Chap. 331.—An ACT to amend and re-enact chapter 447 of acts 1899-1900,
entitled an act to provide for working and keeping in repair the public
roads and bridges, and to regulate the manner of opening new roads in the
county of Montgomery.

Approved February 16, 1901.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That chapter
four hundred and forty-seven of the acts of eighteen hundred and
ninety-nine and nineteen hundred, relating to the publie roads and
bridges in Montgomery county, be amended and re-enacted so as to read
as follows:

§ 1. The board of supervisors of Montgomery county shall annually
levy a tax for road purposes only upon the property. real and personal,
assessed with taxation in the several magisterial districts of the county,

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not to exceed forty cents on every one hundred dollars of such real and
personal property, which shall be collected and accounted for by the
county treasurer, and paid out on the warrant of said board as if it was
the county levy; but the tax so levied and collected in cach district shall
be kept separate by the said treasurer, and be used and applied exclu-
sively in that respective district, except the tax on railroads, telephone,
and telegraph companies shall be divided equally among the four dis-
tricts. .

§ 2. There shall be appointed by the county court, at the March term
thereof, in nineteen hundred and one, or as soon thereafter as possible,
and every two years thereafter, two road commissioners for each district,
who shall be residents of said district, and shall hold their office for two
years, unless sooner removed for malfeasance or neglect of duty. When-
ever a road commissioner dies, resigns, removes from his district, or is
removed from oflice, the county court or the judge thereof, in vacation,
shall appoint a successor for the unexpired term. They shall constitute
the road commission of that district, and shall, before entering upon
the discharge of their duties, qualify before the county court, or judge
thereof, in vacation, by taking and subscribing the oath prescribed by
law for all officers of this state. ‘The said road commission shall have
general supervision over all the roads and bridges in their respective dis-
tricts. ‘hey shall appoint as many road foremen as shall be necessary,
but shall not assign to any one road foreman exceeding twenty-five miles
of road.

§ 3. It shall be the duty of said road foreman to oversce and direct his
foree of hands in the performance of their duty, and in addition to such
overseeing and direction, shall also perform such manual labor as he
imposes upon his hands, and for all of such service he shall be entitled to
compensation at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per day of ten
hours each, but not to exceed thirty dollars per month, if said foreman is
employed by the month. The road foreman shall employ as many hands
and teams as shall be necessary to keep his roads in such repair as may
be prescribed by the commissioner of roads. The pay of the hands so
employed shall be seventy-five cents per day of ten hours, and for a two-
horse team with plow or wagon, and driver, two dollars and twenty-five
cents per day; but no road commissioner or road foreman shall be allowed
to use his own team. The road foreman shall keep a strict itemized ac-
count, on forms provided for that purpose, of the time actually worked
by himself and his hands, and render an account of same to the road
commissioners at such times as they may require, and at least every
six months, making affidavit to the correctness of said account before
some ollicer; the road commissioners shall examine carefully said ac-
count, and if found to be correct, approve the same and report it to the
meeting of the board of supervisors fixed for auditing road claims, and
when so presented and approved the board shall allow said claims and
issue warrants to each person entitled to pay, for the amounts due them.
respectively.

§ 4. The county court shall have the power to remove road commis-
sioners for cause after notice. Road commissioners shall have power to
remove road foremen at any time and appoint others in their places. ‘The
road foremen shall have full control over their hands, and may discharge
them at any time and employ others.

$5. The road commissioners shall be allowed two dollars per day for
actual time emploved; but the compensation of said commissioners shall
not exceed forty dollars in any one year. In addition to duties above
imposed, it shall be the duty of each road commissioner to see that the
roads in his district are kept of necessary width, well drained, and
rounded up in the centre, free from loose stones and other impediments
to travel, and secure from the falling of timber thereon; and when such
danger is apparent shall order the trees cut and removed; and when and
wherever the roads are not of lawful width, shall order the foreman to
remove all fences and other obstructions. Le shall see that all bridges
are kept in proper repair. He shall cause to be placed and kept at the
fork and crossing of every road a sign-board, on which shall be stated,
in plain letters, the most noted places to which each road leads, and the
distance; and across every stream, where it is necessary and practicable,
a suflicient bridge, bench or log for the accommodation of foot passengers.

