Chap. 16.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Edinburg and to
repeal all acts or parts of acts in conflict therewith, and to declare all con-
tracts and obligations heretofore or hereafter made by the present council
and government of the town of Edinburg and all power heretofore or here-
after exercised by them, while in office, to be legal and valid. [H B 22)

Approved February 13, 1924.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all
contracts and obligations of the town of Edinburg, Shenandoah county,
heretofore and hereafter made by the present council and government
by them while in office, and former councils in the corporate name of
the council of the town of Edinburg not inconsistent with this charter
and!the general laws and Constitution of the State, shall be, and are
hereby declared to be, valid and legal.
2. The town corporate.—The inhabitants of the town of Edinburg,
Virginia, as its limits are or hereafter may be established, shall be a
body, politic and corporate, to be known and designated as the town of
Edinburg, and as such shall have and may exercise all power as now or
hereafter may be conferred upon or delegated to towns under the Con-
stitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, as fully and com-
pletely as though said powers were specifically enumerated herein, and
no enumeration of particular powers by this charter shall be held to be
exclusive.

3. The town boundaries.—The outside boundaries or corporate
limits of the said town are as follows: Beginning at a stake the north-
‘west corner of the present corporate lines; thence north fifty-one degrees,
east eighty-one and three-quarter poles over the lands of Joseph F.
Grandstaff and George Grandstaff, senior, to a white oak on the east
side of the Stony Creek road; thence due east, passing over the lands
of P. M. Grandstaff, George Grandstaff, senior, D. D. Evans, J. C.
McDonald and John A. Saum, one hundred and seventy-two and
eight-tenths poles, to a planted rock on a hill side; thence south five
degrees, east one hundred and fourteen poles, passing over the lards of
John A. Saum, Joseph Comer, D. JD). Evans and Charles Hutchison,
to a stake, a corner to the present corporate lines of said town.

4. Powers of the town of Edinburg, Virginia.-—In addition to the
powers mentioned in section two hereof, the said town of Edinburg shall
have the following powers:

(1) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in said town, sums
of money as the council thereof shall deem necessary ‘for the purpose of
said town, and in such manner as said council shall deem expedient,
not prohibited by the Constitution or general law of the Common-
wealth, provided, however, that it shall impose no tax on lands of said
town.

(2) To impose special and local assessments for local improvements
and enforce payment thereof, subject, however, to such limitations
prohibited by the Constitution and general law of Virginia, as may be
in force at the time of the imposition of such special and local assess-
ments.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Virginia and
of this charter, to contract debts, borrow money and make and issue
evidences of indebtedness.

(4) To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.

(5) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or other-
wise, property, real or personal, or any estate or interest therein, within
or without the town or State, and for any of the purposes of the town;
and to hold, impose, sell, lease, mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose
of the same or any part thereof, including any property now owned by
the town.

(6) To acquire in any lawful manner for the purpose of encourag-
ing commerce, manufacture, education, lands within and without the
town, not exceeding at one time one thousand acres in the aggregate,
and from time to time, sell, dispose of, lease or donate the same or any
part thereof for commercial, industrial, educational uses and purposes,
including land now owned by the town, and including the power to
donate any land now or hereafter owned by the town for hospital pur-
poses.

(7) To make and adopt a comprehensive plan for the town and to
that end all plats and replats subdividing any land within the town into
streets, alleys, roads and lots or tracts, shall be submitted to and be
approved by the council before the same are filed or recorded in the
clerk’s office of the county.

(8) Construct, maintain, regulate and operate public improvements
of all kinds, including municipal and other buildings, markets and other
buildings for the use and operation of the various departments of the.
town, and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise all lands, riparian
and other rights and easements necessary for such improvements or
any of them.

(9) To acquire in any lawful manner in any county of the State,
such water, lands, property rights and riparian rights as the council of
said town may deem necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate
water supply for said town and of piping or conducting it; to lay all
necessary mains and tunnels, to erect and maintain all necessary dams,
pumping stations and other works in connection therewith; to make
reasonable rules and regulations for promoting the purity of its water
supply and for protecting the same from pollution; and for this purpose
to exercise full police powers and sanitary patrol over all lands com-
prised within the limits‘of the water shed tributary to any such water
supply where such lands may be located in this State; to impose and
enforce adequate penalties for the violation of any such rules and regu-
lations; and to prevent, by injunction, any pollution or threatened
pollution of such water supply, and any and all acts likely to impair the
purity thereof; and for the purpose of acquiring lands, interest in lands,
property rights and riparian rights or materials for any such use, to
exercise within the State all powers of eminent domain provided by the
laws of this State; provided, that the lands which may be held for such
purpose shall not exceed in the aggregate one thousand acres at one
time.

