Chap. 163.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Burkeville, Notto-
way county, Virginia, and to repeal all acts or parts of acts in conflict there-
with. [H B 318]

Approved March 20, 1930

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all con-
tracts and obligations of the town of Burkeville heretofore or hereafter
made by the present council and government by them, while in office,
not inconsistent with this charter and the general laws and Constitu-
tion of the State, shall be and are hereby declared to be valid and legal.

2. The town corporate.—The inhabitants of the town of Burke-
ville, Virginia, as its limits are or hereafter may be established, shall
continue to be a body, politic and corporate, to be known and designated
as the town of Burkeville and as such shall have and may exercise all
powers which are now or hereafter may be conferred upon, or delegated
to towns under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of
Virginia as fully and completely as though said powers were specifically
enumerated herein, and no enumeration of particular powers by this
charter shall be held to be exclusive.

3. Town boundaries.—The area thus incorporated by this charter
shall be one mile square, lying equally on either side of Agnew street,
two sides of the square parallel with said street, and the intersection
of Agnew street with the main track of the Norfolk and Western
railway, shall be its geometrical center, which said description em-
braces the present boundaries and shall constitute the town of Burke-
ville, in the county of Nottoway, Virginia, and by that name shall have
perpetual succession, may sue and be sued in and by that name, and
the said town, and the inhabitants thereof, in addition to the powers
conferred upon towns of less than five thousand inhabitants, by the
general laws of the State of Virginia, shall have and exercise the fol-
lowing powers and privileges.

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

(1) To raise annually taxes and assessments in said town such
sums of money as the council thereof shall deem necessary for the
purposes of said town, and in such manner as said council shall deem
expedient, in accordance with the Constitution of this State and of the
United States; provided, however, that it shall impose no tax on the
bonds of said town.

(2) To impose special or local assessments for local improve-
ments and enforce payment thereof, subject, however, to such limita-
tions prescribed by the Constitution and laws of Virginia as may be
in force at the time of the imposition of such special or 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 for any of the purposes of the town; and to hold,
improve, sell, lease, mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of the same
or any part thereof, including any property now owned by the town.

(6) -To construct, maintain, regulate and operate public improve-
ments of all kinds, including municipal and other buildings, armories,
jail, comfort stations, markets, and all buildings and structures neces-
sary Or appropriate for the use and proper 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.

(7) To own, operate and maintain water works and to purchase
water therefor from any company or companies which may have the
same for sale and distribution, and to acquire in any lawful manner
in any county of the State such water, lands, property rights and ri-
parian 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 the same; to lay all necessary mains and service
lines, either within or without the corporate limits of said town for the
distribution of water to its customers and consumers, both within and
without the corporate limits of the said town, and to charge and collect
water rents therefor ; 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 comprised within
the limits of the watershed tributary to any such water supply wherever
such lands may be located in this State; to impose and enforce ade-
quate penalties for the violation of any such rules and regulations ; 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. For any of the purposes aforesaid said town may, if the
council shall so determine, acquire by condemnation, purchase or other-
wise, any estate or interest in such lands or any of them in fee, re-
serving to the owner or owners thereof such property rights or ease-
ments therein as may be prescribed in the ordinance providing for
such condemnation or purchase. ,

(8) To own, operate and maintain electric light and gas works,
either within or without the corporate limits of the said town, for the
generating of electricity and the manufacture of gas for illuminating,
power and other purposes, and to supply the same, whether said gas
and electricity be generated or purchased’ by said town, to its customers
ind consumers, both within and without the corporate limits of the said
town, at such price and upon such terms as it may prescribe, and to
that end it may contract with owners of land and water power for the
use thereof, or may have the same condemned, and to purchase such
electricity and gas from the owners thereof, and to furnish the same
to its customers and consumers, both within and without the corporate
limits of the said town at such price and on such terms as it may
prescribe.

(9) To exercise the power of eminent domain for the purpose of
acquiring or taking any or all spring, springs, water supplies, pipe
lines, reservoirs, land, property, easements, contracts, contract rights,
property rights, riparian rights, or any interest or interests therein, in
the State of Virginia, now or hereafter owned by any private quasi-
public service, or public service corporation, incorporated under the
laws of Virginia, or any other State for the purpose of supplying, or
supplying the town of Burkeville or its inhabitants, with water, not-
withstanding any provision to the contrary in section thirty hundred
and thirty-one, or other section, or sections of the Code of Virginia.