§ 6. All petitions or motions for the establishment or altering of roads
and the building of bridges, snall first be made to the county court, the
petitioner setting out fully and clearly, in writing, the length of the
road, what road or roads are to be altered or established. between what
points, the names of the land owners whose lands will be required, and
other matters necessary to inform the court fully as to such changes or
establishment, and if the court has reason to believe that the petition is
meritorious, it shall refer the same to the road commissioner of the dis-
tric in which same is asked to be established. altered, or built for its
approval or disapproval, said commission shall act in all respects as
viewers, under sections nine hundred and forty-seven and nine hundred
and forty-eight of code, and after investigating the matter return their
report in writing to court, giving all the information necessary to enable
the court to have an adequate apprehension of the matter, and, when
necessary, the board may employ a civil engineer, whose compensation
per day of time actually employed shall be agreed upon beforehand by
the commission. They shall return with the report a diagram of the
proposed alteration or new road or bridge. The report may be excepted
to by any tax-payers, and the court, at its discretion, may hear evidence.
and if the opinion of the court be against the alteration or the estab-
lishment of the new road or building of the bridge, the petition or motion
shall be dismissed; but if favorable to the establishment or altering of
the road or building of the bridge, then the land-owners whose lands
will be taken therefor, shall be duly summoned to show cause why the
report of the board shall not be confirmed, and the further proceedings,
if any, shall be prescribed in like cases by the general road law of the
state.

§ 7%. The board of supervisors of said county shall have power to ad-
journ to a certain day in the spring and fall for the sole purpose of
auditing the road claims, and for the extra service under this act the
board of supervisors shall, in addition to their pay as now allowed, be
entitled to two dollars per day for services hereby imposed, to be paid
out of road fund.

$8. When the court decides in favor of opening a new road or alter-
ing a road or building a bridge or makes an order for additional expendi-
ture for material and labor, as provided by section nine hundred and
eighty-seven of code, the board of supervisors, in its discretion, shall de-
termine by what districts and in what proportions the expenses shall be
paid.

& 9, All costs attending the petition for the opening or altering of
roads or the building of bridges, including costs of survevor and chain-
carrier, when they are emploved, shall, when the petitioners do not
prevail, be at the costs of the parties petitioning for the same, and upon
the dismissal of the petition the whole of the costs shall be taxed ayainst
the petitioners, and the clerk of the county court shall issue execution
for the same as in other cases when there is a judgment for costs in favor
of the county. Where the road or bridge is established or the road
altered, the costs shall be paid out of the road fund.

$10. The attorney for the commonwealth for the county shall appear
before the court, and when requested by the road commission before it
also, on all petitions for opening new reads or altering or changing
established roads or building bridges, to represent the county in all such
proceedings.

$11. If the road board of any district, or the board of supervisors.
shall neglect to perform any of the duties required of them by this act,
the county court may, upon the application of any citizen and tax-paver.
by mandamus, compel said boards, or either of them, to perforin said
duties. Every officer who shall violate or neglect to perform any duty
required by this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction thereof, may be fined not less than ten nor more than fifty
dollars.

$12. When a road is opened or altered the court shall require the
clerk to record the report in full, together with the survevor’s report, in
a well-bound book kept for that purpose in the clerk’s office, and index
same.

§ 13. Any citizen or tax-paver shall have the right to examine the
books, reports and accounts, required by section three of this act. and if
the same is found to be incorrect, erroneous or improper, the party or
parties at fault shall be proceeded against and shall be punished as pro-
vided in section eleven of this act.

§ 14. The general road Jaw of this state, except so far as it is in con-
flict with this act. shall be in full force in the county of Montgomery.
and all special road laws for the said county heretofore enacied are hereby
repealed.

§ 15. This act shall be in force from its passage.