Chap. 196.—An ACT to create a commission of roads and bridges of the county
of Princess Anne, Virginia, for Scaboard magisterial district, and to prescribe
the powers and duties of such commission, and to provide for controlling
constructing and keeping in repair the public roads and bridges within saic
magisterial district of said county, and for acquiring, establishing, altering
and vacating roads and bridges therein, and for obtaining and applying any
and all State aid now and hereafter available for said purpose. [H B 300]

Approved March 18, 1926.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia as follows
A permanent commission, to consist of five members, four of whorn
shall be appointed by the judge of the circuit court, in term time o:
in vacation, and the fifth of whom shall be the member of the boarc
of supervisors for Seaboard magisterial district, and to be known a:
the commission of roads and bridges of the county of Princess Anne
Virginia, for Seaboard magisterial district, is hereby created. Eacl
of said members shall be a resident of the said magisterial district o
said county, who is qualified to vote at the time of his appointment
3. Each of said commissioners, as well as the road engineer here-
inafter provided for shall qualify as other county officers are required
by law to qualify, and shall enter into and acknowledge before the
court, or judge before whom he qualifies, a bond payable to the county,
with security to be approved by such court or judge in the penalty of
five thousand ($5,000.00) dollars, conditioned for the faithful per-
formance of the duties of his office.

4. Thesaid commission may appoint a district road engineer (who
shall be a competent civil engineer), and whose salary, to be fixed
by it, shall be not more than twenty-four hundred ($2400.00) dol-
lars per annum; and may appoint or employ, or authorize the appoint-
ment or employment of, such additional engineers, overseers, agents,
servants, laborers and other subordinates as may be necessary for
the proper performance and execution of the duties imposed by this
act. It shall also have authority to employ counsel, when the same
is rendered necessary to protect the public interest incident to its
work under this act, and to employ an expert accountant to assist in
opening its initial records and in ascertaining the amounts of the
several funds properly disbursable by it under this act. The terms,
duties and compensation of its respective appointees and employees
shall be as prescribed by it, their compensation shall be a reasonable
one, and any and all of them shall be removable at its pleasure.

5. The said commission shall, on the fourth Monday in each
month, hold a meeting at the courthouse of the county, for the dis-
charge of its duties, and may appoint and hold such other regular
special meetings at such times and places as may be necessary for the
purpose. Any commissioner shall have power to call a special meet-
ing upon giving the other commissioners three days’ written notice of
the time and place thereof.

The chairman (or in case of his absence the commissioner who shall
then be chosen as temporary chairman) shall preside at all meetings
and shall have power to administer an oath to any person concerning
any matter submitted to the commission or connected with its duties.

6. It shall be the duty of said commission or a majority thereof,
to go over the public roads and bridges of said district at least once
during each ninety days and to keep itself informed by means of per-
sonal investigation and otherwise, as to the condition of the public
roads and bridges of said district, the manner in which they are con-
structed and maintained and whether or not its appointees and em-
ployees and their subordinates have performed their respective duties.

7. The commission shall have power to enter into any and all
contracts necessary or desirable in the performance of its duties and to
purchase such teams, trucks, tractors, equipment, machinery, sup-
plies and materials and to employ such superintendents, foremen and
laborers as it deems advisable for said purposes, but in all cases of the
construction, reconstruction or surfacing of any road or part thereof,
to involve the expenditure of as much as five hundred ($500.00) dol-
lars, in any calendar year, the commission shall cause to be prepared
and placed on file in its office, open to convenient public inspection,
plans and specifications for such work and shall advertise for bids
thereon by posting such advertisement at the door of the courthouse
‘of said county, at............6.. post office in said district, and by
publication once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of
general circulation published in the city of Norfolk, Virginia, said
public notice and advertisement to be posted and first published at
least thirty (30) days in advance of the opening bids or such adver-
tisement to be made in the manner prescribed by law in those cases
in which State aid is applied for, and the commission shall award the
contract for said werk to the lowest bidder, subject however, to its
tight to reject any or all bids.

The commission shall, before entering into any contract for the
maintenance of any road or roads during any definite period of time
where such contracts involves the expenditures of five hundred
($500.00) dollars, or more, prepare plans and file plans and specifica-
tions, advertise and receive bids and let contract therefor in the same
manner as hereinabove provided for the construction, reconstruction
or surfacing of such roads.

The commission shall require bonds from all contractors and ma-
terial men for the faithful performance of their contracts or under-
takings.

All work of whatever nature shall be done by contract let as above
provided to the lowest bidder, save and except in such cases as the
commission may decide by resolution recorded in its minutes that the
best interests of the district will be served by doing such work with
its own equipment, and in such case it shall file all bids received on
such work and shall keep an accurate record of its own costs of doing
such work and incorporate in its annual report the economic or excess
costs which finally accrue on such work, provided however, that ”
nothing herein contained shall prevent, and the commissioner shall
have full power, to employ, equip and operate such reasonable forces
of men and provide them with such reasonable supplies and material
as may be necessary in the continuous minor maintenance of the roads
within said district.

