Chap. 69.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Strasburg, in the
county of Shenandoah, and to repeal all acts or parts of acts in conflict
therewith. [H B 21]

| Approved February 25, 1922.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all
former charters of the said town of Strasburg, in said county of
Shenandoah, and all acts amendatory thereof or pertaining speciflcally
to the corporate powers of said town, be consolidated into one act
and amended in manner and form following, and that so amended
the same shall be and constitute a new charter for the said town
of Strasburg.

Section 1. The inhabitants of the town of Strasburg, in the
county of Shenandoah, as the same is now or hereafter may be estab-
lished by fixed territorial limits, shall be and are hereby made a body,
politic and corporate, to be known and designated by the name of the
town of Strasburg and as such shall have and exercise the powers
conferred upon incorporated towns under the general laws of the
State of Virginia, passed under and pursuant to the Constitution of
said State, for the government of cities and towns of the Common-
wealth (so far as the same apply to towns as defined by the general
law now in force and as hereafter may be amended and changed
by the general assembly) and the provisions of the general laws
and the Constitution of the State, relative to such towns are hereby
incorporated in and made a part of the charter of the said town of
Strasburg as fully in every respect as if such general laws and con-
stitutional provisions were fully set forth herein, except insofar as
the same are inconsistent with the provisions of this act.

Section 2. The corporate limits of the town of Strasburg shall
be the same as are set forth in and made a part of an order of the
circuit court of Shenandoah county, Virginia, entered on October
tenth, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, and of the plat designating
the boundaries of said town as extended and fixed by the said order
and recorded with said order in the clerk’s office of the said county
of Shenandoah, in deed book ninety, page two hundred and ninety-six.

Section 3. On the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
twenty-two, and every two years thereafter, as provided by law, there
shall be elected by the qualified voters of the town one elector of the
town, who shall be denominated the mayor, and eight other electors
who shall be denominated the councilmen of the said town of Stras-
burg, and said mayor and councilmen shall constitute the town council
and be the governing body of the said town of Strasburg. They shall
enter upon the duties of their offices on the first day of September
next succeeding their election and shall continue in office until their
successors are duly qualified. Every person elected as councilman
shall take an oath faithfully to execute the duties of his office to the
best of his judgment and ability. The person elected as mayor shall
take the oath prescribed by law for State officers.

Section 4. There shall be appointed for the town a registrar and
ofhcers of election in the manner prescribed by the general law of
Virginia, and all elections held in said town shall be governed in
accordance with said general law.

Section 5. The council of the town shall judge of the election,
qualification and return of its members; if any person returned be
adjudged disqualified, a new election to fill the vacancy shall be
ordered by the council and held on such day as it may designate
by ordinance. Any vacancies otherwise occurring shall be filled by
the council. A vacancy in the office of mayor shall be filled by the
council from the electors of the town. For the transaction of busi-
ness by the council five members (not counting the mayor as one)
shall constitute a quorum.

Section 6. The mayor of the town and the councilmen thereof
shall be clothed with all the powers and authority of a justice of the
peace in civil matters within the limits of the town and in criminal
matters, including violations of ordinances, within the limits of said
town and one mile beyond. The council shall have the authority,
however, by a two-thirds vote to designate any justice of the peace
in Davis magisterial district and residing within said town of Stras-
burg, duly elected as such justice, to hear and dispose of all violations
of the ordinances of said town within the limits of said town and
one mile beyond said limits, and of all criminal cases within said
territory within the jurisdiction of such justice. The said justice
shall be provided with a place within said town to be used in the trial
of such cases and he shall hold said office at the pleasure of said
council. All trials held in pursuance of this section shall be held and
conducted as criminal cases are heard and tried in State courts,
presided over by justices of the peace, and appeal shall lie to the
circuit court of Shenandoah county. The council may, from time to
time, pass such ordinances as may be necessary to give this section
proper force and effect and to prescribe rules of procedure. collectien
of penalties, costs, et cetera. The compensation of the said justice
or of any official of the town who may be associated with said
justice, or who alone may hear such cases, shall be fixed by ordi-
nance duly enacted by the council.

Section 7. The jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of the
town in all criminal matters and for imposing and collecting license
taxes on shows, performances and exhibitions, shall extend one mile
beyond the corporate limits of the said town of Strasburg. All fines
and costs imposed for offenses committed within the limits of said
town and one mile beyond the same, when not paid to the trial
justice imposing such fine, shall be collected by the sergeant of the
town and turned into the treasury of the town.

Section 8. The council may require the mayor to communicate to
it annually as soon as may be practicable after the close of the fiscal
year, or oftener if necessary, a general statement of the conditions
of the town in relation to its government, finances and public improve-
ments with such recommendations as he may deem proper, and the
mayor may at any time, upon his own motion and at his pleasure,
make such report and statement to the said council. The mayor shall
exercise a constant supervision over all the affairs of the town and
over the conduct of all subordinate officers. He shall have the power
and authority to investigate the acts of such authorities, have access
to all books and documents in their control and may examine such
officers on oath. He shall have power to suspend all officers appointed
by the council until the next regular meeting of the council, but such
suspension shall in all cases be for misconduct in office or neglect of
duties, the same to be specified in the order of suspension. In case
of the suspension of any such officer, the mayor may appoint some
other person in his place to hold such office and perform the duties
thereof until the next regular meeting of the council. At such regular
meeting, the mayor shall report such suspension, together with his
reason therefor.

