Chap. 450.—An ACT to provide a new’charter for the town of Narrows and
to repeal all other acts and parts of acts in conflict with the Provisions of

this act. [H B 297]
Approved March 24, 1920.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That so
much of the territory in the county of Giles as is embraced within
the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at a mile post near
the west end of the bridge on the Norfolk and Western railroad
crossing Wolf creek, and running thence northeast in a straight line
three-fourths of a mile to a point on the south bank of New river,
opposite the mouth of a hollow on the land of B. T. Johnson, junior;
thence southwest three-fourths of a mile to a cliff near the corner of
the lands of B. T. Johnson, junior, and H. W. Hale; thence one mile
to the southwest corner of D. W. Johnson’s lot; thence one-half mile
north to the corner of the lands of Rufus Rowland and William H.
Hale and the United States leather company; thence one mile east
to the beginning, be, and the same is, hereby incorporated as a town
by the name and style of “the town of Narrows,” and henceforth the
inhabitants within such bounds shall be a body, corporate and politic,
with all the rights and powers of organization and government, and
subject to all the duties and restrictions conferred and imposed by
the general laws of Virginia, and the Constitution, on incorporated
towns of less than five thousand inhabitants; together with such other
powers and privileges as are conferred by this act.

2. The council of said town shall be composed of the mayor and
eight councilmen, and the persons elected for mayor and council-
men at the election held in said town on the second Tuesday in June,
nineteen hundred and eighteen, namely: K. S. French, mayor, and
E. L. Shockey, F. W. Gearheart, T. Cover Johnson, B. T. Johnson,
E. S. Carr, E. L. Caudill, C. A. Brown and F. E. Bastian, councilmen,
shall serve as such for the remainder of the two years for which
they were elected.

The mayor and five councilmen, and in the absence of the mayor,
six councilmen, shall constitute a quorum; and the mayor, and in his
absence, the member chosen as president pro tempore of the council,
shall not vote on any question except to decide a tie vote of the other
members.

3. The town shall have a sergeant, clerk and treasurer, and such
other officers as the council may deem necessary or proper, all of
whom shall be elected or appointed by the council, and the council
shall prescribe their duties, in addition to the duties required of them
by law; fix their compensation; prescribe penalties for neglect or
violation of their duties; and determine which of them shall give
bond and fix the penalties thereof.

4. Every ordinance, or resolution having the effect of an ordi-
nance, passed by the council, shall, before it becomes operative, be
approved by the mayor or passed over his objections, in the same
manner provided by law for the adoption of ordinances by cities
having but a single branch of council, and no ordinance so adopted
shall take effect, unless it be adopted as an emergency act, until it
shall have been posted for not less than ten days on the bulletin
board of the town. The mayor shall have the same power of veto
as 1S. given by law to mayors of cities having a single branch of
council. a

5. The council shall have the right and power to do, or require
to be done, any or all of the following things, namely: Appoint
and establish a police force for the town; appoint all such commit-
tees as it may deem necessary or proper, and prescribe their duties
and the reports to be made by them; require all town officers, upon
the expiration of their terms of office, or in case of removal from
office, to turn over to their successors, all books, papers, furniture,
et cetera, in their possession, and prescribe penalties for failure to
do so; impose a license tax on all shows, exhibitions, et cetera, to
be given in the town and within one mile of the corporate limits
thereof ; require the removal of any obstructions placed in the streets,
and of any fences, buildings, et cetera, which encroach upon the
streets, and prescribe penalties for failure to do so; and to remove such
obstructions and encroachments, if the same be not removed by the
owners of the property within the time required by the council, and
collect the expense thereof from the owner or owners in the same
manner as taxes are collected; and no such encroachment, no matter
how long it has, or may hereafter continue, shall constitute such
adverse possession as to prevent the removal thereof by the council;
regulate the width, grades, et cetera, of streets and alleys which may
be dedicated to public use by filing of plats or maps, or otherwise
by owners of land within the corporate limits who desire to lay off
and sell same in lots; regulate the speed of street cars, automobiles,
locomotive engines, motor cycles and all other motor vehicles within
or passing through the corporation limits of the town, and fix penalties
for the violation thereof; require prompt and regular attendance
by all members, on all meetings of the council and prescribe penalties
for failure to attend, without legal excuse be given for such non-
attendance; to expel a member, by affirmative vote of three-fourths
of all the members of the council, for failure to attend three or more
consecutive meetings of the council, without legal excuse for such
failure, but such expulsion shall only be after reasonable notice to the
member in default, and an opportunity afforded him to be heard in
his defense.

6. The mayor shall have the right and power to do any or all of
the following things, namely: Issue proclamations looking to the
prevention of the spread of contagious diseases and fix penalties for
violations thereof, and when, in his judgment the occasion justifies
the same, to prohibit minors from being on the streets and in public
places after sun down, and to fix penalties therefor; to appoint
additional policemen when he may deem the same necessary or expedi-
ent; to suspend any sentence or remit any fine, in whole or in part,
imposed for the violation of any town ordinance, when in his judg-
ment the ends of justice would be met thereby; to investigate the
acts of all town officers and have free access to all books, papers and
records pertaining to their offices, and to report any misconduct of
officers or irregularities in the performance of their duties, to the
council for its action thereon; to lay before the council at its first
meeting in July each year, a statement of the general condition of
the town with reference to its government, improvement and finances
and to make such recommendations as he may deem proper for the
general welfare and betterment of the town; and the mayor shall
be ex-officio member and chairman of all committees appointed by
the council. ,

7. The sergeant, in addition to the powers and duties conferred
and imposed upon him by law, shall be chief of the police force of
the town and shall report to the council any misconduct or non-per-
formance of duty on the part of any of the policemen.’ He shall collect
the town taxes, licenses, et cetera, and pay the same over to the
treasurer, and shall make such reports as may be required of him
by the council.

8. The treasurer, who may be a member of the council, or some
other freeholder residing in the town, shall make out all tax tickets
and shall receive all funds belonging to the town, from those charged
with the collection thereof; keep a fair and just account of the same
and pay them out only on warrants drawn by the clerk and counter-
signed by the mayor; and he shall make such reports to the council
as it may, from time to time require of him.

9. The clerk shall keep a fair and complete record of all the
proceedings of the council in a book or books to be provided by the
council, and shall be clerk of all committees appointed by the council
and assist them in making their reports, and shall perform any and
all other duties relating to the town records, as may be required
by the council or mayor.

10. In order to raise the necessary funds for the general pur-
poses of the town, including general expenses of the town govern-
ment, pay of officers, the general improvement and upkeep of the
town and to provide for the payment of the interest, and a sinking
fund for the redemption of the principal of bonds and other indebted-
ness of the town, the council shall have the power to levy, annually,
a capitation tax not to exceed one dollar on every male person in
the town, not exempt by law from the payment of the State capita-
tion tax; and also to levy a property tax not to exceed two dollars
on the one hundred dollars of the assessed value thereof, on all the
property, both real and personal, within the corporate limits of the
town, subject to local taxation under the general laws of Virginia.

11. An act entitled an act to provide a charter for the town of
Narrows, in Giles county, Virginia, approved March fourteenth, nine-
teen hundred and four, and the act amendatory thereof, approved
March thirteenth, nineteen hundred and eight, and an act entitled
an act to provide a new charter for the town of Narrows, Virginia, and
to repeal all other acts or parts of acts in conflict therewith. approved
March twenty-seventh, nineteen hundred and fourteen, and all other
acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act, are hereby repealed.

12. The town of Narrows desiring to take immediate action on
various matters provided for in this act, an emergency is declared
to exist, and this act shall he in force from its passage.