247.217.  Consolidation, procedure, petition, notice — subdistricts, how formed — election — directors, terms, eligibility — property, how handled. — 1.  Any two or more contiguous public water supply districts organized under the provisions of sections 247.010 to 247.220 may be consolidated into a single district by a decree of the circuit court in which the district with the largest acreage was originally incorporated and organized.

  2.  Proceedings for consolidation of such districts shall be substantially as follows:  The board of directors of each of the districts to be consolidated shall authorize, by resolution passed at a regular meeting or a special meeting called for such purpose, its president, on behalf of the district, to petition the circuit court having jurisdiction for consolidation with any one or more other contiguous public water supply districts.

  3.  Such petition shall be filed in the circuit court having jurisdiction and the court shall set a date for a hearing thereon and the clerk shall give notice thereof in some newspaper of general circulation in each county in which each of the districts proposed to be consolidated is located.

  4.  Such notice shall be substantially as follows:

  5.  The notice shall be published in three consecutive issues of a weekly newspaper in each county in which any portion of any district proposed to be consolidated lies, or in lieu thereof, in twenty consecutive issues of a daily newspaper in each county in which any portion of any district proposed to be consolidated lies; the last insertion of such notice to be made not less than seven nor more than twenty-one days before the hearing.

  6.  The court, for good cause shown, may continue the case or the hearing thereon from time to time until final disposition thereof.

  7.  Exceptions or objections to the consolidation of such districts may be made by any voter or landowner within the boundaries of the proposed district.  The exceptions or objections shall be in writing and shall specify the grounds upon which the same are made and shall be filed not later than five days before the date set for hearing the petition.  If any such exceptions or objections are filed, the court shall take them into consideration in passing upon the petition for consolidation and shall also consider the evidence in support of the petition.  If the court finds that the consolidation will provide for the rendering of necessary water service in the districts, and is in the best interest of the voters and the landowners of the district, it shall, by its decree, approve such consolidation.  The decree of consolidation shall set an effective date for the consolidation of the districts and shall provide that the proposed consolidated district shall be divided into five subdistricts and shall fix boundary lines of each subdistrict, all of which subdistricts shall have approximately the same area and shall be numbered.

  8.  The decree of consolidation shall not become final and conclusive until it has been submitted to voters in each of the districts proposed to be included in the consolidated district.

  9.  If, upon canvass and declaration of the results, it is found and determined that the question has been assented to by a majority of the voters of each district voting on the question, the court shall issue its order declaring the results of the elections, declaring its previous decree of consolidation to be final and conclusive, and in addition, the decree shall provide for an election of a director from each of the subdistricts set forth in the decree of the court as specified in subsection 7 of this section.  The terms of office for the directors elected at such election shall be as follows:  The director elected from the subdistrict designated by the circuit court as number one shall serve until the next regular election, or until his successor has been elected and qualified; those directors elected from the subdistricts designated by the circuit court as numbers two and three shall serve until the regular election following the next regular election or until their successors have been elected and qualified; those directors elected from the subdistricts designated by the circuit court as numbers four and five shall serve until the annual regular election following the next two regular elections, or until their successors have been elected and qualified.  Thereafter all directors shall be elected as provided by sections 247.010 to 247.220.  The election shall be held at least thirty days before the effective date of the consolidation.  The returns shall be certified by the judges and clerks of election to the circuit court having jurisdiction and the court shall thereupon enter its order naming the directors from each subdistrict.

  10.  The eligibility and requirements for a director for a consolidated district shall be identical with those set forth in section 247.060 and no two members of the board shall reside in the same subdistrict.  Any candidate shall have his name imprinted upon the ballot, provided he shall file a declaration of intention to become such a candidate with the clerk of the circuit court.

  11.  In its final decree, the court shall designate a name for the consolidated district which shall be as follows: Consolidated Public Water Supply District No. ______, of ______ County, Missouri.

  12.  On the effective date of the consolidation of the districts, the newly elected directors shall organize in the same manner as is provided in sections 247.010 to 247.220, and all of such provisions shall apply to consolidated public water supply districts in the same manner as to other public water supply districts.

  13.  At the time of the effective date of the consolidation, all the property of the original districts shall be combined and administered as one unit, which shall be subject to the liens, liabilities and obligations of the original districts, provided that if any district included in the consolidated district has issued general obligation bonds which are outstanding at the time of the consolidation, any taxes to be levied to pay the bonds and interest thereon shall be levied only upon the property within the original district issuing the bonds as it existed on the date of such issuance.  All special obligation or revenue bonds issued by any district included in the consolidated district shall be paid in accordance with the terms thereof, without preference, from the revenue received by the consolidated district.

  14.  A certified copy of the decrees of the court shall be filed in the office of the recorder and in the office of the county clerk in each county in which any part of the consolidated district is located, and in the office of the secretary of state.  Such copies shall be filed by the clerk of the circuit court and the filing fees shall be taxed as costs.