Section 9. The mayor may appoint special policemen when in
his judgment it is best for the peace and good government of said
town. The mayor may, at any time that the welfare and peace of the
town require it, direct the police force of the town in the performance
of any of its special or regular duties.

Section 10. The council shall, by ordinance or resolution, fix the
time of its regular meetings; but a meeting may be called and
convened by the mayor or by any three members of the council by
giving due notice to all members of the council at any time, but at
such call meetings no business shall be transacted except such as may
be plainly stated in such call.

Section 11. The council may adopt rules for the regulation of its
proceedings but no tax shall be levied or corporate debt contracted
except by a vote of two-thirds of the council, six votes being counted
as two-thirds, the mayor having no vote except in case of a tie, which
vote shall be taken by yeas and nays recorded on the journal in which
the minutes of all meetings of the council are kept. It may appoint
such committees as may be deemed proper for the transaction of
business and may compel the attendance of absent members. The
mayor shall preside over the council but shall not be entitled to vote
on any question except in the case of a tie. A journal shall be kept of
the proceedings of all metings of the council and at the request of any
member the yeas and nays shall be recorded on any question.

Section 12. Every ordinance passed by the council for the vio-
lation of which any penalty is imposed, shall be published in such
way as the council may order, so as to give general publicity thereto
and no such ordinance shall become effective until the same shall
have been published, either by handbills or in some paper published
in the town, as the council may deem proper. If the publication be by
handbills, a certificate of the posting of them shall be given by the
sergeant to the clerk of the council; provided, however, that after the
expiration of six months from the date of the passage of such ordi-
nance its publication shall not be questioned or its validity affected
by any failure to publish the same.

Section 13. In addition to the powers conferred by other general
statutes, the council of the town shall have the power to lay off
streets, walks or alleys; alter, improve and light the same and have
them kept in good order; to lay off public grounds and provide all
buildings necessary for the town; to abate and remove nuisances ;
to make regulations and provisions in reference to contagious dis-
eases; to regulate the keeping of gun powder or other combustibles
within the corporate limits and beyond within one mile thereof; to
regulate the keeping of gasoline, kerosene and other cumbustible
oils within the town or out of the town near the corporate limits,
and may prohibit the keeping of more than certain fixed quantities
of gasoline and other such combustible or explosive products at
certain places and within fixed areas and permit the storage of larger
quantities at other places within and beyond the limits of the town;
to provide, permit or prohibit the establishment of cemeteries or
places for interment of the dead in or within one mile of the town,
and to regulate the same, and also all such places heretofore estab-
lished ; to acquire control or establish, maintain, operate, extend and
enlarge water works, ice plants, gas works, electric light and power
plants and other public utilities within or beyond the limits of the
town for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of the town with
gas, light, power and other benefits and conveniences for public use,
and for such other purposes as are permitted by the laws of the State;
to acquire within or beyond the limits of the town by purchase,
condemnation or otherwise, whatever land may be necessary for con-
structing, locating, establishing, maintaining, operating, extending, or
enlarging any such water works, ice plants, gas works, electric plants
and other plants and facilities necessary for establishing, any and
other public utilities, and also the rights of ways, rails, pipes, poles,
conduits or any of the fixtures or appurtenances thereof; to lease,
own, operate or maintain rock quarries and land within or out of the
town for the purpose of obtaining material for use upon the public
streets, places or works of the town and to own and operate all
machinery and plants necessary for the operation and development
of any such quarries; to prevent the pollution of water and injuries
to water works and electric light plants and their appurtenances, for
which purposes the council shall have jurisdiction for ten miles be-
yond the limits of the town in like manner as if said works, plants
and other such property of the town were within the town, and to
protect from injury by ordinance with adequate penalty, the pipes,
poles, works, fixtures, land and other things used in connection with
the water works, electric plants or other public utilities owned or
controlled by the town; to make, erect, and construct within or be-
yond the limits of said town septic tanks and other sewage disposal
plants, sewers and public ducts and to acquire within or beyond the
limits of said town, by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, so much
land as may be necessary to make, erect, construct, operate and main-
tain the same; to make regulations concerning the building of houses
in said town and to establish and maintain public squares, parks and
playgrounds and boulevards and cause the same to be laid out,
equipped or beautified and, in particular districts or along particular
streets, to prescribe and elect building lines, regulate the height and
character of buildings, and to require the removal of any delapidated,
unsightly or unused buildings, especially where same constitute a
dangerous menace and fire risk; to locate and establish or re-locate
and re-establish permanent street lines where same are in doubt and
after due notice to all parties in interest; to make regulations for
the purpose of guarding against accidents, fires and other dangers
to the general public; to regulate the means of exit from houses
used for the assemblage of the public; to prevent injury or annoyance
to the public from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome;
to protect places of divine worship and to prevent disturbances of
public worship in and about the premises where held; to provide for
order and presefvance of the Sabbath Day; to prevent vice and
immorality; to suppress houses for gambling and of ill fame; to
appoint and publish the places for holding town elections and the
time of holding special elections and polls.

