CHAPTER 6356-(No. 237).

AN ACT Conferring Certain Powers on the City of Jacksonville, Relating to Its Supply of Water from Artesian Wells, Waterworks and Waterworks Systems Within Its Corporate Limits.

Whereas, The residents of the City of Jacksonville are wholly dependent on subterranean water to supply them for domestic, agricultural and mechanical purposes, and the supply of such water within said territory is limited and numerous artesian wells have within the past few years been bored or driven and the supply of water is being gradually diminished, and a large part of the water from said wells is allowed to flow continually and go to waste, without being used for beneficial purposes, and there is grave danger that such water supply will be exhausted to such an extent that the subterranean waters will not be sufficient to supply the demands of a growing and increasing population, and it is necessary that the water supply in said city shall be conserved as much as practicable; therefore,

Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. That the Board of Bond Trustees of the City of Jacksonville shall have the power of establish ing and extending waterworks system of the city within its corporate limits in Duval County, Florida; and within said limits acquire by grant, gift, purchase, lease or condemnation, as hereinafter set forth, artesian wells more than three hundred feet in depth, waterworks and waterworks systems, and the exclusive right of boring and driving artesian wells to a greater depth than three hundred feet.

Sec. 2. Any person who shall hereafter desire to drive or bore an artesian well within said territory shall not begin such work until he shall have obtained a permit therefor from the Board of Bond Trustees of the City of Jacksonville. He shall file with said board a description

1911

Authority to condemn wells or

of the lot, piece or parcel of land on which he desires to
drive or bore such well, the size of the proposed well, the
purpose for which it shall be used and his interest in or
title to such land, and said board shall carefully con-
sider said application, and if it finds that such proposed
well is suitable for the purposes for which it is to be used
and the water therefrom shall be used in reasonable
quantities for domestic, agricultural or mechanical pur-
poses, it may grant such permit for the boring or driving
of such well, according to such reasonable rules and regu-
lations as may be prescribed by said board for the driving
or boring and incasing of such well and the method of
controlling or stopping the flow therefrom; but in the
event the board shall deem it advisable not to grant said
permit, it shall, before denying the same, give the appli-
cant reasonable notice of a hearing on such application
and the objections thereto, and the applicant shall be
given a reasonable opportunity to be heard thereon, and
it shall be the duty of said board, within forty-five days
thereafter, to grant such permit if said applicant shall
conform to the provisions of this Act, and the rules and
regulations of said board adopted under this Act. If
the said board shall desire to condemn said land or any
portion thereof for the exclusive right of boring or driving
artesian wells thereon to a depth of more than three
hundred feet, it shall pass a resolution to that effect and
cause condemnation proceedings therefor, according to
the existing statutes, to be instituted in the name of the
city within sixty days thereafter, and shall have the
same determined as speedily as practicable.

Sec. 3. Any artesian well hereafter bored or driven or any waterworks or waterworks system hereafter eswaterworks. tablished, within said limits, may be condemned by the city as provided by law, and in such proceedings the city may also condemn the exclusive right of boring and driving artesian wells to a depth of more than three hundred feet on any lot, piece or parcel of land on which such well may be located, and the exclusive rights to bore and drive such artesian wells on any other lands that the Board of Bond Trustees may deem advisable to condemn for such purposes; and the said board is authorized to pay the damages awarded in such suit or suits out of the profits or savings derived from the operation of the waterworks belonging to the City of Jacksonville.

1

Sec. 4. Said board is hereby vested with the power of prescribing reasonable rules and regulations for the boring and driving of artesian wells within said limits to a greater depth than three hundred feet, or incasing the same, or preventing, controlling and reducing the flow of water therefrom when the same is not being used in reasonable quantities for domestic, agricultural or mechanical purposes, and for otherwise conserving the supply of subterranean waters. All such rules and regulations shall be adopted at a regular meeting of the board, and shall be recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose in the office of said board, and they shall become effective within thirty days after publishing the same in a newspaper published in said city.

Sec. 5. All persons owning, controlling or using artesian wells more than three hundred feet in depth within said limits shall, within ninety days after the approval of this Act, file with the Board of Bond Trustees a description of the land on which such well is located, the size of the well, for what purpose the water therefrom is used and the manner in which the flow of water is controlled or prevented or stopped when such water is not being used in reasonable quantities for domestic, agricultural or mechanical purposes; and they shall within sixty days thereafter fix wells in such manner as to prevent, reduce and control the flow of water when not in use as prescribed in this Act, so that water shall not flow therefrom in greater quantities than may be reasonably necessary for domestic, agricultural or mechanical purposes within the vicinity of such well or wells.

