85R12357 SLB-F
 
  By: Faircloth H.B. No. 2499
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the disposition of real property interests by
  navigation districts and port authorities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 60.038, Water Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 60.038.  DISPOSITION [SALE OR LEASE] OF INTERESTS IN
  REAL PROPERTY [LAND]. (a) A district may sell, exchange, or lease
  real property or any interest in real property [all or any part of
  land] owned by it, whether the real property was [land is] acquired
  by gift or purchase, in settlement of any litigation, controversy,
  or claim in behalf of the district, or in any other manner, except
  that lands or flats heretofore purchased from the State of Texas
  under Article 8225, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, or
  granted by the State of Texas in any general or special act, may be
  sold only to the State of Texas or exchanged with the State of Texas
  for other lands or exchanged for adjacent littoral land as
  authorized by Section 61.117 [of this code]. The district may
  impose restrictions on the development, use, and transfer of any
  real property or interest in real property in connection with its
  sale or exchange under this section.
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), before [Before] a
  district may sell or exchange real property [land], the commission
  shall determine by resolution that the land is no longer needed for
  use by the district in connection with the development of a
  navigation project.
         (c)  Except as provided by Subsection (d), (e), or (f), a
  sale [Sale] or exchange [lease] of real property [land] shall be
  made as provided by Sections 60.040-60.042 [60.039-60.042 of this
  code].
         (d)  A district may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or lease
  land, improvements, easements, or any other interests in real
  property to an electric utility, as that term is defined by Section
  31.002, Utilities Code, or a telecommunications utility, as that
  term is defined by Section 51.002, Utilities Code, to promote a
  public purpose related to the development of a district. The
  district shall determine the terms and conditions of the
  transaction so as to:
               (1)  achieve the public purpose; and
               (2)  be consistent with the requirements of Title 2,
  Utilities Code.
         (e)  A district may donate, exchange, convey, sell, or lease
  a real property interest under Subsection (d) for less than its fair
  market value and without complying with the notice and bidding
  requirements of Sections 60.040-60.042.
         (f)  Narrow strips of real property resulting from boundary
  or surveying conflicts or similar causes, or from insubstantial
  encroachments by abutting real property owners, or real property of
  larger configuration that has been subject to encroachments by
  abutting real property owners for more than 25 years may be
  abandoned, released, exchanged, or transferred to such abutting
  owners on terms and conditions considered appropriate or
  advantageous to the district. A district may convey real property
  under this subsection for less than its fair market value and
  without complying with the notice and bidding requirements of
  Sections 60.040-60.042.
         (g)  A district may grant easements over, on, or under its
  real property on terms and conditions the commission determines to
  be advantageous to the district.
         (h)  The authority granted to a district by this section to
  dispose of interests in real property is in addition to any
  authority granted by Chapter 272, Local Government Code, and a
  disposition of an interest in real property under this section is
  exempt from the notice, bidding, and other requirements in Chapter
  272, Local Government Code.
         SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.