BILL NO. 156

(aa) "Charter" means the Halifax Regional Municipality Charter;

(j) "sewage" means the combination of liquid and water-carried wastes from buildings, containing animal, vegetable or mineral matter in suspension or solution, together with such groundwater, surface water or stormwater as might be present;

(k) "sewer" means a pipe or conduit for carrying sewage, groundwater, stormwater or surface runoff, and includes all sewer drains, storm sewers, clearwater sewers, storm drains and combined sewers vested in, or under the control of, the Commission;

(l) "stormwater" means water from precipitation of all kinds, and includes water from the melting of snow and ice, groundwater discharge and surface water;

(m) "stormwater system" means a method or means of carrying stormwater, including ditches, swales, sewers, drains, canals, ravines, gullies, pumping stations, retention ponds, streams, watercourses, floodplains, ponds, springs, creeks, streets or private roads, roadways or driveways;

(n) "wastewater facilities" means the structures, pipes, devices, equipment, processes or other things used, or intended, for the collection, transportation, pumping or treatment of sewage and disposal of the effluent;

(o) "water system" means the source, structures, pipes, hydrants, meters, devices, equipment or other things used, or intended, for the collection, transportation, pumping or treatment of water.

(2) Where, for any reason, there is a vacancy on the Commission Board, the Commissioners who are appointed and have consented to act may continue to act and to exercise all the powers or functions of the Commission Board until the vacancy is filled.

(3) Each Commissioner appointed pursuant to clause (1)(b) holds office for a term of two or three years, at the discretion of the Council, but ceases to hold office upon ceasing to be a member of the Council or if the Commissioner, without leave of the Commission Board, is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Commission Board.

(4) Each Commissioner appointed pursuant to clause (1)(c) holds office for a term of two or three years, at the discretion of the Council, but ceases to hold office upon ceasing to be a resident of the Regional Municipality or if the Commissioner, without leave of the Commission Board, is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Commission Board.

(5) The Commissioner appointed pursuant to clause (1)(d) holds office for such a term as is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer at the time of the appointment, but ceases to hold office upon ceasing to be a member of the staff of the Regional Municipality.

(6) Each Commissioner is eligible for re-appointment.

(7) Subject to subsection (3) or (4), as the case may be, where a person appointed pursuant to clause (1)(b) or (c) ceases to be a Commissioner before the person's term of office expires, the Council shall, within two months after the person ceases to be a Commissioner, appoint a person pursuant to clause (1)(b) or (c), as the case may be, to fill the vacancy and the person so appointed holds office, as long as that person has the qualifications required by clause (1)(b) or (c), as the case may be, for the remainder of the term of the person who ceases to be a Commissioner.

(8) Where a person appointed pursuant to clause (1)(d) ceases to be a Commissioner, the Chief Administrative Officer shall appoint to the Commission Board another member of the staff of the Regional Municipality to fill the vacancy and the person so appointed holds office for such a term as is designated by the Chief Administrative Officer.

4A Each Commissioner is an officer of the Commission for the purpose of any immunities conferred by this Act.

4B The Commission Board shall appoint a Chair and a Vice-chair from among its members to hold office until their successors are appointed.

4C (1) The Commission Board shall appoint a Secretary and a Treasurer from among its members or from among the employees of the Commission to hold office until their successors are appointed.

(2) The duties of the Secretary and of the Treasurer shall be determined by the Commission.

(3) One person may be appointed as both Secretary and Treasurer.

4D Four voting Commissioners constitute a quorum of the Commission Board.

4E Commissioners who are not members of the Council may be paid from the revenue of the Commission such annual honorarium as the Commission Board determines, but the total of the annual honoraria must not exceed one tenth of one per cent of the gross annual revenue of the Commission.

6A Where there is a conflict between this Act and the Charter, this Act prevails.

(aa) subject to any applicable municipal by-law, lease land owned by the Commission for the erection, maintenance and operation of wind turbines;

(c) engage in other incidental business activities, including the generation of heat or electricity in whole or in part from by-products of any of the operations of the Commission set out in clause (a) and the provision of contract services to persons located outside the Regional Municipality, so long as such activities are carried out without subsidy from any of the operations of the Commission set out in clause (a) and relate to the provision of water, wastewater or stormwater services, and for the purpose of this clause exercise any of the powers set out in clause (b).

(4) The amount or amounts in an agreement made pursuant to subsection (3) must be paid as

(a) a grant in lieu of taxes on taxable assets pursuant to Section 92 of the Charter regardless of whether the amount is calculated by reference to a formula that includes non-taxable assets; or

(b) a dividend.

(5) Any amount payable pursuant to subsection (3) is subject to review and approval by the Board.

27A The Commission is not liable for nuisance as a result of the construction or operation of any work owned or operated by it, including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, any water system, stormwater system or wastewater facilities, if the nuisance could not be avoided by any other practically feasible method of constructing or operating the work.