For any of the purposes aforesaid the said town may, if the council
shall so determine, acquire by condemnation, purchase or otherwise,
any interest or interésts in such lands or any of them in fee, reserving
to the owner or owners thereof such property rights or easements.
therein, as may be prescribed in the ordinances providing such con-
demnation or otherwise.

(10) To acquire, by purchase or exchange, or by the exercise of the
power of eminent domain, any spring, springs, water supplies, pipe
lines, reservoirs, land, property, easements, interests, contract rights,
property rights, riparian rights or any interest or interests therein in
the State of Virginia, which is now, or may be at any time used for
supplying the inhabitants of the said town, with water.

(11) To establish, impose and enforce water rates and rates and
charges for public utilities, or other service, products or conveniences,
operated, rendered or furnished by the town; and to assess or cause to
be assessed water rents directly against the owner or owners of the
buildings or against the proper tenant or tenants, and may, by ordi-
nance, provide that when charges are made against tenants, the owner
or owners shall be directly liable in case such tenant or tenants fail to
pay when the rents or charges are assessed.

(12) To establish, condemn, open, widen, extend, grade, improve,
construct, maintain, light and sprinkle and clean, public highways,
streets, alleys, and to alter or close the same; to establish and maintain
public playgrounds or other public grounds; to construct, maintain, and
operate bridges, tunnels, sewers and drains, and to regulate the use of
all such highways, streets, parks, public grounds or work, to prevent the
obstruction of such streets and highways, abolish and prevent grade
crossings over the same by railroads in the manner provided by general
law for the elimination of grade crossings; to require any railroad com-
pany operating a railroad at the place where any highway or street is
crossed within the town limits to erect and maintain at such crossing
any style of gate deemed proper and keep a man in charge thereof or
keep a flagman at such crossing during such hours as the council may
require, in accordance with the laws or make any other ordinance which
the council may deem proper to accomplish the purpose desired; and to
regulate the length of time such crossings may be closed due to any
operations of the railroad; and to regulate the operation, weight of load
and speed of all cars, and vehicles using the same, as well as the opera-
tion and speed of all engines, cars, trains or railroads in the said town;
to prevent or prohibit poles and wires for electric, telephone or telegraph
purposes to be erected in the streets and alleys and to prescribe and to
collect annual license charge for such privileges heretofore or hereafter
granted; but, except in so far as may be necessary in the proper exercise
of the police power, nothing herein contained shall apply to companies
which have been granted franchises by the council, as provided by law,
to place poles and wires in said streets and alleys.

The said town and citizens living within its corporate limits shall be
exempt from all road taxes and taxes for the support of the poor and
other local purposes; provided, the said town shall maintain and keep
its roads and streets in good repair, and support its poor. The town
may keep its poor in the parish-house or poor-house of the county;
provided, it pays all necessary expenses thereof.

(13) To establish, construct and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer
lines and systems, and to require the abutting property owners to con-
nect therewith and to establish, construct, maintain and operate sew-
age disposal plants and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within
or without the town, all lands, rights of way, riparian and other rights
and easements necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and to charge and
collect reasonable fees and assessments or costs of service for connecting
with and using the same, to collect and dispose of sewage, garbage, car-
casses of dead animals and fowls and other refuse, and to acquire and
operate plants for the utilization or destruction of the same or any of
them.

(14) To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within
the town at the expense of the person or persons causing the same or
the owner or occupant of the ground or premises wherein the same may
be found, and to require all lands and lots and other premises within the
town to be kept clean and sanitary and free from stagnant water, weeds,
filth and unsightly deposits or to make them at the expense of the own-
ers or occupants thereof; to regulate or prevent slaughter-houses or
other noisome and offensive business within the town, the keeping of
hogs or other animals; to regulate the transportation of all articles
through the streets, to compel the abatement of smoke and dust and
prevent unnecessary noise; to regulate the location of stables, and other
obnoxious buildings, and the manner in which they are to be kept and
constructed and generally to define, prohibit, abate and suppress and
prevent all things detrimental to health, morals, safety, convenience and
welfare of the inhabitants of the town.

