the warning to be published in a newspaper of general circulation within each member municipality once a week for three consecutive weeks on the same day of the week prior to the meeting, the last publication thereof to be not less than five nor more than 10 days prior to the date of the meeting.

• § 505. Contents of warnings

  The notice of an annual or special meeting of the District shall contain the date, time, place, and nature of the meeting. It shall, by separate articles, specifically indicate the business to be transacted at such meeting, and shall specify the questions to be voted upon. The warning shall contain any article requested to be included thereupon by petition signed by at least five percent of the legal voters of the District and filed with the District Clerk not less than 41 days prior to the date of the meeting.

• § 506. Signing of warnings

  The original warning for each annual and special meeting of the District shall be signed by a majority of the members of the Board of Supervisors and shall be filed with the District Clerk.

• § 507. Public hearings

  Not less than three nor more than 14 days prior to any special meeting of the District, the Board of Supervisors shall hold at least one public hearing at which time the issues under consideration shall be presented to the legal voters of the District, and comments thereupon received from the legal voters of the District. Public notice of such public hearing or hearings shall include publication of notice thereof in one or more newspapers of general circulation within each member municipality at least once a week for three consecutive weeks, on the same day of the week, the last publication thereof to be not less than two nor more than eight days prior to the date of the public hearing.

• § 508. Australian ballot

  The Australian ballot system shall be used at all meetings of the District for all articles calling for action by the legal voters of the District.

• § 509. Qualification and registration of voters

  The legal voters of each member municipality shall constitute the legal voters of the District. Prior to each District meeting at which action is to be taken by the legal voters of the District, each member municipality shall cause its checklist to be revised and posted in accordance with the provisions of 17 V.S.A. chapter 43.

• § 510. Conduct of meetings

  At all meetings of the District, the provision of 17 V.S.A. chapter 51 regarding election officials (subchapter 1), voting machines (subchapter 3), polling places (subchapter 4), absent voters (subchapter 6), process of voting (subchapter 7), count and return of votes (subchapter 8), recounts and contest of elections (subchapter 9), and jurisdiction of courts (subchapter 10), shall apply. The District Clerk shall perform the functions assigned to the Secretary of State under the provisions of 17 V.S.A. chapter 51. The Superior Court of the county in which the principal office of the District is located shall have jurisdiction over petitions for recounts. Ballots shall be provided by the District. The most recent version of Robert’s Rules of Order shall govern the meetings.

• § 511. Reconsideration or rescission of vote

  (a) A question considered or voted upon at an annual or special meeting of the District shall not be submitted to the voters for reconsideration or rescission, except at a subsequent annual or special meeting duly warned for that purpose, and called for by the Board of Supervisors on its own motion or pursuant to a petition filed with the Board of Supervisors in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section.

  (b) Upon the filing of a petition signed by at least five percent of the legal voters of the District requesting reconsideration or rescission of a question considered or voted on at an annual or special meeting of the District held no longer than 30 days prior to the date of the receipt of the petition, the Board of Supervisors shall call for an annual or special meeting of the District for the purpose of considering said request, which meeting shall be held not more than 60 days following the date of receipt of said petition.

  (c) A vote taken at an annual or special meeting of the District shall remain in effect until and unless rescinded at a meeting of the District called and warned in accordance with the provisions of this agreement and the laws of the State of Vermont.

• § 512. Validation of District meetings

  Whenever any of the requirements as to the notice or warning of a District meeting have been omitted or not complied with, such omission or noncompliance, if the meeting and the business transacted thereat is otherwise legal and within the scope of the District powers, may be corrected and affirmed by vote of the legal voters of the District at any annual or special meeting of the District called and duly warned for that purpose. The question to be voted upon shall substantially be:

  “Shall the action taken at the meeting of this District held on (state date), at which meeting (state the error or omission), and any act or action of the District officers or agents pursuant thereto, be readopted, ratified, or confirmed.”

• Subchapter 006: Miscellaneous

• § 601. Withdrawal by a member municipality

  A member municipality may withdraw from the District upon the following terms and conditions:

  (1) A member municipality may withdraw from the District upon a positive vote of the legal voters of the municipality to withdraw at a duly warned regular or special meeting of the municipality. Any withdrawing municipality shall continue to be obligated to pay to the District its share of all debt incurred by the District prior to its withdrawal; its share of the cost of all long-term contracts entered into by the District prior to its withdrawal; and all costs, including costs for legal services incurred by the District, in connection with such withdrawal. A withdrawing municipality shall, in addition, be liable to the District for any subsequent liability incurred by the District by reason of any actions or omissions of the District during the time the withdrawing municipality was a member of the District, the withdrawing municipality’s liability being the total of the District’s liability multiplied by the fraction the numerator of which is the total volume of waste disposed of by the withdrawing municipality during the period the liability was created, and the denominator of which is the total volume of waste disposed of by the District during the period the liability was created.

  (2) No member municipality may withdraw from the District until at least one year after the District commences to be a body politic and corporate, and may withdraw from the District only if the District has not voted to bond for construction and improvements.

  (3) Any withdrawal by a member municipality shall take place in accordance with the procedures set forth in 24 V.S.A. § 4863(h) and (j).

