Chap. 427.—An ACT to authorize, empower and direct the board of super-
visors of the county of Norfolk to borrow money, by the issuance of
bonds, a sum not to exceed one million dollars for the purpose of pur-
chasing, building and improving roads and bridges in said county: to sell
said bonds; to provide for their payment, and to authorize the commis-
sion of roads and bridges for said county to dispense the funds so
obtained. [H B 254]

Approved March 27, 1918.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the board of supervisors of Norfolk county be, and it is hereby,
authorized, empowered and directed, to issue bonds up to but not
exceeding, the amount of one million dollars in accordance with the
provisions hereinafter contained, in the name of the county of
Norfolk, for the purpose of purchasing, building and improving the
roads and bridges in said county.

2. The bonds issued in pursuance of this act, shall be coupon
or registered, either or both, bonds of not less denomination than
one hundred dollars, nor more than one thousand dollars each, pay-
able not more than thirty years from date, bearing interest payable
semi-annually, at a rate not exceeding five per centum per annum,
but with the provision giving to the said board of supervisors the
right to redeem said bonds, or any of them, after the expiration of
twenty years from their issuance. The said bonds shall be known
as “road and bridge improvement” bonds, and shall be signed by
the chairman of the board of supervisors of said county, and counter-
signed by the clerk of the said board. The form of said bonds and
coupons shall be determined by the board of supervisors, but they
shall be redeemable in lawful money at maturity for all taxes and
other debts due the county of Norfolk, except school levies, and
when paid by said treasurer or received from taxes or other debts,
said bonds and coupons shall be marked “paid and cancelled,” and
such cancelled bonds and coupons shall be destroyed in the presence
of the board of supervisors of Norfolk county and the judge of the
circuit court of said county.

3. The said board of supervisors are hereby authorized, em-
powered and directed to make sale of said bonds after they are
issued, as herein provided, but, before making sale of any of said
bonds, the said board of supervisors shall advertise for bids for the
purchase of the same for at least thirty days in one or more news-
papers published in the city of Norfolk, and one or more news-
papers published in the city of Portsmouth, which advertisement
shall describe the bonds proposed to be sold by stating the number
and amount, security and rate of interest, and the time of re-
demption, and all bids shall be sealed, addressed and delivered to the
chairman of the board of supervisors, and opened by the chairman in
the presence of the board of supervisors and the judge of the circuit
court of said county, and the highest and best bid shall be ac-
cepted ; provided, however, that no bond shall be sold for less than
the par value thereof.

4. After issuing the said bonds or any part of them, the said
board of supervisors shall create a sinking fund to be applied to the
redemption and payment of bonds issued by virtue of this act, and
shall annually, until such bonds are paid, pay over to such sinking
fund, a sum sufficient to pay off said bonds in not less than twenty
years. In order to create said fund, said board shall levy a tax in
said county in addition to the regular county levy, for an amount
sufficient to pay the interest on, and provide for a sinking fund for
the principal of said bond; provided, however, that the said tax shall
not be in excess of one per centum of the taxable property, real and
personal, in said county.

5. The said board of supervisors is hereby authorized, directed
and empowered to apply any part or all of said sinking fund to the
payment or purchase of any of said bonds at any time, and all bonds
so paid off or purchased by said board of supervisors shall be im-
mediately cancelled and shall not be re-issued, and the board of
supervisors 1s authorized and empowered to lend out upon real estate
security (the loan not to exceed fifty per centum of the assessed
value of such real estate), or to deposit in bank at interest, all accu-
mulations of money to the credit of said sinking fund provided as
aforesaid, and to collect and re-invest the same and the interest ac-
cruing thereon from time to time,.so often as may be necessary or
expedient; provided, that no money to the credit of said sinking
fund shall be loaned out, or deposited or invested by the said board of
supervisors, unless said loan, deposit or investment shall be first ap-
proved by the circuit court of said county, or the judge thereof in
vacation, and the form of the security be examined and approved by
the Commonwealth’s attorney for said county, which approval shall
be entered of record in the order book of the said court.

