(a) Any county is authorized to create one (1) or more rural waterworks facilities boards and to empower each board to own, acquire, construct, reconstruct, extend, equip, improve, operate, maintain, sell, lease, contract concerning, or otherwise deal in or dispose of, waterworks facilities and wastewater facilities or any interest in such facilities, including, without limitation, leasehold interests in and mortgages on such facilities.
(b) Boards created under this subchapter are not administrative boards under the County Government Code, § 14-14-101 et seq.
(c) Any public facility board created under the Public Facilities Boards Act, § 14-137-101 et seq., or its predecessor, for the purpose of operating a waterworks facility and/or a wastewater facility, and which is in existence on July 28, 1995, may petition the quorum court which created the board to grant the board all the powers conveyed by this chapter, and if the quorum court adopts an ordinance to that effect, the powers and authority granted under this chapter shall be applicable to that public facilities board, and it shall thereafter be governed exclusively by the provisions of this chapter and none other.