(10) To establish, impose and enforce the collection of water,
light and sewerage rates, and rates and charges for public utility, or
other service, products, or conveniences, operated, rendered, or fur-
nished by the town; and to assess, or to cause to be assessed, water,
light and sewerage rates and charges directly against the owner or
owners of the building, or against the proper tenant or tenants, and
may, by ordinance, provide that where charges are made against ten-
ants, the owner or owners shall be directly liable in case such tenant or
tenants fail to pay when the rates or charges are assessed; and in
event such rates and charges shall be assessed against the tenant then
the said council may, by an ordinance, require of such tenant a deposit
of such reasonable amount as may be by such ordinance prescribed be-
fore furnishing such services to such tenant.

(11) To establish, open, widen, extend, grade, improve, construct,
maintain, light, sprinkle and clean, public highways, streets, alleys,
boulevards and parkways, and to alter or close the same; to establish
and maintain parks, playgrounds and such public grounds; to con-
struct, maintain and operate bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, sewers
and drains, and to regulate the use of all such highways, parks, public
grounds and works; to plant and maintain shade trees along the
streets and upon such public grounds; to prevent the obstruction of
such streets and highways, abolish and prevent grade crossings over
the same by railroads in the manner prescribed by general law for
elimination of grade crossings ; to require any railroad company operat-
ing 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 accord-
ance with the provisions of section thirty-nine hundred and ninety-eight
and other sections of the Code of Virginia; and to regulate the length
of time such crossings may be closed, due to any operations of the
railroads; to regulate the operations, weight of load, and speed of al
cars and vehicles using the same, as well as the operation and speed of
all engines, cars and trains, or railroads within the town; to regulate
the service to be rendered, including route traversed, and rates charged
by buses, motor cars, cabs and other vehicles for carrying passengers
and by vehicles for the transfer of baggage; to permit railroads and
street car lines to be built in the streets and alleys, and to determine and
designate the route and grade thereof; and to specify and require the
proper construction and maintenance of the streets between the rails
and on either side thereof for such distances as such streets may be
affected by the construction, operation, repair or maintenance of such
railroads or street car lines, and to require the reconstruction of so
much of said street as may be damaged by the removal of such railroad
or street car line; to permit or prohibit poles and wires for electric,
telephone and telegraph purposes, to be erected and gas pipes to be
laid in the streets and alleys, and to prescribe and collect an annual
charge for such privileges, heretofore or hereafter granted; to require
the owner or lessee of any electric light, telephone or telegraph pole,
or poles or wires now in use or hereafter erected, to change the loca-
tion or move the same; to open, lay out, and improve new streets
across the track or tracks, yard or yards, of any railroad in the town,
and’ any such new or existing street or streets may cross any such track
or tracks, of any railroads in the town, in the discretion of the council,
either at grade, or pass above or below any such existing structure or
structures ; provided, that after due notice to such railroad company
and full opportunity to be heard, and after the council shall have de-
cided whether such crossing shall be made at grade, or pass above or
below any such existing structure or structures, the plans and specifi-
cations for such crossing, as the council shall have determined upon,
shall be submitted to the principal agent of such railroad company in
the town, and in the event the town and railroad company cannot,
within sixty days thereafter agree upon such plans and specifications,
or cannot agree in regard to the division of the cost of constructing
such crossing, then the town shall submit such plans and specifications
to the State corporation commission, and the State corporation com-
mission, after reasonable notice to such railroad company and after
hearing such evidence as either party may adduce, shall approve, or
revise and approve, the plans for such crossing as the council shall have
determined shall be made, or substitute such other plans or character
of crossing, whether at grade, overhead or underpass, as the State
corporation commission may deem proper under all the facts, circum-
stances and conditions in the case; the said improvements shall be
made by the corporation whose track is to be crossed and the expense
thereof shall be borne equally by the said corporation and the town,
and after such crossing shall have been constructed, it shall be main-
tained by such railroad company or by the lessee thereof; and to do all
other things whatsoever adapted to make said streets and highways
safe, convenient and attractive.

