Chap. 108.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act to provide for creating,
working, and maintaining public roads in Fairfax county, and defining the
boundaries of the same, approved March 14, 1904.

Approved March 8, 1906.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the improve-
ment. maintenance, construction, and all other administrative control of
all the roads in Fairfax county, are hereby vested in a county road board
of seven members, consisting of the county surveyor as member and ex-
officio chairman, and of the six road commissioners hereinafter named
and provided. ‘The county road board shall be a body politic and cor-
porate, and may sue and be sued. The word as herein used shall be held
to include all public roads, thoroughfares, turnpikes, highways, and the
bridges thereon.

2. Each of the six magisterial districts of Fairfax county, exclusive of
organized incorporated towns, shall constitute a road district, and shall
have a road commissioner, who shall be a freeholder and registered voter,
residing within the geographical limits of such district. Hach road com-
missioner shall be elected by the qualified voters of their respective magis-
terial districts at the regular election immediately preceding the expira-
tion of the terms of office of their predecessors; shall qualify before the
clerk thereof, and shall hold office for a term of three years, or an unex-
pired portion thereof, or until his successor qualifies, but it is now pro-
vided that D. S. Beach, from Lee magisterial district; R. L. Harrison,
from Dranesville magisterial district; R. H. Shepherd, from Mount Ver-
non magisterial district; Henry M. Byrne, from Falls Church magisterial
district; E. M. Pitman, from Centreville magisterial district, and D. B.
Elgin, from Providence magisterial district, heretofore appointed and
qualifying as road commissioners from said magisterial districts, pur-
suant to the provisions of section three of the act approved May twen-
tieth, nineteen hundred and three, entitled “an act to amend and re-enact
chapter seventy-three of the acts of the general assembly of Virginia, ap-
proved April twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, entitled
an act to amend an act for working the public roads of Fairfax county, as
amended by acts approved February seventeenth, eighteen hundred and
ninety, February twenty-second, eighteen hundred and ninety, February
twentieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, February second, eighteen
hundred and ninety-eight, and January twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred,
are recognized and are now confirmed as such, and shall and do now con-
stitute the first six road commissioners under this act, to serve as follows :
E. M. Pitman and R. H. Shepherd, till the first day of January, nineteen
hundred and five; B. B. Elgin and Henry M. Byrne, till the first day of
January, nineteen hundred and six, and R. L. Harrison and I. S. Beach.
till the first day of January, nineteen hundred and seven.

3. The clerk of the county, or his deputy, shall act as clerk of the
county road board, and shall preserve in his office records of all proceed-
ings, including all expenditures authorized, and plats of all roads as they
may from time to time be defined, and shall receive therefor such compen-
sation as may be fixed by the said county road board.

4. The county treasurer shall disburse all road funds on the warrant
of the ex-officio chairman of the county road board, when such chairman
is properly bonded, and for collecting and disbursing’ shall receive such
compensation as shall be fixed by the board of supervisors. He shall at
stated periods advise the county road board of the condition of the road
fund. No warrant shall, without the written authority of the board of
supervisors, be drawn in excess of available road funds.

5. The county road board shall hold an annual meeting in January of
each year, and such other regular and special meetings as may be neces-
sary. It shall at least once each year recommend to the board of super-
visors levies for road purposes. It shall classify the roads of the county,
adopt economical, progressive, and uniform standards for the construc-
tion and maintenance of each class, authorize and scrutinize expenditures
of the road funds, make special inspections of the roads, and at least once
a year examine the accounts of its chairman, with his vouchers, and audit
the same. These accounts shall he certified to the board of supervisors,
who shall again audit, and then publish in full in a county newspaper.

6. The chairman of the county road board shall preside at its meetings,
call special meetings when necessary, prepare plans, estimates and specifi-
cations, make frequent inspections of all the roads and of all work being
done, do all the surveying and engineering necessary for road work, in-
cluding surveying of proposed roads, and perform such other duties in
connection with the roads as the county road board may direct. He shall
receive therefor such compensation as may be fixed by the board of
supervisors. He shall, at the expense of the county, give bond before the
cireuit court for the faithful performance of his duties in such sum as
may be fixed by the board of supervisors. But it is now provided that
the bond for fifteen thousand dollars, given by Joseph Berry, county sur-
veyor, together with the Fidelity and Deposit company of Maryland, be-
fore the circuit court of Fairfax county, on June fifth, nineteen hundred
and three, pursuant to section seven of the said act approved May twen-
ticth, nineteen hundred and three, is now affirmed, and during the period
for which said bond was given, is now recognized as a sufficient com-
pliance with the requirements of this section.

7. Each road commissioner shall, under the direction of the county
road board, and of its chairman, have charge of the roads in his district.
He shall make frequent inspections of the roads and of the work being
done. He shall receive therefor, and for his duties as a member of the
county road board, such compensation, not less than two dollars per day
when actually employed, as may be fixed by the board of supervisors, for
not to exceed one hundred days in each year.

8. As far as practicable, all road work shall be let by contract by the
county road board after a public opening of sealed proposals, invited by
public notice ; and all works shall be carefully inspected by the chairman
or by the commissioner of the district affected.