Sec. 6. The provisions of this Act shall not be so construed as to authorize the City of Jacksonville to condemn any artesian well that may have been driven or bored within its limits prior to the passage and approval of this Act.

violation.

Sec. 7. Any person who shall violate any of the pro- Penalty for visions of this Act, or any reasonable rule or regulation prescribed by the Board of Bond Trustees under this Act, shall, on conviction in the Municipal Court, for each offense, be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding ninety days. Processes and writs of the Municipal Court for the enforcement of this Act and such reasonable rules

1911

and regulations shall extend to the limits designated in this Act.

Sec. 8. The rights of the City of Jacksonville and all other persons under this Act may be enforced by injunction or other appropriate action.

Approved May 23, 1911.

Board of Bond Trustees; their

term of

office and their suc

cessors in office.

Salaries.

CHAPTER 6357-(No. 238).

AN ACT Affecting the Government of the City of Jacksonville and Conferring Additional Jurisdiction, Powers and Duties on Said City; Creating Certain Offices, Reducing the Terms of Office of Certain Officials, and Abolishing Certain Offices and Boards.

Be it Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

Section 1. That the Board of Bond Trustees of the City of Jacksonville shall consist of nine members; their terms of office shall be for the period of four years; but the terms of the present members of said board shall expire, two on October 1st, 1911; two on October 1st, 1912; two on October 1st, 1913 and three on October 1st, 1914, to-wit: The terms of office of A. B. Campbell and Arthur F. Perry shall expire on October 1st, 1911; the terms of office of Sig Hess and Frank Richardson on October 1st, 1912; the terms of office of W. M. Bostwick, Jr., and Henry Galliard on October 1st, 1913; and the terms of office of Frank Adams, John D. Baker and A. R. Merrill on October 1st, 1914. The successors shall be elected by a majority vote of all the members of the City Council at their first regular meeting in October, or as soon thereafter as practicable. Thirty days' notice of each such election shall be given by publishing the same in two newspapers published in the City of Jacksonville, once each week for four successive weeks, prior to such election. Vacancies occurring otherwise than by expiration of terms shall be filled in the same manner.

Sec. 2. The Chairman of the Board of Bond Trustees shall receive a salary of nine hundred dollars ($900.00)

a year, and members of the Committee on Public Works, hereinafter created, shall receive a salary of four hundred dollars ($400.00) per year. The salaries of all the subordinate officers and employees under the Committee on Public Works shall be fixed by said committee and shall be approved by the Board of Bond Trustees.

1911

Sec. 3. Meetings of the Board of Bond Trustees shall Meetings. be held in the City Hall at regular periods of time to be fixed by said board, and no official action shall be taken except by a majority vote cast at such meeting, and such vote shall be made a matter of record.

Board of
Bond Trus-
tuted for
Public

tees substi

Board of

Works.

Sec. 4. That from and after the first day of July, A. D. 1911, the Board of Public Works as now constituted shall be abolished, and thereafter the duties now performed by said board shall be performed by the Board of Bond Trustees. A committee to be known as the Committee on Public Works, consisting of three members of said board, shall be elected on or before July 1st, 1911, and thereafter annually by a majority vote of all the members of the Board of Bond Trustees, at the time of the re-organization of said board, or as soon thereafter as practicable. Such committee shall perform all duties Committee and exercise all powers now vested in the Board of Public Works under the direction and control of said Board of Bond Trustees.

on Public Works.

All the other committees of the Board of Bond Trus Committees. tees shall be elected annually by a majority vote of all the members of said board, and the vote shall be by yeas and nays and shall be made a matter of record in the minutes of said board.

sioner of

Sec. 5. There shall be a Commissioner of Public CommisWorks who shall be appointed by the Board of Bond Public Trustees by a majority vote of all the members of said Works. board, which vote shall be by yeas and nays and shall be made a matter of record in the minutes of said board.

The salary and period of employment of said commissioner shall be fixed by the Board of Bond Trustees but his salary shall not exceed the sum of $6,000.00 a year. He shall be an expert in municipal engineering and shall have a thorough practical knowledge of machinery, electric lighting, water service and sewerage, and shall, under the direction of the Committee on Public Works, have