Chap. 273.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Potomac, in the county of
Alexandria.

Approved March 13, 1908.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the here-
inafter described territory, in the county of Alexandria, shall be, and
the same is, hereby declared a town corporate, under the name and
style of the town of Potomac, and by that name and style shall have
and exercise the powers hereinafter granted.

2. The boundaries of the said town shall be within the following
described limits: Beginning at the north intersection of Bellefont
avenue in the sub-division of Del Ray with the Washington and Alex-
andria turnpike; thence northerly along the west side of said turn-
pike to the old Georgetown road, the same being the northern boundary
of the sub-division of St. Elmo; thence westerly along the south side
of said Georgetown road to the dividing line between Susan P. A.
Calvert and Charles E. Wood; thence westerly along said line of Cal-
vert and Wood to the west line of the Washington, Alexandria and
Mount Vernon Railway company; thence following the said west line of
the said Washington, Alexandria and Mount Vernon Railway company
to its intersection with Lloyd’s lane and Bellefont avenue, to the be-
ginning.

3. The government of the said town shall be vested in a mayor
and a council of six, to be chosen bi-annually, by ballot, on the second
Tuesday in June, the first election hereunder to be held on the second
Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and eight, and every second year
thereafter. Any person entitled to vote at the November, nineteen
hundred and seven, general election in Alexandria county, and residing
within the corporate limits of the town of Potomac, and who shall
register as a voter in said town as required by law, shall be entitled to
vote at the first election. hereunder, and to hold any office under said
act of incorporation.

+. Said mayor and councilmen shall meet on the first day of Sep-
tember next succeeding their election, and organize. The mayor shall at
said meeting appoint, by and with the consent and approval of a ma-
jority of said council, such committees as the said council may deem
necessary, from time to time, to carry out the purposes of the in-
corporation. Said officers shall hold their respective offices for two
years, or until their successors have been elected and qualified. Said
officers shall qualify by taking the oath of office prescribed by law before
the clerk, or other person authorized to administer oaths; and they may
be removed from office by a unanimous vote of the council on proof of
misdemeanor. All the officers shall serve without compensation, ex-
cept as hereinafter provided. Said council shall appoint its own time
of meeting. Four members shall constitute a quorum; and any vacancy
existing among any of the officers of the corporation shall be filled by
the said council. It shall be the duty of the said council to fix annually
at their first meeting in September, the amount of tax to be levied upon
the real and personal property within the limits of the said town for
the ensuing twelve months.

5. The mayor shall be the presiding officer of the council, but shall
have no vote except in case of a tie; and he shall have the jurisdiction
and authority of a justice of the peace of Alexandria county in criminal
offenses within the corporate limits of said town, and he shall have
concurrent jurisdiction with the peace officers of Alexandria county
over offenses committed within a mile limit of said town.

6. In addition to the above named officers, there shall be elected
bi-annually, by the qualified voters of said town, a clerk, a town ser-
geant, and a treasurer.

The clerk shall keep a correct record of all the proceedings of council ;
shall provide the books and stationery therefor; make out the certi-
ficates of election; make out a list of property to be assessed, real and
personal, within the corporate limits, and assess the same at the same
valuation placed thereupon at the next preceding assessment made
by the assessor of Alexandria county, or the commissioner of revenue
of Alexandria county; shall issue tickets for the taxes voted by the
council, which tax he shall deliver to the town seregant when ordered
by the council; and he shall have power to administer the oath of office
to any of the town officers. For said services he shall be allowed an-
nually a certain sum to be named by the council.

The town sergeant shall have the power and authority of any con-
stable or collector in Alexandria county within the corporate limits of
said town and shall be entitled to the same fees, and he shall be clothed
with all the powers of a special officer within a mile limit of said town.
He shall collect and pay to the treasurer, all taxes levied by the council,
and shall take the treasurer’s receipt therefor; for such collection he
shall receive three (3) per centum of such money so collected and paid
over, the same to be allowed and paid by the council. He shall perform
all the duties of overseer of the roads and streets within the corpo-
ration, excepting those hereinafter mentioned, in accordance with the
laws of this State. For his services as overseer of said roads and streets,
he shall be allowed monthly, a certain sum to be named by the council
in accordance with services rendered by him in performing such duty.
Said council and sergeant shall have all the power and perform all
the duties belonging to overseer of roads under the special road law for
Alexandria county within the corporate limits of said town, except
upon such roads and streets as are now, or may hereafter be, declared
public roads by the board of supervisors of Alexandria county. The
town sergeant shall before he enters upon the duties of his office, execute
a bond in a penalty of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00),
with surety, for the faithful performance of his duties, which bond
shall be approved by the council and filed with the clerk.

The treasurer shall receive and deposit in some national bank to
be designated by the council, money paid for taxes voted by the council
and collected by the town sergeant, giving to the said town sergeant
his receipt therefor. He shall pay out the money of the town in his
custody on a warrant of the mayor and clerk certifying that it is done
by order of the council. The treasurer shall, before he enters upon the
duties of his office, execute a bond in a penalty of not less than two
thousand dollars ($2,000.00) with surety, for the faithful performance
of his duties, which bond shall be approved by the council and filed
with the clerk.

