Colorado § 37-41-114 - Meetings - duties - eminent domain.

§ 37-41-114. Meetings - duties - eminent domain.

The board of directors shall hold a regular quarterly meeting in its office on the first Tuesday in January, April, July, and October and such special meetings as may be required for the proper transaction of business. All special meetings shall be called by the president of the board or any two directors. All meetings of the board must be public, and two members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and, on all questions requiring a vote, there shall be a concurrence of at least two members of said board. All special meetings of the board shall be held at locations which are within the boundaries of the district or which are within the boundaries of any county in which the district is located, in whole or in part, or in any county so long as the meeting location does not exceed twenty miles from the district boundaries. The provisions of this section governing the location of meetings may be waived only if the proposed change of location of a meeting of the board appears on the agenda of a regular or special meeting of the board and if a resolution is adopted by the board stating the reason for which a meeting of the board is to be held in a location other than under the provisions of this section and further stating the date, time, and place of such meeting. All records of the board must be open to the inspection of any elector during business hours. The board and its agents and employees shall have the right to enter upon any land in the district, to make surveys, and to locate and construct any canal and the necessary laterals. Said board shall also have the right to acquire all lands, water rights, franchises, and other property necessary for the construction, use, maintenance, repair, and improvement of its canals, ditches, reservoirs, and waterworks and shall also have the right by purchase or condemnation to acquire rights-of-way for the construction or enlargement of any of its ditches, canals, or reservoirs and lands for reservoir sites.

Source: L. 05: p. 254, § 12. R.S. 08: § 3451. C.L. § 1971. CSA: C. 90, § 388. CRS 53: § 149-1-12. C.R.S. 1963: § 150-1-12. L. 90: Entire section amended, p. 1502, § 16, effective July 1.

Cross references: For eminent domain proceedings, see articles 1 to 7 of title 38.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Eminent Domain in Colorado", see 29 Dicta 313 (1952). For note, "A Survey of Colorado Water Law", see 47 Den. L.J. 226 (1970).

Under this section the district is given the right to enter and take land for irrigation works, but is nowhere absolved from the obligation to pay. It may purchase, condemn, or settle, but it must pay. San Luis Valley Irrigation Dist. v. Noffsinger, 85 Colo. 202, 274 P. 827 (1929).

Owner of land must be paid for right-of-way for ditches. Where a right-of-way for a ditch has been condemned and the ditch constructed and maintained on the ground for years, it constitutes a taking of the property for which the owner must be paid. Henry L. Doherty & Co. v. Steele, 71 Colo. 33, 204 P. 77 (1922).

Applied in Trinchera Ranch Co. v. Trinchera Irrigation Dist., 89 Colo. 170, 300 P. 614 (1931); Riverside Irrigation Dist. v. Lamont, 194 Colo. 320, 572 P.2d 151 (1977).