HB 1583 2022
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, 2
Escambia County; amending ch. 2001-324, Laws of 3
Florida; providing requirements for filling vacancies 4
on the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority; prohibiting 5
certain members from reelection under certain 6
circumstances; providing for the applicability of 7
sovereign immunity for the author ity; revising 8
personnel guidelines; requiring the Escambia County 9
Utilities Authority to use a specified handbook for 10
certain personnel matters; removing a personnel 11
appeals board; revising the personnel appeals process 12
and procedures; removing a provision prohibiting 13
certain persons from being included in certain 14
systems; providing an effective date. 15
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 17
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Section 1. Subsections (b), (c), and (f) of section 4, 19
paragraphs (a) and (f) of section 1 0, section 11, paragraph (a) 20
of section 12, and section 13 of section 3 of chapter 2001 -324, 21
Laws of Florida, are amended to read: 22
Section 4. Governing body. — 23
(b) Members shall be elected, in the primary and general 24
elections held in 1984, by distric ts under the district plan of 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the Board of County Commissioners of Escambia County 26
(hereinafter referred to as the "Board"). Each member shall be 27
an elector of the district from which he or she is elected and 28
shall be elected by the qualified electors of t hat respective 29
district. Members elected for Districts Two and Four at the 30
general election held in 1984 shall be elected to a 2 -year term. 31
Members elected for Districts One, Three, and Five at the 32
general election held in 1984 shall serve for a 4 -year term. 33
Thereafter each member shall be elected for a term of 4 years. 34
Beginning in 1996, the term of office of each member shall 35
commence on the second Tuesday following the general election in 36
which such member is elected. Upon the expiration of a term of 37
office, a successor to the office shall be elected as designated 38
in this paragraph; however, upon the occasion of a vacancy for 39
any elected office which vacancy occurs prior to the expiration 40
of the then present term of that office, a successor shall be 41
appointed by the Governor and the successor shall be a resident 42
of the district in which the vacancy occurred. Any person 43
appointed to fill a vacancy shall be appointed to serve only for 44
the unexpired term and until a successor is duly elected. If the 45
Governor fails to make an appointment within 90 days after the 46
date of the vacancy, the chair of the Board shall nominate two 47
persons from the district in which the vacancy occurred as 48
potential candidates to fill the vacancy. The remaining members, 49
excluding the chair, shall select by majority vote one of the 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
two nominees to fill the vacancy. 51
(c) Members shall be eligible for reelection. Any person 52
elected to three consecutive full terms as a member of the Board 53
subsequent to July 1, 2021, is not eligible for ele ction to the 54
Board for the next succeeding term. 55
(f) The authority shall elect a chair and a vice chair 56
from the members of the authority, each of whom shall serve for 57
1 year or until his or her successor is chosen. The chair, or 58
the vice chair in the ch air's absence, shall preside at all 59
meetings of the authority and shall perform such additional 60
duties prescribed by the members or in the bylaws of the 61
authority. The authority shall hold regular meetings at least 62
monthly at such times and places as it ma y designate and may 63
hold more frequent special meetings. A majority of the 64
membership shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of meeting 65
and transacting business. Each member of the authority shall 66
have one vote. The authority may adopt bylaws and may ma ke all 67
policies, procedures, rules, and regulations not inconsistent 68
with this act which it may deem necessary respecting the conduct 69
of its affairs, including, but not limited to, the operation of 70
its utility systems. Such policies, procedures, rules, and 71
regulations shall provide for notice of all public meetings and 72
shall provide that an agenda shall be prepared by the authority 73
in time to ensure that a copy of the agenda will be available at 74
least 3 days before any regular meeting of the authority. Afte r 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
the agenda has been made available, change shall be only for 76
good cause, as determined by the person designated to preside at 77
the meeting, and stated in the record. Special or emergency 78
meetings may be called by the chair upon no less than 24 hours' 79
notice. The authority shall publish and thereafter codify and 80
index all rules, regulations, and resolutions formulated, 81
adopted, or used by the authority in the discharge of its 82
functions. Such rules, regulations, and resolutions shall be 83
made available for pu blic inspection and copying, at no more 84
than cost. The authority shall not be deemed an "agency" within 85
the meaning of chapter 120, Florida Statutes. The authority 86
shall be deemed to be an "agency" within the meaning of chapter 87
119, Florida Statutes, and a ll records of the authority shall be 88
open to the public. The authority shall be deemed an "agency" or 89
"authority of the county" for purposes of section 286.011, 90
Florida Statutes, the "Government in the Sunshine Law." The 91