(15) To inspect, test, measure and weigh any commodity or arti-
cles of consumption or use within the town and to establish, regulate,
license, and inspect weights, meters, measures and scales.

(16) To establish, regulate and control a fire department, to regu-
late the size, height, location and construction of buildings, fences, walls
and altered structures as public safety may require; to remove or require
to be removed any structure which by reason of dilapidation or other
cause may have become dangerous to life or property, and enact eff-
cient laws to secure the safety of persons from fires in halls or buildings
used for public assemblies or entertainments.

(17) To provide for the care, support and maintenance of aged, in-
sane, poor persons or paupers.

(18) To establish, organize and administer public schools and
libraries subject to the general laws establishing a standard of education
for the State.

(19) To prevent paupers and persons having no visible means of
support or who may be dangerous to the peace and safety of the town
from coming into the town and to expel any one from the town danger-
ous to the peace, safety and welfare of the town, and its inhabitants.

(20) To provide for the promotion of the general health of the
residents of said town, make regulations to protect the same, inspect
all foods and foodstuffs and to prevent the introduction and sale in
said town of any articles or things intended for human consumption,
which is adulterated, impure, or otherwise dangerous to health; to
prevent the introduction and spread of contagious or infectious diseases,
and prevent and suppress disease generally; and to establish quarantine
grounds within or without the town and regulations respecting the same,
subject to the laws of the State.

(21) To accept and receive unconditionally or upon conditions,
absolutely or in trust, gifts, grants, bequests and devises of any kind of
property, real or personal, for educational, charitable or public purposes
and to do all things necessary to carry out the purpose of the donor, in
accordance with the terms and conditions of such gifts, grants, bequests
or devises.

(22) To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street beg-
gars, to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve peace and good order;
to prevent riots, disorderly assemblages and suppress houses of ill-fame
and gambling and punish lewd, indecent and disorderly exhibitions in
the town.
(23) To license and regulate the holding of shows and their loca-
tion, circuses, public exhibitions, carnivals, or fairs, or prohibit the
holding of the same within the town.

(24) To make and enforce ordinances similar to the prohibition
laws of the State. No license to sell strong drink in said town, within
two miles thereof, without first obtaining permit of the council and
then on such terms as may be required by said council.

(25) The town is authorized to exempt by four-fifths vote of the
members of the council, the buildings, machinery and equipment of
factories and industries from town taxes for a reasonable period of time
not exceeding ten years.

(26) To contract, own and maintain power and light and operate
facilities necessary thereto and to acquire by condemnation or other-
wise, within, or without the town, land, water-power sites, easements,
property and property rights necessary for such purposes.

(27) That the mayor and council of the town of Edinburg be, and
they are hereby, authorized and empowered to borrow money for said
town, not exceeding thirty thousand ($30,000) dollars, for the purpose of
acquiring water and constructing and improving the water system of
said town and establish a sewerage system, if provided for, and to issue
bonds for the corporation for the said sum to an amount not to exceed
thirty thousand ($30,000) dollars, nor in a sum at any time exceeding
the constitutional limitation, such bonds to be issued and sold in the
manner hereinafter provided.

(28) The said bonds for the purpose aforesaid shall be registered or
coupon, and shall be issued in denomination of one hundred ($100)
dollars or any multiple thereof, as the council may prescribe, and shall
bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, payable
annually or semi-annually, as the council may prescribe, and shall be
payable in not less than five nor more than thirty years after date, but
such bonds shall be made payable at the call of the council of said town
at any time after twenty years from date, provided such provision be
inserted in said bond. The purchaser or purchasers of said bonds,
under authority of this act, shall not be required to see to the appro-
priation and expenditure of the funds derived therefrom.

(29) The proceeds of sale of said bonds hereby authorized shall be
applied by and under the direction of the common council of said town
for the purpose of acquiring water, extending, improving and complet-
ing the water system of said town, and establishing sewerage system,
together with the cost of acquiring by purchase, condemnation or other-
wise such real estate and other property rights as may be necessary to
be used in connection with such water and other permanent 1mprove-
ments, whether the same be within or without the corporate limits of
said town, and the said council of the town of Edinburg is expressly
authorized to acquire by purchase, condemnation or otherwise, rea
estate and other property rights, whether within or without the cor-
porate limits of the town, as may be necessary to be used in acquiring
water and in extending, improving and completing the water system o!
said town and establishing a sewerage system.

