Chap. 167.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved February 2,
1901, entitled an act to incorporate the town of Elba, Pittsylvania county,
as amended by an act approved February 16, 1901. (H, B. 199.)

Approved March 21, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act to incorporate the town of Elba, Pittsylvania county, ap-
proved February second, nineteen hundred and one, as amended by
an act approved February sixteenth, nineteen hundred and one, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
Gretna in Pittsylvania county, as the same is now, and shall here-
after be, is hereby made a town corporate by the name of Gretna,
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.
Sec. 2. The limits of said town shall extend one-half mile in
every direction from the present station and depot of the Southern
railway at said place.

Sec. 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, T. H. Spencer, J. M.
White, R. T. Ramsey and D. H. Barbour are hereby appointed
councilmen thereof. The councilmen 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 hundred and one,
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 con-
stitute the town council.

Sec. 4. The election for mayor and councilmen shall be held on
the fourth Thursday in May, nineteen hundred and one, and on the
fourth Thursday in May in every second year thereafter. Such
election shall be held at a designated place in said town and con-
ducted 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 commissioners 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.

Sec. 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.

Sec. 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 required by law, to be taken by county and
district officers 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.

Sec. 7. The mayor of said town shall take care that the ordi-
nances, resolutions 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 duties
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.

Sec. 8. The 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 pre-
side, and the proceedings shall be signed by the person presiding.

Sec. 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.

Sec. 10. It shall be the duty of the town council, at their first
meeting after their appointment or election, or as soon thereafter
as practicable, to appoint a sergeant, who shall hold his office dur-
ing the term of the council which elected him, and until his suc-
cessor is duly elected and qualified, and who shall, within the limits
cof said town, have the powers and be subject to all the laws ap-
plicable 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 be 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 Pittsylvania
county; and the said sergeant shall take and subscribe the oaths
required by the town council before entering upon the duties of
his office.

Sec. 11. It shall be lawful 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 Constitu-
tion of this State, and of the United States; and for the violation
of the same to prescribe reasonable fines.

Sec. 12. To meet any expenses that may be necessary and charge-
able 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.

Sec. 18. 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 book of the assessor of said town to distrain and
sell therefor in like manner, as now provided by law for the col-
lection 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 miayor 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.

Sec. 14. 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 bv the sergeant at public
auction, and at some place in said town, for the arrears with six
percentum interest and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the per-
son entitled thereto; but before offering such delinquent real estate
for rent, the time, terms and place of renting, 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 courthouse
of Pittsylvania county, and at three or more public places in said
town for at least thirty days.

Sec. 15. The persons named in the third section of this act, im-
mediately 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 so qualify shall appoint other inhabitants from said
town in their room and stead.

Sec. 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.