By: Guillen H.B. No. 1053
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the disposition of real property interests by the
Willacy County Navigation District.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 404, Acts of the 53rd Legislature,
Regular Session, 1953, is amended by adding Section 11 to read as
follows:
Sec. 11. (a) The District may sell, exchange, or lease
real property or any interest in real property owned by it, whether
the real property was acquired by gift or purchase, in settlement of
any litigation, controversy, or claim in behalf of the District, or
in any other manner, except that lands or flats heretofore
purchased from the State of Texas under former Article 8225,
Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, or granted by the State of
Texas in any general or special act, may be sold only to the State of
Texas or exchanged with the State of Texas for other lands or
exchanged for adjacent littoral land as authorized by Section
61.117, Water Code. The District may impose restrictions on the
development, use, and transfer of any real property or interest in
real property, other than lands or flats purchased from the State of
Texas under former Article 8225, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas,
1925, or granted by the State of Texas in any general or special
act, in connection with its sale or exchange under this section.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d) of this section,
before the District may sell or exchange real property, the Board
shall determine by resolution that the land is no longer needed for
use by the District in connection with the development of a
navigation project.
(c) Except as provided by Subsection (d), (e), or (f) of
this section, a sale or exchange of real property shall be made as
provided by Sections 60.040-60.042, Water Code.
(d) The District may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or
lease land, improvements, easements, or any other interests in real
property to promote a public purpose related to the development of
the District. The District shall determine the terms and
conditions of the transaction so as to:
(1) achieve the public purpose; and
(2) be consistent with the requirements of Title 2,
Utilities Code.
(e) The District may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or
lease a real property interest under Subsection (d) of this section
for less than its fair market value and without complying with the
notice and bidding requirements of Sections 60.040-60.042, Water
Code.
(f) Narrow strips of real property resulting from boundary
or surveying conflicts or similar causes, or from insubstantial
encroachments by abutting real property owners, or real property of
larger configuration that has been subject to encroachments by
abutting real property owners for more than 25 years may be
abandoned, released, exchanged, or transferred to such abutting
owners on terms and conditions considered appropriate or
advantageous to the District. The District may convey real
property under this subsection for less than its fair market value
and without complying with the notice and bidding requirements of
Sections 60.040-60.042, Water Code.
(g) The District may grant easements over or
on its real
property on terms and conditions the Board determines to be
advantageous to the District.
(h) The authority granted to the District by this section to
dispose of interests in real property is in addition to any
authority granted by Chapter 272, Local Government Code, and a
disposition of an interest in real property under this section is
exempt from the notice, bidding, and other requirements of Chapter
272, Local Government Code.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2019.