Chapter 256
2009 -- S 1014
Enacted 11/13/09
A N A C T
AUTHORIZING THE
TOWN OF
Introduced By: Senators Sheehan, Felag, Lenihan, and Sosnowski
Date Introduced: June 24, 2009
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. The Town of
previously granted, to issue bonds to an amount not exceeding
Two Million Dollars
($2,000,000.00)
from time to time under its corporate name and seal or a facsimile of such
seal.
The bonds of each issue may
be issued in the form of serial bonds or term bonds or a combination
thereof and shall be payable either by maturity of principal
in the case of serial bonds or by
mandatory serial redemption in the case of term bonds, in
annual installments of principal, the
first installment to be not later than five years and the
last installment not later than thirty years
after the date of the bonds. For each issue the amounts
payable annually for principal and interest
combined either shall be as nearly equal from year to year as
is practicable in the opinion of the
officers authorized to issue the bonds, or shall be arranged
in accordance with a schedule
providing for a more rapid amortization of principal.
SECTION 2. The bonds shall be signed by the manual or
facsimile signatures of the
town treasurer and the president of the Town Council and
shall be issued and sold in such
amounts as the Town Council may authorize by resolution. The
manner of sale, denominations,
maturities, interest rates and other terms, conditions and
details of any bonds or notes issued
under this act may be fixed by the resolution of the Town
Council authorizing the issue or by
separate resolution of the Town Council or, to the extent
provisions for these matters are not so
made, they may be fixed by the officers authorized to sign
the bonds or notes. The proceeds
derived from the sale of the bonds shall be delivered to the
town treasurer, and such proceeds
exclusive of premiums and accrued interest shall be expended
for: (a) the acquisition, creation,
preservation or restriction of use of real estate and/or
development rights thereto for farmland,
undeveloped land, recreational space and/or open space and all
costs incidental thereto; (b) in
payment of the principal of or interest on temporary notes
issued under Section 3 of this act or (c)
in repayment of advances under Section 4 of this act. No
purchaser of any bonds or notes under
this act shall be in any way responsible for the proper
application of the proceeds derived from
the sale thereof. The projects shall be carried out and
all contracts made therefor on behalf of the
Town by the Town Council or
as may be otherwise directed by the Town Council. The proceeds
of bonds or notes issued under this act, any applicable
federal or state assistance and the other
monies referred to in Section 6 of this act shall be deemed
appropriated for the purposes of this
act without further action than that required by this
act. The bond issue authorized by this act
may be consolidated for the purposes of issuance and sale
with any other bond issue of the town
heretofore or hereafter authorized, provided that,
notwithstanding any such consolidation, the
proceeds from the sale of the bonds authorized by this act
shall be expended for the purposes set
forth above. For the purpose of this act, the term
"farmland" means any lot or parcel of land, or
portion thereof, including any improvements thereon, that has
been or will be used for
predominantly agricultural purposes, as determined by the Town
Council. For the purpose of this
act, the term "undeveloped land" means any lot
or parcel of land, or portion thereof, that is
generally undeveloped, whether or not extensively treed at the
time of its acquisition, as
determined by the Town Council. For the purpose of this act, the
term "open space" means any
lot or parcel of land, or portion thereof, the
preservation or restriction of use of which would: (1)
maintain or enhance the conservation of natural resources; (2)
promote conservation of farmland,
or (3) protect natural streams or protect or enhance
water supply, as determined by the Town
Council.
SECTION 3. The Town Council may by resolution authorize the
issue from time to time
of interest bearing or discounted notes in anticipation
of the authorization or issue of bonds or in
anticipation of the receipt of federal or state aid for the
purposes of this act. The amount of
original notes issued in anticipation of bonds may not exceed
the amount of bonds which may be
issued under this act and the amount of original notes issued
in anticipation of federal or state aid
may not exceed the amount of available federal or state
aid as estimated by the treasurer.
Temporary notes issued
hereunder shall be signed by the treasurer and by the president of the
Town Council and shall be
payable within five years from their respective dates, but the principal
of and interest on notes
issued for a shorter period may be renewed or paid from time to time by
the issue of other notes hereunder, provided the period
from the date of an original note to the
maturity of any note issued to renew or pay the same debt or
the interest thereon shall not exceed
five years.
SECTION 4. Pending any authorization or issue of bonds
hereunder or pending or in lieu
of any authorization or issue of notes hereunder, the
treasurer, with the approval of the Town
Council, may, to the extent
that bonds or notes may be issued hereunder, apply funds in the
treasury of the Town to the purposes specified in Section 2,
such advances to be repaid without
interest from the proceeds of bonds or notes subsequently
issued or from the proceeds of
applicable federal or state assistance or from other available
funds.
