Fifty-one percent (51%) or more of the resident freeholders of a sanitary district which has no outstanding indebtedness may petition the board of commissioners of the county in which all or the greater portion of the resident freeholders of the district are located to dissolve the district. Upon receipt of the petition, the county board of commissioners shall notify the Department and the chairperson of the county board of commissioners of any other county or counties in which any portion of the district lies, of the receipt of the petition, and shall request that the Department hold a joint public hearing with the county commissioners concerning the dissolution of the district. The Secretary and the chairperson of the county board of commissioners shall name a time and place within the district for the public hearing. The county board of commissioners shall give prior notice of the hearing by posting a notice at the courthouse door of the county or counties and by publication in a newspaper or newspapers with circulation in the county or counties at least once a week for four consecutive weeks. If all matters pertaining to the dissolution of the sanitary district cannot be concluded at the hearing, the hearing may be continued to a time and place determined by the Department. If after the hearing, the Commission and the county board or boards of commissioners deem it advisable to comply with the request of the petition, the Commission shall adopt a resolution to dissolve the sanitary district. The sanitary district board of the dissolved district is authorized to convey all assets, including cash, to any county, municipality, or other governmental unit, or to any public utility company operating or to be operated under the authority of a certificate of public convenience and necessity granted by the North Carolina Utilities Commission in return for the assumption of the obligation to provide water and sewage services to the area served by the district at the time of dissolution. (1943, c. 620; 1951, c. 178, s. 2; 1957, c. 1357, s. 1; 1967, c. 4, s. 1; 1973, c. 476, s. 128; 1983, c. 891, s. 2.)