Montana Code 85-7-1411. Authority to acquire, construct, maintain, operate, and lease various undertakings
85-7-1411. Authority to acquire, construct, maintain, operate, and lease various undertakings. (1) An irrigation district may:
Terms Used In Montana Code 85-7-1411
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Irrigation district: means a district created pursuant to Title 85, chapter 7, part 1. See Montana Code 85-7-1402
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Property: means real and personal property. See Montana Code 1-1-205
- Undertaking: means any one or a combination of the following:
(a)water sources, water rights, irrigation canals, irrigation systems, including pumping facilities or gravity measure systems, reservoirs, reservoir sites, or small power production facilities that are:
(i)certified as such by the federal energy regulatory commission; and
(ii)are associated with federal reclamation projects;
(b)any real or personal property or water rights related to or necessary to provide, operate, and maintain an undertaking listed in subsection (4)(a). See Montana Code 85-7-1402
(a)construct, acquire by gift, purchase, or lease, or improve any undertaking, within or outside the irrigation district, and acquire by gift, purchase, or lease land or rights in land or water rights in connection with the undertaking;
(b)operate and maintain or enter into a contract for the operation and maintenance of any undertaking and furnish or enter into a contract for the furnishing of services, facilities, and commodities of the undertaking for its own use and for the use of public and private consumers within or outside the territorial boundaries of the irrigation district. However, an irrigation district may not furnish or enter into a contract for the furnishing of electrical energy or capacity except to a qualified purchaser under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978.
(c)lease any undertaking to a private or governmental entity.
(2)This section may not be construed to permit an irrigation district to condemn any property owned or controlled by a rural electric cooperative or a utility, whether publicly or privately owned. An irrigation district is expressly prohibited from condemning, pursuant to Title 70, chapter 30, property owned or controlled by a rural electric cooperative or utility.