Drought Management Plan

The City of Portland in Sumner County, Tennessee, hereinafter referred to as the “City,” is a de jure public corporation created under the laws of the State of Tennessee, pursuant to what is known as “The Tennessee Utility City Act of 1937,” and being more specifically identified as Sections 7-82-101 et seq. of the Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA). The City was formally incorporated pursuant to an Order of the County Court of Sumner County, Tennessee, as recorded in Minute Book 10, Page 95, dated February 12, 1965, as amended by Order of Record dated December 10, 1968 and entered in the Minute Book on January 27, 1969. Further, pursuant to an Order of the County Executive of Sumner County, Tennessee, dated July 26, 1979. As set forth in TCA §§ 7-82-101 et seq., and specifically in TCA §§ 7-82-302, any City created under the authority of said Chapter is empowered to conduct, operate and maintain a system or systems for the furnishing of water (as well as other specific items or services as defined in the Chapter but not germane hereto) to customers within its designated service area(s). The Chapter further states that in order to reasonably accomplish its responsibilities, any such City has the power and authority to acquire, construct, reconstruct, improve, better, extend, consolidate, maintain and operate such system or systems within its service area and to purchase from, and deliver from, and furnish, deliver and sell to any municipality, the state, any public institution and the public, generally, any of the services authorized by §§ 7-82-302. According to the original Order which created the City, as referenced above and as presented in Appendix A hereof, “the powers of the City shall be and are hereby vested in and exercised by the Board of Alderman of said City, heretofore appointed, and a majority of the members of said Board of Alderman shall control and exercise the powers of the entire Board.” Also, and again quoting from said Order, “It is further ordered, adjudged and decreed that from and after this date, the City of Portland in Sumner County, Tennessee, and the territory embraced within its boundaries, shall be and is hereby constituted a municipal or public corporation in perpetuity, under the corporate name stated, and the same is hereby constituted a body politic with power of perpetual succession, exercising all the powers permitted by law, but without any power to levy or collect taxes.” In accordance with the City’s powers, the Board of Alderman and / or its designated representative(s) have the authority to create, or to have created, and to activate drought management responses as outlined in this plan, the public welfare requiring the same. This Plan has been reviewed by the members of the City of Portland’s Board of Alderman, by the City’s attorney and by the City’s management staff. By unanimous affirmative vote of the Board of Alderman at its October 5, 2011 meeting approved the proposed Drought Management Plan (DMP), the plan was adopted by the Board as its official guideline for addressing drought conditions. Appendix C contains the Public Hearing notice and copy of advertisement in local newspaper. Concurrence with appropriate neighboring utility systems, City and county departments and agencies was sought since some of the responses and measures outlined in this Plan could need to be implemented in a coordinated effort involving other agencies, potentially impacting staffs and budgets.