CnChap. 19.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Elba, Pittsylvania county.

Approved February 2, 1901.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Elba, in
Pittsylvania county, as the same is now, and shall hereafter be, is hereby
made a town corporate by the name of Elba, and by that name shall have
and exercise all the powers conferred on towns of less than five thousand
inhabitants by the Code of Virginia, and to all laws now in force, or
which may hereafter be enacted, in reference to towns of less than five
thousand inhabitants, so far as the same are not inconsistent with the
provisions of this act.

2. The limits of said town shall extend one-half a mile in every direc-
tion from the present station and depot of the Southern railway at said
place.
3. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor and six
councilmen, and such other officers as may be provided for by the mayor
and council. J. Lee Hunter is hereby appointed mayor thereof, and T.
C. Creasy, B. R. Powell, L. H. Spencer, J. M. White, R. T. Ramsey and
TD. H. Barbour are hereby appointed councilmen thereof. The council-
men shall serve without pay; and the said mayor and councilmen shall
have and exercise all the powers hereinafter granted to said officers, and
shall continue in office until the fourth Thursday in May, nineteen htun-
dred and two, and thereafter until their successors shall be elected and
qualified according to law, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business. The mayor and councilmen shall consti-
tute the town council.

4. The election for mayor and councilmen shall be held on the fourth
‘hursday in May, nineteen hundred and two, and on the fourth Thurs-
div in May in every second year thereafter. Such election shall be held
at a designated place in said town, and conducted under the supervision
of three commissioners appointed by the council for the purpose. Within
two days after any election has been held under this act, the commission-
ers who conducted the same shall certify the names of the persons elected
to the clerk of the county court of Pittsylvania county, and to the officers
elected, which certificate shall be entered among the records of said
county and corporation.

5. In all elections for the officers of this corporation, all persons who
are, by the laws of this State, entitled to vote for members of the general
assembly, and who shall have resided in the said town for three months
next preceding the day of election then to be held, shall be entitled to
vote; but before being entitled so to vote they shall register before the
registrar of said town, who shall be appointed by the judge of the county
court of Pittsylvania county, in vacation or in term, before each regular
election in said town.

6. The persons to be elected under the provisions of this act shall be
inhabitants of said town; and it shall be their duty, on or before the first
day of July next after their election, to take and subscribe the oaths re-
quired by law, to be taken by county and district oflicers before a justice
of the peace or notary public of Pittsylvania county, and they shall enter
upon the discharge of their duties as such officers on the first day of July
next after their election, and hold office for a term of two years and
until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified; the oaths
taken and subscribed under this section shall be filed with the records of
said town, and the fact of their being taken shall also be certified and
recorded as provided by section one hundred and seventy-five of the Code
of Virginia.

7. ‘The mayor of said town shall take care that the ordinances, resolu-
tions and by-laws of the town are faithfully executed. He shall be ex-
officio a conservator of the peace within the said town, and shall, within
the same, exercise all the powers and dutics vested by law in justices of
the peace in civil cases. He shall have power to render judgment and
issue executions in all matters wherein he has jurisdiction by reason of
the authority vested in him under this act: and in all matters where it
may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes of this act, said town
authorities shall have the right to use the jail of Pittsylvania county, but
shall pay said county for the use thereof, except in commonwealth cases.

8. ‘Che mayor and three councilmen, or, in the absence of the mayor,
any four councilmen, shall constitute a quorum to do business. ‘The
mayor shall preside at the meetings of the council. In his absence the
council shall select one of their number to preside, and the proceedings:
shall be signed by the person presiding.

9. The town council shall cause to be kept in a journal an accurate
account of all its proceedings, which shall be open to the inspection of
any person residing in said town. The mayor shall not have a vote as
a member of said council, except in case of a tie, in which event he shall
have the casting vote. Said council shall elect a clerk, who shall attend
the meetings of said council, keep a journal of its proceedings, preserve
the records of the town, and perform such other duties as the council
may prescribe.

10. Tt shall be the duty of the town council, at their first mecting
after their appointment or election, or as soon thereafter as practicable.
to appoint a sergeant. who shall hold his oflice during the term of the
council which elected him, and until his successor is duly elected and
quilified, and who shall, within the limits of said town, have the powers
and be subject to all the laws applicable to constables by the laws of
this State and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. The
town council shall require of said sergeant a bond in such penalty and
with such conditions and sureties as it may prescribe, which bond shall
he filed with the records of said town, and a copy thereof be certified by
the mayor, recorded in the bond-books of the county court of Pittsylva-
nia county; and the said sergeant shall take and subscribe the oaths re-
quired by the town council before entering upon the duties of his office.

11. It shall be Jawful for said council to make and pass orders, by-
laws, ordinances and resolutions for the government of said town, so the
same be not contrary to the laws and constitution of this State and of the
United States; and for the violation of the same to prescribe reasonable
fines.

12. To mect any expenses that may be necessary and chargeable to said
town for any purpose, the town council may, at such times as it may deem
proper, levy a town levy of so much as, in its opinion, may be necessary
upon all property in said town not exempt from taxation by the laws of
this State; that such tax levies on all property shall not exceed twenty-
five cents on every hundred dollars of the assessed value of the property
in the town in any one year.

13. The town sergeant shall have the power to collect the town taxes
fines and levies, and one month after the time he shall have received the
Look of the assessor of said town to distrain and sell therefor in like man-
ner, as now provided by law for the collection of taxes, and shall have the
same powers as constables and county treasurers to enforce the collection
and payment of such taxes, fines and levies, and executions issued by the
mayor in civil causes: and such sergeant may, at any time. be removed by
said council for any neglect or default in duty or for failure to properly
account for any money in his hands, as the council may direct.

J4. There shall be a lien on all real estate for town taxes and levies
assessed thereon from the commencement of the year from which they
are assessed; and the town council may order and require real estate
within said corporate limits, delinquent for the non-payment of town
taxes, to be rented by the sergeant at public auction, and at some place
in said town, for the arrears with six per centum interest and the surplus,
if any, shall be paid to the person entitled thereto; but before offering
such delinquent real estate for rent, the time, terms and place of rent-

g, the amount due thereon, and the person in whose name the same is
charged, shall be advertised by posting notices at the front door of the
court-house of Pittsylvania county, and at three or more public places in
said town for at least thirty days.

15. The persons named in the third section of this act shall, imme-
diately after their appointment hereunder, take the oath of office required
by section six of this act; and if any fail so to qualify, those who do sa
qualify shall appoint other inhabitants from said town in their room and
stead.

16. The town council may levy a tax or license to agents of insurance
companies, to theatricals or other performances or shows; to keepers of
billiard or pool-tables, or ten-pin alleys; or other persons engaging in
any other business for which a license may be required by the laws of
this State.

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17. This act shall be in force from its passage.