SECTION 5. Any proceeds of bonds or notes issued hereunder
or of any applicable
federal or state assistance, pending their expenditure may be
deposited or invested by the
treasurer, in demand deposits, time deposits or savings
deposits in banks which are members of
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or in obligations
issued or guaranteed by the United
States of
applicable law of the State of
SECTION 6. Any accrued interest received upon the sale of bonds
or notes hereunder
shall be applied to the payment of the first interest due
thereon. Any premiums arising from the
sale of bonds or notes hereunder and any earnings or net
profit realized from the deposit or
investment of funds hereunder shall, in the discretion of the
treasurer, be applied to the cost of
preparing, issuing and marketing bonds or notes hereunder to
the extent not otherwise provided,
to the payment of the cost of the projects or to the
cost of additional improvements coming within
the description of the projects in Section 2 of this act,
to the payment of the principal of or interest
on bonds or notes issued hereunder or to any one or more
of the foregoing. The cost of
preparing, issuing and marketing bonds or notes hereunder may
also, in the discretion of the
treasurer, be met from bond or note proceeds exclusive of
accrued interest or from other monies
available therefor. Any balance of
bond or note proceeds remaining after payment of the cost of
the projects and said additional improvements and the
cost of preparing, issuing and marketing
bonds or notes hereunder shall be applied to the payment of
the principal of or interest on bonds
or notes issued hereunder. In exercising any discretion
under this section, the treasurer shall be
governed by any instructions adopted by resolution of the Town
Council. The treasurer is
authorized to take any action deemed by him or her necessary:
(1) to assure that interest on the
bonds or notes issued hereunder remains excludable from gross
income of the recipients thereof
for federal income tax purposes, including, without
limitation, paying to the federal government
any rebate of earnings derived from the deposit or
investment of the proceeds of such bonds or
notes that may be required therefor;
and (2) to comply with the requirements of federal law,
including without being limited to regulations and other
requirements of the Securities and
Exchange Commission and the
Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, imposed directly on the
Town or
on the underwriters of such bonds and notes.
SECTION 7. All bonds or notes issued under this act and the
debts evidenced thereby
shall be obligatory on the town in the same manner and to
the same extent as other debts lawfully
contracted by it and shall be excepted from the operation of
section 45‑12‑2 of the General Laws.
No such obligation shall at
any time be included in the debt of the town for the purpose of
ascertaining its borrowing capacity. The town shall annually
appropriate a sum sufficient to pay
the principal and interest coming due within the year on
bonds and notes issued hereunder to the
extent that moneys therefor are
not otherwise provided. If such sum is not appropriated, it shall
nevertheless be added to the annual tax levy. In order to provide
such sum in each year and
notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, all taxable
property in the town shall be
subject to ad valorem taxation by the town without limitation
as to rate or amount.
SECTION 8. Any bonds or notes issued under the provisions of
this act, if properly
executed by officers of the town in office on the date of
execution, shall be valid and binding
according to their terms notwithstanding that before the
delivery thereof and payment therefor
any or all of such officers shall for any reason have
ceased to hold office.
SECTION 9. The town, acting by resolution of its Town
Council is authorized to apply
for, contract for and expend any federal or state
advances or other grants or assistance which may
be available for the purposes of this act, and any such
expenditures may be in addition to other
moneys provided in this act. To the extent of any
inconsistency between any law of this state and
any applicable federal law or regulation, the latter
shall prevail. Federal and state advances, with
interest where applicable, whether contracted for prior to or
after the effective date of this act,
may be repaid as project costs under Section 2.
SECTION 10. Bonds and notes may be issued under this act
without obtaining the
approval of any governmental agency or the taking of any
proceedings or the happening of any
conditions except as specifically required by this act for such
issue. In carrying out any project
financed in whole or in part under this act, including where
applicable the condemnation of any
land or interest in land, and in the levy and collection
of assessments or other charges permitted
by law on account of any such project, all action shall
be taken which is necessary to meet
constitutional requirements whether or not such action is otherwise
required by statute; but the
validity of bonds and notes issued hereunder shall in no way
depend upon the validity or
occurrence of such action. To the extent of any inconsistency
between this act and the Town
Charter, this act shall
prevail.
SECTION 11. The question of the approval of this act shall
be submitted to the electors
of the town at an election on a date to be determined by
the Town Council which occurs at least
thirty days after the passage of this act. The question
shall be submitted in substantially the
following form: "Shall an act, passed at the 2007 session
of the General Assembly, entitled “ AN
ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF
ACQUISITION OF REAL ESTATE
AND/OR DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS THERETO AND TO
ISSUE NOT MORE THAN
$2,000,000 BONDS AND NOTES THEREFOR” be approved?" and
the warning for the election shall contain the question
to be submitted. The Town Board of
Canvassers may combine any
two or more voting districts for the election and when so combined
shall be treated as a voting district. If so combined, the
Town Board of Canvassers shall advertise
the combination of districts in a newspaper of general
circulation in the Town. From the time the
election is warned and until it is held, it shall be the duty
of the Town Clerk to keep a copy of the
act available at his or her office for public inspection,
but the validity of the election shall not be
affected by this requirement.
SECTION 12. This section and Section 11 shall take effect
upon passage. The
remainder of this act shall take effect upon the approval of
this act by a majority of those voting
on the question at the election prescribed by Section
11.
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LC02891
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