6. All money received from the proceeds of the sale of said
bond issue shall be paid over to the treasurer of said county and
bv him forthwith deposited at the best practical rate of interest in
one or more solvent banks that will give adequate security therefor,
and (subject. to the limitations hereinafter expressed) shall be ex-
pended and disbursed by the commission of roads and bridges for
the county of Norfolk by warrants upon the county treasurer au-
thorized by said commission, signed by its chairman, and counter-
signed by its secretary. The treasurer shall immediately notify the
said commission of roads and bridges upon the depositing with
him of the proceeds of the sale of said bonds, or any of them. The
said treasurer of Norfolk county and the surety on his official bond
shall be liable for the amount received from the sale of said bonds
as though it were a county levy.

7. The one million dollars of bonds provided for in this act
shall be issued and sold as hereinbefore provided by the said board
of supervisors from time to time; provided, conditions in the labor
and material markets are sufficiently normal to justify such issue:
and in such amounts as it shall be requested to issue and sell by the
commission of roads and bridges for said county, and shall be ex-
pended and disbursed by the said commission of roads and bridges
for the purpose of purchasing, building and improving of the roads
and bridges in the said county; provided, however, that there shall
be expended of the proceeds of the said sale of the one million dol-
lars of bonds in Washington magisterial district of said county, the
sum of two hundred and sixty thousand dollars; in Butt’s Road
magisterial district of said county, eighty-five thousand dollars; in
Pleasant Grove magisterial district of said county, eighty-five thou-
sand dollars; in Deep Creek magisterial district of said county.
eighty-five thousand dollars; in Western Branch magisterial district
of said county, two hundred and forty thousand dollars, and in
Tanner’s Creek magisterial district, two hundred and forty-five thou-
sand dollars; provided, further, however, that out of the sums to
be expended in each of these districts, shall be deducted a proper
proportion of the costs of the sale of the said one million dollars
of bonds.

8. The said commission is hereby authorized, empowered and
directed to negotiate for the purchase, and to purchase, any one or
more, or all, of the toll roads and toll bridges, or any right-of-way
or roadbed which, in the judgment of said commission, is needed for
public travel in the county of Norfolk, and if it can secure the said
toll roads and toll bridges, right-of-way, or roadbed, or either, or
both, or all, at a price which is deemed reasonable, the same to be
approved by the circuit court of said county, or the judge thereof in
vacation, 1t may purchase such roads or bridges, right-of-way or
roadbed, either or both, or all, at the price so approved, and pay
for the same out of the proceeds of the sale of the bonds herein
provided for, and may use the remainder of said proceeds, or so
much thereof as it may deem proper, for the permanent improve-
ment of the said roads and bridges, after the same have been ac-
quired as aforesaid, and for the permanent improvement of other
public roads and bridges of the said county; provided, however, that
no such toll roads, or toll bridges shall be so acquired unless and
until the proposed acquisition thereof, and the amount or amounts
to be paid therefor, shall first be approved by the circuit court of
said county, or the judge thereof in vacation, after said commission
shall have given notice of its intention to apply for such approval
by means of an advertisement published twice a week for two suc-
cessive weeks in a newspaper published in the city of Norfolk, and
a newspaper published in the city of Portsmouth.

9. Wherever practical, the said building and improvement of
the said public roads and bridges as herein provided for, shall be
made by the said commission of roads and bridges, after consulta-
tion with the State highway commissioner and in such a manner as
will qualify the county of Norfolk to receive State aid in building
and improvement of said roads and bridges.

10. Out of the proceeds of the sale or sales of said bonds shall
be paid all expenses incident to the sale or sales thereof, including
advertising and a reasonable fee or brokerage, if necessary, for
negotiating such sale or sales, the amount of such fee or brokerage,
however, to be approved by the judge of the circuit court of said
county.

iL, All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are
hereby repealed.

12. An emergency existing, therefore, because of the condition
of many of the principal roads and bridges in Norfolk county, this
act shall be enforced from its passage.