# The Attorney General of Texas

March 9, 1983 JIM MATTOX Attorney General

Supreme Court Building P. 0. Box 12548 Austin. TX. 78711. 2548 5121475.2501 Telex 9101874-1367 Telecopier 5121475.0266

1607 Main St.. Suite 1400 Dallas. TX. 75201-4709 2141742.8944

4824 Alberta Ave.. Suite 160 El Paso. TX. 79905.2793 9151533.3484
r ,220 Dallas Ave.. Suite 202 Houston, TX. 77002.6986 7131650-0666

806 Broadway. Suite 312 Lubbock. TX. 79401.3479 8061747-5238

4309 N. Tenth. Suite S McAlten. TX. 78501-1685 5121682-4547

200 Main Plaza, Suite 400 San Antonio. TX. 782052797 51212254191

An Equal Opportunity/ Affirmative Action Employer Honorable FelipeReyna CriminalDistrictAttorney McLennan Countv Courthouse Waco, Texas i6703 opinionNo. JM-4
Re: Whether water board of city of Robinson is required to complywith article 6252-17, V.T.C.S.
DearMr. Reyna:
You have asked us to determine if the board of trustees for the -. ._. . city of Robinsonwaterworks is (1) a governmental body as defined in article 6252-17, section l(c), V.T.C.S.; (2) required to conduct meetingswhich are open to the public as providedby article 6252-17, section 2(a), V.T.C.S.; and (3) required to post a written notice of eachmeeting as provided in article 6252-17, section 3A.V.T.C.S. Article 6252-17 prohibits governmental bodies from holding meetings which are closed to the public, unless authorized by an exception. Section l(c)defines "governmentalbody" as:

any board, commission, department, committee, or agency within the executive or legislative department of the state, which is under the direction of one or more elected or appointed members: and everv Commissioners Court and citv council in the state, and every deliberativebody having rule-making or quasi-judicial power and classified as s department, agency, or political subdivision of a county or city; and the board of trustees of every school district, and everv county board of skhool trustees and-countyboa& of education; and the governing board of every special district heretofore or hereafter created by law. (Emphasisadded). Articles 1111 through 1118,V.T.C.S., establish the authority for cities and towns to encumber any city owned utility. Article 1111 empowers cities and towns, inter alia. to mortgage and encumberwater systems. Article 1115permits control of the encumbered system to be placed in a board of trusteesnamed in the encumbrance. Article 1115 states:

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The management and control of any such system or systems during the time they are encumbered, may by the termsof such encumbrance,be placed in thehands of the city council of such town,or may be placed in the hands of a board of trustees to be named in such encumbrance, consisting of not more than five members, one of whom shall be the mayor of such city or town. The compensation of such trustees shallbe fixedby such contract,but shall never exceed five per cent of the gross receipts of such systems in any one year. The terms of office of such board of trustees, their powers and duties, the manner of exercising same, the election of their successors,and all matters pertaining to their organizationand dutiesmay be specified in such contractof encumbrance. In all matters where such contract is silent, the laws and rules governing the council of such city or town shallgovern saidboard of trustees so far as applicable. (Emphasisadded). The Robinson city council created the board of trustees in an ordinancewhich tracked the language of article 1115. The powers and duties of theboard createdby the ordinance include the power to fix all rates and to adopt and enforceall rules and regulationstheboard deemsnecessary or proper. This is also consistentwith the statutory placement of "management and control" of the system with a board of trustees. Article 1115 allows a municipality to delegate its power to manage and controla city owned utility to a board of trustees to act as the city's agent while the utility is encumbered. Texas courts have concluded that an article 1115board of trustees is an anent of the city. Tuttle v. Guadalupe-BlancoRiverAuthority, 174 S.WI2d 589 (Tex. 1943) affirming 171 S.W.2d 520 (Tex. Civ. App. - San Antonio 1943); see also Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority v. City of San Antonio, 200 S.W.Zd 989 (Tex. 1947) (acceptingwithout comment prior Texas SupremeCourt decision thatBoard of Trusteeshad no standine, to sue);Miieles v. Deer Run Properties, Inc., 616 S.W.2d 342, 343 (Tex. Civ. App. - SanAntonio 1981,no writ); CrownhillHomes, Inc. v. City of SanAntonio, 433 S.W.2d 448 (Tex.Civ. App. - Corpus Christ1 1968, writ ref'd n.r.e.) (Action of board of trustees of waterworks in regulating extension of water mains was exercise of legislative or governmentalpower, not proprietary). Based on these Texas cases, it is our opinion that the board of trustees is an agency of the city authorizedby statuteand ordinance to manage and control the waterworks system of the city of Robinson and that the board has been delegated legislative and governmental

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powers for that purpose. Thus, the board of trustees is a "department, agency, or political subdivision of the city" which has rulemaking authorityand is a governmentalbody as defined in article 6252-17, section l(c). Meetings of the board of trusteesmust comply with article 6252-17,andwritten notice of eachmeetingmust be niven as required in article 6252-17, section 3A. See Lower-ColoradoRiver Authority v. City of San Marcos, 523 S.W.2d 641 (Tex. 1975); Lake County Estates v. Toman, 624 S.W.2d 677 (Tex. Civ. App. - Fort Worth 1981, writ ref'd n.r.e.); Lumberton Municipal Utility District v. Cease, 596 S.W.2d 601 (Tex.Civ.App. - Beaumont 1980,nowrit).
SUMMARY The board of trustees for the city of Robinson waterworks is a governmental body as defined in article 6252-17, section l(c). Meetings of the board of trustees must be open to the public as provided by article 6252-17, section 2(a), and written notice of each meeting must be given as required in article 6252-17, section 3A. Very trulyyou 

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JIM MATTOX AttorneyGeneral of Texas
TOM GREEN FirstAssistantAttorneyGeneral
DAVID R. RICHARDS ExecutiveAssistantAttorneyGeneral Preparedby PatriciaHinojosa AssistantAttorneyGeneral
APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE
SusanL. Garrison,Chairman Jon Bible Rick Gilpin PatriciaHinojosa JimMoellinger

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