S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   10899
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              August 17, 2020
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Gunther) --
   read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments
 
 AN ACT to amend the town law,  in  relation  to  establishing  community
   broadband districts for the purpose of expanding broadband services
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 190 of the town law, as amended by chapter  378  of
 the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
   §  190.  Establishment  or  extension of improvement districts. Upon a
 petition as hereinafter provided, the town board of any town may  estab-
 lish  or  extend  in  said  town a sewer, drainage, water, water quality
 treatment, park, public parking, lighting, snow removal,  water  supply,
 sidewalk,  a  fallout  shelter  district or refuse and garbage district,
 aquatic plant growth control  district,  ambulance  district,  watershed
 protection  improvement  district,  COMMUNITY BROADBAND DISTRICT, and in
 any town bordering upon or containing within its boundaries any  naviga-
 ble  waters  of this state, a harbor improvement district, a public dock
 district, or beach erosion control district, and provide improvements or
 services, or both, in any such district, wholly at the  expense  of  the
 district;  but no water supply district shall be established or extended
 to include lands situate within the boundaries of a water  district.  No
 such district shall be established or extended in a city or in an incor-
 porated  village  provided,  however, that such a district may be estab-
 lished or extended wholly or partly within an  incorporated  village  on
 consent  of  the  village  expressed in a local law, ordinance or resol-
 ution, subject to a referendum on petition under section twenty-four  of
 the  municipal  home  rule  law or a permissive referendum under article
 nine of the village law, as the case may be, and except, in the case  of
 a water quality treatment district, on consent of a village expressed in
 a local law or by resolution of the board of trustees and not subject to
 any referendum.
   §  2.  Paragraph a of subdivision 1 of section 193 of the town law, as
 amended chapter 378 of the laws of 2012, is amended to read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD17067-01-0

 A. 10899                            2
 
   a. Whenever a petition shall be presented to the town  board  pursuant
 to this article, for the establishment or extension of a sewer, wastewa-
 ter  disposal,  drainage,  water,  water quality treatment, park, public
 parking, lighting, snow removal,  water  supply,  sidewalk,  refuse  and
 garbage,  aquatic  plant  growth  control  district, ambulance district,
 harbor improvement district, public dock district, beach erosion control
 district, watershed protection improvement district, COMMUNITY BROADBAND
 DISTRICT, or a fallout shelter district, the board shall adopt an  order
 and enter the same in the minutes of its proceedings, reciting in gener-
 al  terms  the  filing  of such petition, the boundaries of the proposed
 district, the improvements proposed, the maximum amount proposed  to  be
 expended  for  the  improvement as stated in the petition or the maximum
 amount to be expended for the performance or supplying of services if  a
 maximum  amount is stated in the petition, the estimated cost of hook-up
 fees, if any, to, and the cost of the  district  or  extension  to,  the
 typical  property and, if different, the typical one or two family home,
 and specifying the time when and place where said  board  will  meet  to
 consider  the petition and to hear all persons interested in the subject
 thereof, concerning the same. The board  shall  cause  a  copy  of  such
 order, certified by the town clerk, to be published at least once in the
 official  paper,  the  first publication thereof to be not less than ten
 nor more than twenty days before the day set therein for the hearing  as
 aforesaid, and shall also cause a copy thereof to be posted on the sign-
 board  of  the  town  maintained  pursuant to subdivision six of section
 thirty of this chapter, not less than ten  nor  more  than  twenty  days
 before  the  day  designated  for the hearing as aforesaid. In the event
 that the town maintains a website, such information may also be provided
 on the website. Prior to the publication of a copy  of  the  order,  the
 board  shall  cause  to be prepared, and file for public inspection with
 the town clerk, a detailed explanation of  how  the  estimated  cost  of
 hook-up  fees, if any, to, and the cost of the district or extension to,
 the typical property and, if different, the typical one  or  two  family
 home was computed.
   §  3.  Section 198 of the town law is amended by adding a new subdivi-
 sion 10-h to read as follows:
   10-H. COMMUNITY  BROADBAND  DISTRICTS.  AFTER  A  COMMUNITY  BROADBAND
 DISTRICT  HAS  BEEN  ESTABLISHED, THE TOWN BOARD MAY TAKE SUCH ACTION AS
 MAY BE REQUIRED TO ADOPT PLANS  AND  SPECIFICATIONS  AND  ENTER  INTO  A
 CONTRACT  OR CONTRACTS, OR TAKE OTHER SUCH ACTION, FOR THE EXPANSION AND
 DELIVERY OF BROADBAND SERVICES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY BROADBAND DISTRICT.
   § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.