(30) The said bonds shall be in denomination of one hundred ($100.
dollars, or any multiple thereof, as the council may prescribe; they shal
be signed by the mayor and countersigned by the clerk, with the cor-
porate seal affixed, provided that such bonds shall not be sold at less
than their par value.

The council shall have power to make a appropriation out. of
the revenue of the corporation to pay the interest on the said bonds,
and to provide a sinking fund for the redemption of said bonds when
due or when redeemed before maturity, as aforesaid.

31) The money received from the proceeds of said bonds shall be
paid over to the treasurer of the council of said town of Edinburg, and
shall be disbursed by him under the direction of the council. The
treasurer aforesaid, and the surety on his bond, shall be liable for the
amount so received as though it were a town levy, and the said treasurer
shall receive for his services a commission of one half of one per centum
of all funds coming into his hands derived from the sale of said bonds.

(32) But no bonds shall be issued under this act until the question
whether the said bonds shall be issued shall be submitted to the qualified
voters of said town, at an election to be held, at such time as the council
may determine, under the terms, and according to the provisions of the
general law prescribing the method of determining whether bonds may
be issued by towns, nor unless the issuing of said bonds shall be approved
by a majority of the qualified voters, voting at said election.

(33) To prescribe any penalty for the violation of any town ordi-
nance, rule or regulation, or any provision of this charter, not exceeding
five hundred dollars, or twelve months’ imprisonment in jail, or both.
And to carry into effect the police regulations of said town, the said
town shall be allowed the use of the jail at Shenandoah county for the
safe keeping and imprisonment of all persons sentenced to prison under
the ordinances of said town.

(34) There is hereby created a council consisting of six members
and a mayor, which shall have full power and authority, except as here-
inafter otherwise provided, to exercise all of the power conferred upon
the town and to pass all laws and ordinances relating to its municipal
affairs, subject to the Constitution and general laws of the State and
of the charter.

(35) The said mayor and six councilmen shall be elected on the
second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and twenty-four, and every
two years thereafter, and shall serve for terms of two years from the
first day of September next following the election and until their suc-
cessors shall be duly elected and qualified.

Vacancies in the council, except as otherwise provided by general
laws, shall be filled within ‘thirty days for the unexpired term by a
majority vote of the remaining members. Any person qualified to
vote in the town shall be eligible to the office of mayor and council-
man. But no member of the council or other officer shall be interested,
directly or indirectly, in the profits of any contract or work, to be
financially interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale to the town of
any land, materials, supplies or unofficial services, but this prohibition
shall not apply if the council, by unanimous vote of the members there-
of, shall declare that the best interests of the town are served despite
a personal interest, direct or indirect.
(36) The council shall make such rules for its organization, govern-
ment and order of business, appointment of committees, as it may deem
proper, including the times of meeting and special meetings.

(37) The mayor shall preside at the meetings of the council and
perform such duties consistent with his office and prescribed by the
ordinances of the town. During his absence or disability the council
shall elect a member of the council to perform the duties of the mayor.
The mayor shall have the right to vote in case of a tie.

(38) On the first day of September following the regular municipal
election and organization of the council, or as soon thereafter as may be
practicable, the council shall elect a town attorney, superintendent of
water works, town physician or health officer, overseer of the poor,
chief or captain of the fire department, and such other officers as may
come within their jurisdiction, each of whom shall serve for two years,
or at the pleasure of the said council. The treasurer of the town and
sergeant of the town shall be elected by the qualified voters of the
town at the same general election when the mayor and councilmen are
elected and shall hold office for two years, the same as the mayor and
councilmen.

(39) Legislative procedure.—Except in dealing with parliamentary
procedure, as set forth in the ordinances, the council shall act only by
ordinance or resolution and with the exception of ordinances making
appropriations or authorizing the contracting of indebtedness shall
be confined to one subject.

(40) Each proposed ordinance or resolution shall be introduced
in writing or printed form and the enacting clause of all ordinances
hereinafter passed by the council shall substantially be “Be it or-
dained by the town of Edinburg,’’ And all ordinances shall be read at
two meetings not less than a week apart, one of which shall be a regular
meeting and the other of which may be either an adjourned or called
meeting, provided the requirements of a second reading by the affirma-
tive vote of four members of the council may be confined to the reading
of the title only, but this provision shall not apply to an emergency
measure. No ordinance shall be amended unless such section or sec-
tions as is intended to be amended shall be re-enacted. The ayes and
noes shall be taken and recorded upon the passage of all ordinances,
and so entered upon the minutes of the proceedings of the council.