%. The council shall have the power to mark accurately the bounds
of existing streets, to lay off new streets, alleys and sidewalks; to pro-
vide for order and quiet, and the observance of the Sabbath within the
corporation ; to provide and protect shade trees; to establish a fire de-
partment with suitable and necessary conveniences; to regulate in
reference to contagious diseases; to pass ordinances to carry into effect
the object of this incorporation and to punish the violation of the same
by fine and imprisonment.

8. The council may annually levy a tax for street and corporation
purposes on all personal property and on each lot or tract of land and
the improvements thereon, in the said town, which on no property, lot,
or tract, or the improvements thereon, shall exceed the sum of fifty
cents on the hundred dollars valuation, the same to be determined by
the valuation placed thereon by the assessor of Alexandria county, or
by the commissioner of revenue, at the next preceding assessment.

9. All taxes and assessments, whether general or special, levied upon
any property in the said town under the provisions of this act are
hereby declared to constitute a lien on such property, and shall be paid
to the town treasurer when due, but if they be not so paid, and if the
town treasurer has not been able, with due diligence, to collect the said
taxes and assessments by the first day of June of the succeeding year
next after the same were due, he shall, at the first meeting of the council
thereafter, make return upon oath of the said taxes and assessments
he has so failed to collect, and the property upon which said uncollected
taxes and assessments are due. And the clerk shall file with the clerk
of the circuit court of Alexandria county, on or before the first day of
‘July thereafter, a list showing all unpaid municipal taxes and assess-
ments, and the persons against whom the same are chargeable, whereupon
the said clerk of the circuit court shall enter such lists and index the
same, in a book to be furnished for such purposes by the town of Po-
tomac, in the name of the delinquent person, and such book shall be
a part of the records of his office; and thereupon, the council shall
have the right to proceed in the same manner against the property so
returned delinquent as the Commonwealth of Virginia has in similar
eases, and the clerk and treasurer of the town shall be clothed with the
same power and be subject to the same provisions of law as are given
to and govern clerks of circuit courts and treasurers of counties in like
cases; and in the sale of such delinquent property the clerk and treas-
urer of the town shall conform to the State law in such cases made
and provided in all particulars, except that the sale of such delinquent
property shall be made at such place in the town of Potomac as the
council shall from time to time designate, on the third Wednesday in
December next after the property is returned delinquent, as aforesaid.
The council shall fix a time, to conform with the State law in this case
made and provided, within which such property may be redeemed by
any person who has an interest in such property, or as creditor for such
person; and if there be a failure to redeem within the time prescribed
by law, the clerk of the said town shall make conveyance, with covenants
of special warranty, of the real estate so sold in the manner as now pro-
vided by law for the conveyance by clerks of courts of lands sold for
State and county taxes, and such conveyance shall operate to pass what-
ever title the party charged had in such property. The lien for town
taxes and levies, and any conveyance of property under this article,
shall be subject to the lien of any State and county taxes upon such
property.

10. In addition to the powers named hereinbefore, the said town and
its officers shall have all the powers and privileges and be subject to
all the restrictions provided by the general laws of this Commonwealth
for the government of towns and the powers of the officers of towns.

11. Until an election can be held under the provisions of this act,
the following named persons shall be the officers of the said town,
and shall hold office until their successors shall have been elected and
qualified: Mayor, J. E. Supplee; clerk, George W. Zachary; sergeant,
Richard H. Roberts; treasurer, Walter U. Varney; councilmen, William
E. Kidwell, Charles A. Campbell, H. H. Powell, W. T. Emerson, J. V.
Barrett and J. A. Carpenter.

12. The authorities of the said town shall have the use of the county
jail of Alexandria county until the said town shall have built one of
their own for the safe keeping of all persons who shall be sentenced
under the ordinances of the town, upon payment to the jailer of the
board and fees allowed by law for prisoners confined in jail.

13. That the officers hereinbefore named as the mayor and council-
men shall, as soon as practicable after the passage of this act, organize
as provided by section four of this act, and proceed to levy a tax as
provided herein, for the year 1908.

14. That nothing contained in this act shall be construed to exempt
persons or property real or personal within the corporate limits of
said town from the payment to the county of Alexandria of the taxes,
levies or assessments imposed, or levied, by said county for county
or district purposes upon the persons or property, real or personal,
within the corporate limits of said town. And it is hereby expressly
provided that all persons and all property, real and personal, within
the corporate limits of said town shall be and continue subject to all
taxes, levies and assessments heretofore imposed or levied and hereafter
to be imposed or levied by said county for county and district purposes,
and to pay the same to said county in the same manner and at the same
time, or times, as now required by law; provided, further, that the
said county of Alexandria shall maintain and keep in repair all ex-
isting county roads and all roads hereafter opened by authority of said
county within the corporate limits of said town.

15. To improve the sanitary conditions and to secure police protection
at once, an emergency exists and this act shall take effect from its
passage.