Sections 67.453 to 67.475 are known and may be cited as the “Neighborhood Improvement District Act”, and the following words and terms, as used in sections 67.453 to 67.475 mean:

(1) “Acquire”, the acquisition of property or interests in property by purchase, gift, condemnation or other lawful means and may include the acquisition of existing property and improvements already owned by the city or county;

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(2) “Consultant”, engineers, architects, planners, attorneys, financial advisors, accountants, investment bankers and other persons deemed competent to advise and assist the governing body of the city or county in planning and making improvements;

(3) “Cost”, all costs incurred in connection with an improvement, including, but not limited to, costs incurred for the preparation of preliminary reports, the preparation of plans and specifications, the preparation and publication of notices of hearings, resolutions, ordinances and other proceedings, fees and expenses of consultants, interest accrued on borrowed money during the period of construction, underwriting costs and other costs incurred in connection with the issuance of bonds or notes, establishment of reasonably required reserve funds for bonds or notes, the cost of land, materials, labor and other lawful expenses incurred in planning, acquiring and doing any improvement, reasonable construction contingencies, and work done or services performed by the city or county in the administration and supervision of the improvement;

(4) “Improve”, to construct, reconstruct, maintain, restore, replace, renew, repair, install, equip, extend, or to otherwise perform any work which will provide a new public facility or enhance, extend or restore the value or utility of an existing public facility;

(5) “Improvement”, any one or more public facilities or improvements which confer a benefit on property within a definable area and may include or consist of a reimprovement of a prior improvement. Improvements include, but are not limited to, the following activities:

(a) To acquire property or interests in property when necessary or desirable for any purpose authorized by sections 67.453 to 67.475;

(b) To open, widen, extend and otherwise to improve streets, paving and other surfacing, gutters, curbs, sidewalks, crosswalks, driveway entrances and structures, drainage works incidental thereto, and service connections from sewer, water, gas and other utility mains, conduits or pipes;

(c) To improve main and lateral storm water drains and sanitary sewer systems, and appurtenances thereto;

(d) To improve street lights and street lighting systems;

(e) To improve waterworks systems;

(f) To partner with a telecommunications company or broadband service provider in order to construct or improve telecommunications facilities which shall be wholly owned and operated by the telecommunications company or broadband service provider, as the terms “telecommunications company” and “telecommunications facilities” are defined in section 386.020 and subject to the provisions of section 392.410, that are in an unserved or underserved area, as defined in section 620.2450. Before any facilities are improved or constructed as a result of this section, the area shall be certified as unserved or underserved by the director of broadband development within the department of economic development;

(g) To improve parks, playgrounds and recreational facilities;

(h) To improve any street or other facility by landscaping, planting of trees, shrubs, and other plants;

(i) To improve dikes, levees and other flood control works, gates, lift stations, bridges and streets appurtenant thereto;

(j) To improve vehicle and pedestrian bridges, overpasses and tunnels;

(k) To improve retaining walls and area walls on public ways or land abutting thereon;

(l) To improve property for off-street parking facilities including construction and equipment of buildings thereon;

(m) To acquire or improve any other public facilities or improvements deemed necessary by the governing body of the city or county; and

(n) To improve public safety;

(6) “Neighborhood improvement district”, an area of a city or county with defined limits and boundaries which is created by vote or by petition under sections 67.453 to 67.475 and which is benefitted by an improvement and subject to special assessments against the real property therein for the cost of the improvement.