Section 343.011. Formation of regional solid waste management authority

(A) The board of county commissioners of a county or the board of directors of a joint solid waste management district established under this chapter, upon its own initiative or at the request of the legislative authority of any municipal corporation or township located in the district, may adopt a resolution proposing the formation of a regional solid waste management authority for the purpose of executing all the duties and responsibilities imposed on or granted to the board under this chapter. Upon adoption of such a resolution, the board shall send a copy of it to the legislative authority of each municipal corporation and township located in the district and shall request each legislative authority to vote on the question of the formation of such a regional authority.

The board of county commissioners or board of directors shall declare the proposal to have been adopted upon determining that the legislative authorities of a combination of municipal corporations and townships with a combined population within the boundaries of the district comprising at least sixty per cent of the total population of the district have approved the proposal, provided that that combination shall include the municipal corporation having the largest population in each county within the boundaries of the district. Upon the adoption of the proposal, the board of county commissioners or board of directors shall enter into an agreement with the legislative authorities of the municipal corporations and townships in the district to form a regional solid waste management authority, which agreement shall include, without limitation, procedures for the appointment of a board of trustees of the authority to be comprised of at least the president of the board of county commissioners of each county in the district or his designee, the chief executive officer of the municipal corporation having the largest population within the boundaries of each county in the district or his designee, a member representing the townships within each county in the district chosen by a majority of the boards of township trustees within each county, the health commissioner of the health district having the largest territorial jurisdiction within each county in the district or his designee, and one member representing the public to be appointed by the other members of the board.

The agreement forming the regional authority shall be adopted in the same manner as the initial proposal to form the regional authority. Not later than thirty days after the adoption of the agreement, the board of trustees appointed under it shall mail a copy of the agreement to the director of environmental protection.

(B) Following the formation of a regional solid waste management authority under division (A) of this section, all the duties and responsibilities imposed on or granted to a board of county commissioners or a board of directors under this chapter shall be vested in and exercised by the board of trustees of the regional authority. Those duties and responsibilities shall include, without limitation, all of the following:

(1) Appointment of employees necessary to manage the affairs of the district, including, without limitation, an executive director, and a sanitary engineer or engineers to execute the responsibilities assigned to the county sanitary engineer under this chapter;

(2) Acquisition, construction, improvement, enlargement, replacement, maintenance, and operation of solid waste facilities within the district;

(3) Issuance of bonds and bond anticipation notes in accordance with Chapter 133. of the Revised Code.

(C) In addition to the duties and responsibilities identified in division (B) of this section and division (H) of section 3734.54 of the Revised Code, the board of trustees of a regional solid waste management authority may do any of the following:

(1) Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;

(2) Maintain an office within its county or joint solid waste management district;

(3) Provide coverage for its employees under Chapters 145., 4123., and 4141. of the Revised Code and procure and pay all or any part of the cost of group hospitalization, surgical, major medical, and sickness and accident insurance and group life insurance for its employees;

(4) Procure insurance against loss to the regional authority by reason of damages to its properties resulting from fire, theft, accident, or other casualties or by reason of its liability for any damages to persons or property occurring in the construction or operation of facilities under its jurisdiction or the conduct of its activities;

(5) Procure a policy or policies insuring members of the board of trustees against liability on account of damages or injury to persons and property resulting from any act or omission of a member in his official capacity as a member of the board or resulting solely out of his membership on the board;

(6) Sue or be sued;

(7) Make contracts in the exercise of the rights, powers, and duties conferred upon the regional authority;

(8) Do all acts necessary or proper to carry out the duties and responsibilities imposed on or granted to the board under this chapter and sections 3734.52 to 3734.575 of the Revised Code.

(D) The board of trustees of a regional solid waste management authority in a county solid waste management district may designate the prosecuting attorney of the county to serve as the legal advisor of the authority, and the board of trustees of an authority in a joint district may designate the prosecuting attorney of one of the counties forming the district to serve as the legal advisor of the authority. The designated prosecuting attorney shall provide such services to the authority as are required or authorized to be provided to county boards under Chapter 309. of the Revised Code. The board of trustees may pay to the county whose prosecuting attorney is serving as the authority's legal advisor any amount agreed upon by the board of trustees and the board of county commissioners of that county to reimburse that county for the cost properly allocable to the services of its prosecuting attorney as the authority's legal advisor. When a prosecuting attorney is so serving and the board considers it to be necessary or appropriate, the board, on its own initiative, may employ an attorney or other legal counsel to advise the board regarding a particular matter in place of the prosecuting attorney.

Instead of designating the prosecuting attorney of the county or of one of the counties forming the district, as appropriate, to be the legal advisor of the regional authority, the board of trustees may employ on an annual basis an attorney or other legal counsel to serve as the authority's legal advisor. Notwithstanding the employment of an attorney or other legal counsel on an annual basis as the authority's legal advisor, the board of trustees may require written opinions or instructions from the prosecuting attorney of the county or, in the case of a joint district, any of the counties forming the district in matters connected with the board's official duties, and the prosecuting attorney shall provide the written opinion or instructions as though he had been designated to serve as the authority's legal advisor under this division.

(E) Within ninety days after October 29, 1993, one member representing industrial, commercial, or institutional generators of solid wastes within the district and one member representing the general interests of citizens who shall have no conflict of interest through affiliation with a waste management company or with any entity that is a significant generator of solid wastes shall be added to the board of trustees of a regional authority formed in a county district. In the case of a regional authority formed in a joint district, one member shall be added to the board of trustees from each county that is a member of the joint district to represent industrial, commercial, or institutional generators of solid wastes within the county, and one member shall be added to the board from each such county to represent the general interests of citizens who shall have no conflict of interest through affiliation with a waste management company or with any entity that is a significant generator of solid wastes. The members representing generators and the general interests of citizens shall be added to the board of trustees without the necessity for amending the agreement to form the regional authority. They shall be appointed in the same manner as the public member of the board is required to be appointed under this section and shall serve for terms of the same length as the other members, as provided in the agreement.

(F) As used in this chapter and in divisions (D) to (H) of section 3734.57 and sections 3734.571, 3734.572, 3734.573, 3734.574, and 3734.575 of the Revised Code, and as used in Chapter 133. of the Revised Code for the purposes of this chapter, any reference to a board of county commissioners of a county or a board of directors of a joint solid waste management district is deemed to include the board of trustees of a regional solid waste management authority, and any reference to the county sanitary engineer is deemed to include any sanitary engineer employed by a regional authority.

Effective Date: 03-30-1995