• § 602. Admission of new member municipalities

  The Board of Supervisors may authorize the inclusion of additional member municipalities in the District upon the terms and conditions it, in its sole discretion, shall deem to be fair, reasonable, and in the best interest of the District. The legislative branch of any nonmember municipality desiring to be admitted to the District shall make application for admission to the Board of Supervisors of the District in the form and manner that the Board shall determine appropriate. The Board shall determine the effects and impacts that are reasonably anticipated to occur in the event such municipality is admitted and shall thereafter either grant or deny authority for admission into the District by the petitioning municipality. If the Board grants such authority, it shall also specify any terms and conditions of said admission, including the financial basis upon which such admission is predicated. The petitioning municipality shall thereafter comply with the approval procedures specified in 24 V.S.A. chapter 121. At such time as a majority of the voters of the petitioning municipality present and voting at a meeting of the municipality duly warned for such purpose shall vote to approve the agreement and the terms and conditions for admission, the vote shall be certified by the clerk of the petitioning municipality to the Board of Supervisors of the District. Thereafter, upon compliance by the petitioning municipality with the terms and conditions of admission, the municipality shall, by resolution of the Board of Supervisors of the District, become and thereafter be a member municipality of the District.

• § 603. Dissolution of District

  (a) Upon a vote by a two-thirds majority of the Board of Supervisors present and representing a quorum at a regular or special meeting of the Board, or upon a vote by a majority of the legal voters of the District at an annual or special meeting of the District duly warned for such purpose, the Board shall prepare a plan of dissolution for submission to the voters of the District at an annual or special meeting of the District. At such time as the voters of the District shall, by a two-thirds majority of those legal voters voting thereupon, vote to dissolve the District, then the District shall cease to conduct its affairs except insofar as may be necessary to complete the plan of dissolution and to conclude its affairs. The Board of Supervisors shall cause a notice of the plan of dissolution to be mailed to each known creditor of the District and to the Vermont Secretary of State.

  (b) The plan of dissolution shall:

  (1) identify and value all assets of the District;

  (2) identify all liabilities of the District, including contractual obligations;

  (3) specify how the assets of the District shall be liquidated and how the liabilities and obligations of the District shall be paid, including the terms and conditions of all assessments to be made against the District’s member municipalities;

  (4) specify how any assets of the District remaining after payment of all the financial obligations of the District will be distributed among the member municipalities, which distribution shall be in accordance with the same formula utilized in apportioning the costs of the District among the member municipalities.

  (c) When the plan of dissolution has been fully implemented, the Board shall certify that fact to the legislative bodies of all the member municipalities, whereupon this agreement and the District shall be terminated.

• § 604. Amendment of Union Municipal District agreement

  (a) The Board of Supervisors may, at any regular or special meeting of the Board of Supervisors, by a majority vote of a quorum of the Board of Supervisors, adopt a resolution recommending an amendment to this agreement, which resolution shall state the wording of the proposed amendment, the purpose of the amendment, and the date, time, and place at which the Board of Supervisors shall consider the adoption of said amendment. A written copy of the resolution shall be delivered or mailed by the Clerk of the District to the clerk and each member of the legislative body of each member municipality, and to each member of the Board of Supervisors, which mailing or delivery shall occur at least 30 calendar days prior to the meeting at which action on the proposed amendment is scheduled to occur. Thirty calendar days following adoption of the amendment by a vote of two-thirds majority of the Board of Supervisors, the amendment shall become effective upon ratification by the General Assembly, unless a majority of the member municipalities, acting through their legislative branches, petition the Board of Supervisors prior to the effective date of the amendment to have the amendment acted upon by the legal voters of the District at an annual or special meeting of the District, in which case the Board of Supervisors shall, within 60 days thereof, cause the amendment to be acted upon by the legal voters of the District at an annual or special meeting thereof, in accordance with the provisions of Article V hereof. In the event the amendment shall be approved by a majority of the legal voters of the District at such meeting, it shall become effective upon ratification by the General Assembly.

  (b) Upon receipt of a petition signed by not less than five percent of the legal voters of the District, which petition shall set forth the wording of a proposed amendment and the purpose of the proposed amendment, the Board of Supervisors shall consider the adoption of the amendment within 60 days of the receipt of the petition by the Board. In the event the Board of Supervisors shall approve the proposed amendment, the provisions of subsection (a) hereof shall apply. In the further event that the Board of Supervisors shall disapprove the proposed amendment, then and in that event shall the Board of Supervisors, within 60 days thereof, cause the amendment to be acted upon by the legal voters of the District at an annual or special meeting thereof, in accordance with the provisions of Article V hereof. In the event the amendment shall be approved by a majority of the legal voters of the District at such meeting, it shall become effective upon ratification by the General Assembly.

  (c) No amendment may be made to this agreement that shall substantially impair the rights of the holders of any bonds or other notes or other evidence of indebtedness, or substantially affect any obligations under long-term contracts of the District then outstanding or in effect, or the rights of the District to procure the means for payment, continuation, or termination thereof.

• § 605. Severability

  In the event any court of competent jurisdiction shall determine any term, phrase, clause, sentence, or provision of this agreement to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any respect, such determination shall not affect the validity, legality, or enforceability of the remaining provisions of this agreement.