Section 15-1907. Drainage improvement associations

1. There shall be in each drainage improvement district an association
  to  be  known by the name of the district, as ............. ............
  Drainage Improvement  Association.  It  shall  be  the  object  of  this
  association  to  represent  the  interests  of  its  members in drainage
  matters before the department and elsewhere and to serve as a channel of
  communication between the members thereof and the department. Each owner
  of land within the district, each lessee of such land  and  each  person
  who  has contracted to purchase such land shall be a member of and shall
  have an equal vote in the association. Such association  may  be  formed
  voluntarily as soon as the department has filed its first description of
  the  boundaries  of  the distrct. As soon as practicable after recording
  the final order creating a district, the association, if already formed,
  shall call a meeting of the members of the  association  and  perfect  a
  permanent organization.
    2.  If  no  association  has  been  formed,  the department may call a
  meeting for the purpose of forming such association and a representative
  of the department shall preside thereat until a  temporary  chairman  is
  elected.    Such  association shall adopt by-laws for the transaction of
  its business. The association shall choose  from  among  its  members  a
  president, secretary and executive committee and such other officers and
  committees  as  the  by-laws  may  provide.  It shall be the duty of the
  secretary to keep a list of the  members  and  their  addresses  and  to
  furnish  the  department with copies of such list on request. The annual
  meeting of the association shall be held during the month of February in
  each year, at which meeting  the  officers  shall  be  elected  and  the
  association   shall   determine   upon   the   drainage  maintenance  or
  construction work desired during the ensuing year.
    3. Immediately after the close of the annual meeting the secretary  of
  the  association  shall submit to the department a list of the names and
  addresses of the officers for the year and, if there be such,  petitions
  setting forth the desires of the association and of the members thereof.
    4.  To defray the costs of the necessary meetings, the association may
  collect dues or contributions from its members.