Authority of City to purchase or condemn property for levees, pumping stations, dams, etc.
Memphis Charter, art. 58, § 585
in effectSec. 585. - Authority of City to purchase or condemn property for levees, pumping stations, dams, etc.
For the purpose of enabling the City of Memphis to build and maintain a levee or levees along the river front and Bayou Gayoso and to build and equip pumping stations, dams, reservoirs, wells and locks for the purpose of protecting itself, its streets, property and sewer system, and in order to continue the efficiency of said sewer system so that the City may be enabled to properly provide for emptying the sewerage and surface drainage of the said City during high water, into the Mississippi or Wolf River, in order to that end and that the same may be accomplished, the City of Memphis is hereby authorized and empowered when it, the said City, shall deem it necessary, to purchase land for any or all of said purposes, and to take private property for such public use by condemning the same for said purpose or purposes. Said condemnation shall be had and made in the same manner as is now provided by law and ordinance for the condemnation of property for public use.
(Acts 1903, ch. 556, § 1)
Source: City of Memphis, Code of Ordinances and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/charter?nodeId=PTICHRELA_ART58DRIMGE_S585AUPUCOPRLEPUSTDAETFetched: 10/28/2026