(41) No ordinance passed by the council shall take effect until at
least thirty days from the date of its passage, except the council may
by an affirmative vote of a majority of its members, pass emergency
measures to take effect at the time indicated therein. Every ordi-
nance passed shall be recorded by the clerk in a book kept for that
purpose and shall be authenticated by the signatures of the presiding
officer and the clerk. Every ordinance of a public and permanent
character passed shall be published in full once within ten days after
its passage.

(42) Nominations and elections; municipal elections.—A munici-
pal election shall be held on the second Tuesday in June of every second
year after nineteen hundred and twenty-four, and shall be known as
the regular municipal election for the election of mayor and six council-
men, sergeant and treasurer. All other municipal elections that may
be held shall be known as special municipal elections. The elections
held under this charter shall be in accordance with the general laws of
the State.

The duties of the officers as elected by the council and general
election shall be as defined and provided for in the ordinances of the
town, and as shown by said ordinances.

(43) Licenses and taxation.—License taxes may be imposed by
ordinances on business, trades, professions and callings and upon the
persons, firms, associations and corporations engaged therein and the
agents thereof, except in cases where licenses or taxations are expressly,
prohibited by the general laws of the State. Any one who shall fail
to procure the license required by the council shall be subject to such
penalty as provided by ordinances of the town.

(44) General taxes.—The council may impose a tax of one dollar
per annum upon the residents of the town who have attained the age
of twenty-one years. The council may also tax dogs.

(45) The council of the town of Edinburg is authorized to and
shall annually order a town levy of so much as is in their opinion neces-
sary to be raised by that way, in addition to what may be raised for
licenses and from other sources, to meet the appropriations ma den
to be enabled to pay the indebtedness of the town and meet all of its
municipal expenses, required by law to be raised. The levy or assess-
ment shall be on all real and tangible personal property owned or
possessed by any and all of the residents and corporations located in
said town; provided, however, that the rate assessed does not at any
time exceed the maximum rate provided by the law of the State in
force at that time. The values of such property as fixed by the State
shall be accepted as the basis of the taxation and assessment by the
council, ‘or as the general laws of the State may hereafter prescribe.

There shall be a lien on real estate for the town taxes as assessed
thereon, from the commencement of the year for which they are assessed.
The council may require real estate in the town delinquent for the non-
payment of taxes to be sold for taxes, with interest thereon, and said
council may regulate the terms on which real estate so delinquent
may be sold or redeemed, provided, that such sales shall be made sub-
ject to the prior lien of the Commonwealth for taxes. And all town
taxes shall be due and payable as and when similar State taxes are
due and payable, otherwise by ordinance.

The town shall also have a lien for its taxes and levies upon all
such corporate property as is authorized by law. All goods and chattels
of any persons against whom taxes for the town are may be distrained
and sold for said taxes when due and unpaid in the same manner and
to the same extent that goods and chattels may be distrained and
sold for State taxes. |

(46) Franchises.—The granting of franchises by the council shall
be as provided by the general law of the State, and ordinances not in
conflict therewith.

(47) The present mayor and councilmen, and all other officers of
the town of Edinburg shall continue to hold office and to perform the
duties of their respective offices for the said town for the terms for
which they were elected until their successors be elected and qualify,
and all liabilities, actions, claims, contracts heretofore existing under
the former charter and amendatory acts under the corporate name of
the council of the town of Edinburg shall remain and continue in
force and effect as if this act had not been passed.

And all now in force in the town of Edinburg, not inconsistent
with this charter, shall be and remain in full force until altered, amended
or repealed by the council of said town.

If, however, any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this act shall
for any reason, be adjudged by any act of competent jurisdiction to be
invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the re-
mainder of the act.

(48) The enumeration of particular powers and authority in this
charter shall not be held exclusive, but the said town shall have and
may exercise all other powers which are now or may hereafter be pos-
sessed or applied to towns under the Constitution and general laws of
the State.

5. Repealing clause.—All acts and parts of acts in conflict with
this charter are hereby repealed and previous charters and amend-
ments thereto in conflict with this charter in the corporate name of the
town of Edinburg are hereby repealed, except an act approved May
fifteenth, nineteen hundred and three, respecting cemetery, and an
act approved March eighth, nineteen hundred and six, as to issuance
of bonds of, which shall continue to be in full force and virtue as though
incorporated herein.

6. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its pas-
sage.