Section 14. In any case where a street of the town or other public
place has been or may be encroached upon by any fence, building or
other structure, the council may require its removal and may cause
such encroachment to be removed at the expense of the person
responsible therefor. No encroachment on any street, sidewalk or
public place, however long continued, shall constitute an adverse pos-
session or right against the town.

Section 15. Any street or alley reserved in the division or sub-
division in the lots of any portion of the territory within the cor-
porate limits of said town by plat or plan of record, shall be deemed
and held to be a dedication to the uses of the town and general public
and this provision shall apply, though the subdivision of such tern-
tory into lots streets and alleys, shall have taken place prior to the
inclusion of such territory within the corporate limits of said town.
Whenever any street or alley within the town shall have been opened
to and used by the public for a period of five years, the same shall
thereby become a public street or alley.

Section 16. In addition to the right of the town under the general
law to negotiate temporary loans and thereby anticipate its income
for and during any year, the council in the name of and for the use of
the said town of Strasburg, may contract loans, incur debts and
cause certificates of debt or bonds to be issued whenever two-thirds
of its members, by a recorded vote, decide that such course is in the
best interest of the town and necessary in the acquirement and es-
tablishment of some needed public improvement or utility, but such
council may borrow money in such manner and for such purposes
only to the extent and subject to the provisions prescribed by the
Constitution and laws of Virginia. The council shall not have the
power to issue any bonds or certificate of debt except such as are
to be paid and discharged within one year from date of issue out of
the regular income of the town until it shall have first submitted to
the qualified voters of said town whether or not such bonds shall be
issued and the majority of the qualified voters voting at any election
held for such purposes have voted for such issue. Such election shall
be held in the manner prescribed and under the provisions of
the general laws of the State of Virginia, except the council shall
have the power to call such-election and fix the date thereof by or-
dinance, copies of which shall be published in some newspaper pub-
lished in said town or the nearest paper published thereto and posted
at least twenty days from such election in at least five public places
by the sergeant thereof. The judges conducting any such election
shall certify the return to the clerk of the circuit court of Shenandoah
county and to the said council, and the court shall enter of record
such order as the case may require and as provided by law. Any
bonds which may be issued under this act may be either registered
or coupon bonds and the purposes for which said -bonds are issued
shall be clearly set forth therein. They shall be issued in such de-
nominations and bear such rate of interest, not exceeding six per
centum, as may be determined by the council. They shall be made
payable at such time as the council may prescribe, not exceeding
thirty years from their date, and may at the option of the council
be made redeemable after such time and in such amounts as the
council may prescribe. The interest thereon may be made payable at
such place as the council may designate, either annually or semi-
annually. All bonds issued under this act shall be signed by the mayor
and countersigned by the clerk of the council with the seal of the
town attached. They shall be sold in such manner as the council
may prescribe and the proceeds from such sale used and expended
under+the orders of the council.

Section 17. The council shall have the power to impose taxes
and assessments upon abutting landowners for making and improv-
ing the walkways upon then existing streets and improving and pav-
ing then existing alleys and for either the construction or for the use
of sewers in accordance with the provisions of the State Constitution
and general laws of the State enacted in regard thereto.

Section 18. There shall be elected by the council at its first meet-
ing in September after its election, or as soon as practicable thereafter,
a treasurer, a recorder or clerk of council and sergeant, whose terms
of office shall be co-equal with the time the council appointing same
shall continue in office, unless sooner removed as provided by this
charter or any ordinance of the town. The salaries and compensation
to be paid said officers, together with their duties, shall be fixed
by the council. The council may appoint or elect such other officers
as may be necessary to the best interest of the town. All officers
elected or appointed by the council shall be residents of said town
and shall have resided therein at least three months prior to their
election or appointment.

Section 19, The mayor may receive a salary to be fixed by the
council, but such salary shall not be increased or diminished during
his term of office. The councilmen may be paid a compensation
for attendance upon the meetings of the council, but the compen-
sation for attending such meetings shall not exceed in the.aggre-
gate twenty-five dollars per annum each. The council may pro-
vide for additional compensation to such of their committees per-
forming special work to the extent that may be reasonable and fair.

Section 20. All ordinances now in force in the town not incon-
sistent with this act or the laws of this State and of the United
States, shall be and remain in force until altered, amended or repealed
by the council of said town.

Section 21. All former acts and parts of acts of the general as-
sembly in relation to said town in conflict with the provisions of this
act are hereby repealed.

Section 22. Inasmuch as there is a necessity for its going into
effect at the earliest possible moment, this act is declared to be an
emergency act and the same shall be in full force and effect from
the date of its passage.