9. New roads in the districts herein created may be opened, and existing
roads may be closed, widened, changed or defined by order of the circuit
court for Fairfax county, as provided by general road law, except when
the same is in conflict with this act. All applications in reference to
roads shall be referred to the county surveyor and two members of the
road board, to be selected by said county surveyor, in the place and stead
of viewers under section nine hundred and forty-five of the Code of eigh-
teen hundred and eighty-seven, who shall report to the court, as provided
by sections nine hundred and forty-seven and nine hundred and forty-
eight of said Code, and the proceedings on said report shall be as provided
by sections nine hundred and forty-nine, nine hundred and fifty, nine
hundred and fifty-one, nine hundred and fifty-three, nine hundred and
fifty-four, and nine hundred and fifty-five. When the court decides in
favor of establishing or altering any road or landing, before ordering the
road or alteration, or making any order involving the expenditure of any
money by the said road board for the county, it shall finally determine
the amount of expenditure to be made, and by its order set forth the
same in detail and certify the same and all papers to the said road board.
The said road board shall determine by a recorded vote whether or not
the expenditure shall be made by it, and unless a majority of the mem-
bers present shall vote in favor of the same, the expenditure shall not be
made. So soon as the board has acted it shall cause its action to be
certified to the court, and if a majority of the members present are in
favor of the expenditure the court shall direct the said road board to
proceed with the work, otherwise the court shall not direct the work to be
done. No reference in the matter shall be made to the board of super-
visors. No new road shall be opened less than thirty feet wide. All
road cases now pending in the circuit court of Fairfax county in which no
order has been made directing the expenditure of road money for the cost
of opening, land damages, or costs, shall, before any such order is made
involving the expenditure of any of the road fund, be referred by said
court to the road board in accordance with the provisions of this section
for determination of said board whether the expenditure shall be made.

10. The said road board is hereby authorized to ascertain the bounda-
ries of any public road in said county, to have made a diagram or plat of
said road, and to erect suitable monuments to define the same. That
after three years from the date of the erection of such monument provided
for in this section the boundaries of any such road shall not be brought in
«juestion in any proceedings, and at the expiration of such period the said
road board shall have a diagram or plat of such road recorded in a book
to be kept for that purpose. Whenever there is any controversy or un-
certainty as to the existence or as to the limits or boundaries of anv
public road in Fairfax county, or any part thereof, the circuit court of
said county shall have jurisdiction upon a bill filed by the county road
board of said county as complainants against one or all or any inter-
mediate number of the landowners whose interests may be involved or
affected as defendants, to hear and settle any and all questions relating to
the existence and limits and boundaries of such road, and to determine
whether the same is in fact a public road, and what are the true limits and
boundaries thereof, in whole or in part, and its decree shall bind those who
are privies or parties to the proceedings. In any such case, when it is de-
termined that a public road exists and what are the limits and boundaries
thereof as aforesaid, the court shall direct that a diagram or plat showing
the same he recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose, and the said
road board shall cause the said limits and boundaries to be marked bv
suitable monuments.

11. The board of supervisors shall levy annually a district road tax of
not less than twenty cents on the one hundred dollars’ valuation of all
taxable property, which, when collected, the county treasurer, upon the
warrant of the ex-officio chairman of the county road board, shall disburse
as hereinbefore provided. ‘The road fund of each district shall be kept
separate, and shall be applied exclusively in such district: provided, that
cach annual district fund in the proportion that it bears to the total
annual road fund of the county and districts may be drawn upon for the
expenses of the county read board, for the purchase of utensils for use in
all of the districts, or for any expenditure the benefits of which are
shared by all the districts: and provided, further, that the road fund in
any district may in such proportion as may be fixed by the county road
hoard, be drawn upon for its proportionate share of expenditure made
jointly with an adjacent district.

12. The board of supervisors, after settling road accounts now out-
standing, shall allot to the county board, and have placed to the credit of
its ex-officio chairman with the county treasurer, such portion of the
county levy as can be spared for road purposes: and also now and each
year hereafter at least one-fourth of the general county levy shall be so
allotted, and when collected so credited for road purposes; and, in addi-
tion, now and cach year hereafter, such further amount from the said
county levy as the board of supervisors, in its discretion, orders, can
reasonably be spared from the balance to the credit of said county levy
after the annual settlement with the county treasurer.

13. The commissioner of any district may take from any convenient
land so much wood, stone, gravel, or earth as may be necessary to be used
in the construction or repairing of any road, bridge or causeway therein.
and may for the purpose of draining the road cause a ditch to be cut
through any lands adjoining the same: provided, such wood and other
ucles be not taken from, and such ditch be not cut through, any lot in
own, yard, or garden without the consent of the owner.

14. If the owner or tenant of any such lands shall think himself in-
red thereby, a justice, upon application, shall issue a warrant to threc
eholders, requiring them to view the said land and ascertain what is a
st compensation to such owner or tenant for the damage to him by
ason of anything done under the preceding section. The said free-
Iders, after being sworn, shall accordingly ascertain such compensation
id report the same, with the costs, to the county road board for pay-
ent. But if either the landowner or the road board are dissatisfied
ith the said award, they can have all papers filed with the clerk of the
reuit court, who shall docket the same, and thereupon either party can
e exceptions to said award, and for good cause shown the court can set
e same aside and refer the matter to three other disinterested freehold-
s, who shall ascertain such compensation and report the same to the
urt, such report to be proceeded with in the same manner as before,
1d the amount finally determined upon shall be paid by the treasurer out
' the road fund in his hands.

15. The offices of road superintendent, or road surveyor, or road over-
er, and of road commissioners, except as herein provided and specified,
e, for Fairfax county, hereby abolished. All records, books, utensils,
id other road property shall be promptly turned over to the county sur-
yor. The county treasurer shall settle any outstanding road fund
counts in each district and place any balance due by same to the credit
f the corresponding road district herein created.

16. All acts or portions of acts inconsistent with or rendered unneces-
iry by this act are hereby repealed.

17. ‘This act is an emergency act, and takes effect from its passage.