8. The said commission shall have the power now or hereafter
provided for county local road authorities in expending any and all
funds referred to in this act; in obtaining State aid for the construc-
tion, improvement and maintenance of roads and bridges and in
obtaining the refund of said expenditures in whole or in part by ap-
plication of such expenditures in anticipation of State aid, and for
such purposes the said commission shall have power to pursue any
method now or hereafter prescribed by general law as prerequisite to
obtain such State aid.

The board of supervisors of Princess Anne county shall imme-
diately after this act goes into effect, and shall thereafter annually,
take any and all additional steps required by law to apply for and ob-
tain any and all State aid, now and hereafter available for the con-
struction, reconstruction and maintenance of roads in said county
and so much of such funds, if, when and as obtained, as said Seaboard
magisterial district may be equitably entitled to shall be appropri-
ated by said board of supervisors and expended by said commission
only for the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of the
roads in said Seaboard magisterial district.

9. The board of supervisors of Princess Anne county shall an-
annually levy and appropriate for district road purposes under this
act, a tax upon the property, real and tangible personal, assessed for
taxation in said Seaboard magisterial district (and not included
within the corporate limits of any incorporated town in said magis-
terial district which maintains its own streets), which shall be applied
to the working, keeping in order, repairing and maintaining the pub-
lic roads and bridges in said district, including the compensation of
officers and subordinates appointed or employed under this act.
Such tax shall be in an amount sufficient for the reasonable and proper
maintenance of said roads and bridges as may be determined by said
commission, and the same shall be collected, accounted for, and ap-
plied as road funds under this act, as if it were a district levy, and the
funds so collected shall be kept separate by the county treasurer.
The said board of supervisors shall also annually appropriate for dis-
trict road purposes, under this act such proportion of all county road
levies as may be collected from taxes assessed against the property,
real and personal assessed for taxation in said Seaboard magisterial
district. The said board of supervisors shall also forthwith appro-
priate for district road purposes, under this act, all portions of pre-
vious appropriations for roads in said district unexpended at the date
this act shall go into effect. The said board of supervisors shall
forthwith make additional appropriations for district road purposes,
under this act, of the current district levy, and so much of the current
county road levy as may be collected from taxes assessed against the
property, real and personal, assessed for taxation, in said Seaboard
magisterial district and not otherwise expended. The said several
funds, so appropriated, shall be disbursable for the expenses (includ-
ing cost of material, equipment and labor, and compensation of com-
missioner and its appointees and employees) necessary to accomplish
the purpose of this act by warrants upon the county treasurer auth-
orized by the said commission, signed by its chairman and counter-
signed by its secretary. The said several funds shall be applied by
the said commission, first, to the cost and expense of working, keep-
ing in order, repairing and maintaining the public roads and bridges,
and, secondly, if any of said funds shall then remain, to the cost and
expense of building, acquiring and permanently improving new or
additional roads and bridges, and for this latter purpose the said com-
mission shall have the sole right and authority to expend in the man-
ner herein provided, the proceeds of all bonds hereafter authorized
and issued for the purpose of acquiring or improving roads or bridges
in said district.

10. No commissioner or engineer or other person appointed or
employed by virtue of this act shall become pecuniarily interested
directly or indirectly, in any contract or work of whatever nature or
in the profits of any contract or work of whatever nature or in the
profits of any contract or work of whatever nature, made by or with
any person, firm, or corporation that may contract for or otherwise
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

do work on, or the furnishing of material, equipment or supplies for
roads or bridges; and if this provision is violated, the commissioner or
engineer or other person violating the same shall, by means of any
action or motion brought within one year thereafter in the circuit
court of said county, be liable to the county for a sum of money equal
to double the amount of his interest aforesaid.

11. The said commission shall have and may exercise the powers,
authority and jurisdiction now or hereafter conferred upon boards
of supervisors by general law (so as not inconsistent with the act)
in regard to establishing, altering and vacating roads and bridges
in said district, and in such cases the procedure, right of appeal, and
other proceedings shall be the same mutatis mutandis, as those pro-
vided by general law in the case of similar proceedings before boards
of supervisors. The attorney for the Commonwealth of said county
shall render such legal service to the said commission as may be
proper, under this act, without additional compensation to him.

12. In the event that any part or parts of this act shall be in
conflict with the Constitution of Virginia, the residue thereof shall
nevertheless be valid and such conflicting part or parts be superseded
by the proper Constitution provision.

By reason of the condition of the roads in said Seaboard
magisterjal district and the necessity of opening said roads for the
public mails and other purposes, an emergency is hereby declared to
exist and this act shall be in force from its passage.

14. All acts and parts of acts in conflict herewith are hereby re-
pealed.