authority is entitled to the protec tions of sovereign immunity 92
under section 768.28, Florida Statutes. In addition to the 93
provisions of the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and 94
Employees, part III of chapter 112, Florida Statutes, no 95
consultant to the authority shall have or hold any empl oyment or 96
contractual relationship with a business entity other than the 97
authority in connection with any contract in which the 98
consultant personally participated through decision, approval, 99
disapproval, recommendation, rendering of advice, or 100
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investigation while the consultant. However, this provision 101
shall not preclude the award of any contract to a consultant if 102
such contract is awarded after open competitive bidding, and if 103
the consultant submits the low bid. 104
Section 10. Personnel. — 105
(a) The authority is empowered to appoint, remove, and 106
suspend employees or agents of the authority and fix their 107
compensation within the guidelines established by the ECUA Human 108
Resource Manual and Employee Handbook Escambia County Civil 109
Service Rules. 110
(f) Employees of the authority are subject to the civil 111
service system of Escambia County and to the policies and rules 112
of the Civil Service Board. 113
Section 11. Personnel appeals board.—The authority shall 114
handle all personnel matters pursuant to the ECUA Human Resource 115
Manual and Employee Handbook , including discipline procedures, 116
corrective action, termination of employees, and appeals. 117
(a) There shall be appointed a personnel appeals board 118
comprised of two members appointed by the authority, two members 119
chosen by employees of the authority classified below the level 120
of department head, and one member appointed by the other four 121
members. The members of the board shall serve a term of 1 year. 122
An appointment to a vacant position on the board shall be filled 123
in the manner of the original appointment to that position. The 124
board shall hear appeals from suspensions, demotions, or 125
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dismissals or of employees of the authority classified below the 126
level of department head and not designated as other key staff 127
personnel by the authority as provided in section 13. The 128
decisions of the board on such appeals shall be final, subject 129
to review by the Circuit Court of Escambia County. The board may 130
investigate and make recommendations to the executive director 131
of the authority on maj or policy and procedural questions 132
relating to personnel management and on individual grievances by 133
employees. However, the recommendations of the board on such 134
matters shall be advisory only. The board may employ legal 135
counsel, and a reasonable budget for such purpose shall be 136
provided by the authority. The executive director of the 137
authority shall provide the administrative services required by 138
the board. 139
(b) Notwithstanding anything provided herein or in any 140
special or general act to the contrary, the rights and benefits 141
herein granted shall be in lieu of and substitution for any 142
rights and benefits such employees may have had under any civil 143
service or personnel system of the City of Pensacola or Escambia 144
County. 145
Section 12. Process and procedure. — 146
(a) Any person wishing to appeal a termination of 147
services; assessment of fees, charges, or fines; notice of claim 148
of lien; or increase in security deposit an action of the 149
authority that directly affects his or her substantial interests 150
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
may file a petition for review within 10 days after of the date 151
the complained of action is taken. The authority shall consider 152
such petitions for review and shall take action at a public 153
meeting to grant or deny such petitions within 40 days after of 154
receipt. 155
Section 13. Executive director. —The authority shall employ 156
and fix the compensation of an executive director, who shall 157
manage the affairs of the utilities systems under the 158
supervision of the authority and direct the activities of the 159
employees of the authority. The executive director shall devote 160
his or her entire working time to the performance of his or her 161
duties and not have outside employment or business. The 162
executive director shall be a college graduate. The executive 163
director must either possess a degree in science, engineering, 164
business management, or public administration or, alternatively, 165
must be a licensed and registered engineer. The executive 166
director shall have at least 6 years of experience in the field 167
of engineering, operations, or management of a utility system of 168
size comparable to or larger than the water and sewer system of 169
the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority at the time of the vacancy 170
of the position City of Pensacola in 1981 . The authority may 171
allow the substitution of ad ditional years of administrative or 172
management experience in lieu of the specific educational or 173
professional requirements set forth above. The executive 174
director, the assistant executive director, the department 175
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
heads, and such other key staff personnel s o designated by the 176
authority shall not be included within any civil service system 177
or be under the jurisdiction of the personnel appeals board. 178
Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 179