(12) To acquire by gift, purchase, exchange, or by the exercise
of the power of eminent domain within this State, lands, and any
interest or estate in lands, rock quarries, gravel pits, sand pits, water
and water rights, and the necessary roadways thereto, either within
or without the town, and acquire and install machinery and equipment,
and build the necessary roads or tramroads thereto; and operate the
same for the purpose of producing materials required for the construc-
tion, repair and maintenance of streets, highways, sidewalks, water
works, reservoirs, sewer, electric lights, public buildings, and any and
all private purposes; and to acquire by gift, purchase, exchange or by
the exercise of the power of eminent domain within this State, lands
and machinery and equipment, and build and operate a plant or plants
for the preparation and fixing of materials for the construction of im-
proved streets and other public improvements, and the maintenance and
repair thereof.

(13) To construct and maintain, or aid in constructing and main-
taining, public roads, State highways, boulevards, parkways and hridges,
beyond and within ten miles of the limits of the town, in order to fa-
cilitate public travel to and from said town, and its suburbs, and to
and from said town and any property owned by said town, and situated
beyond the corporate limits thereof, regardless of distance, and to
acquire land and property rights necessary for such purpose by con-
demnation or otherwise.

(14) 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-
erage 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 or assessments or costs of service for
connecting with and using the same.

(15) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Virginia and
of this charter to grant franchises for public utilities.

(16) To collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage, car-
casses of dead animals, and other refuse, and to make reasonable
charges therefor; and to acquire and operate reduction or other plants
for the utilization or destruction of such materials, or any of them; to
contract for and regulate the collection and disposal thereof, and to
require and regulate the collection and disposal thereof. ,

(17) Tocompel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within
the town, or upon property owned by the town beyond its limits at
the expense of the person or persons causing the same, or of the owner
or occupant of the ground or premises whereon the same may be, and to
collect said expense by suit or motion or by distress and sale; to re-
quire all lands, lots and other premises within the town to be kept
clean and sanitary and free from stagnant water, weeds, filth and un-
sightly deposits, or to make them so at the expense of the owners or
occupants thereof, and to collect said expense by suit or motion, or by
distress and sale; to regulate or prevent slaughter houses or other
noisome or offensive business within said town, and keeping of hogs
cattle or other animals, poultry or other fowls therein, or the exercis
of any dangerous or unwholesome business, trade or employmen
therein ; to regulate the transportation of all articles through the street
of the town; to compel the abatement of smoke and dust, and preven
unnecessary noise; to regulate the location of stables and the manne
in which they shall be kept and constructed; to regulate the location
construction and operation and maintenance of billboards, and gen,
erally to define, prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent all things detri
mental to the health, morals, aesthetics, safety, convenience and wel.
fare of the inhabitants of the town; and to require all owners or occu:
pants of property having sidewalks in front thereof to keep the same
clean and sanitary, and free from all weeds, filth and unsightly de-
posits.

(18) To inspect, test, measure and weigh any commodity or ar-
ticle of consumption for use within the town, and to establish, regu-
late, license and inspect weights, meters, measures and scales. ,

(19) To provide by ordinance for a system of meat and milk in-
spection, and appoint meat and milk inspectors, agents, or officers tc
carry the same into effect, within or without the corporate limits of
the said town; to license, regulate, control and locate slaughter houses
within or without the corporate limits of the town: and for such
services of inspection to make reasonable charges therefor; and to pro-
vide such reasonable penalties for the violation of such ordinances.

(20) To extinguish and prevent fires and to compel citizens to
render assistance to the fire department in case of need, and to estab-
lish, regulate and control a fire department or division: to regulate the
size, height, materials and constructions of buildings, fences, walls, re-
taining walls and other structures hereafter erected in such manner as
the public safety and convenience may require; to remove or require
to be removed or reconstructed any building, structure or addition
thereto which by reason of dilapidation, defect of structure, damage by
fire, or other causes, may have become dangerous to life or property,
or which may be erected contrary to law; to establish and designate,
trom time to time, fire limits, within which limits wooden buildings
shall not be constructed, removed, added to, enlarged or repaired, and
to direct any or all future buildings within such limits shall be con-
structed of stone, natural or artificial, concrete, brick, iron or other
ireproof materials; and may enact stringent and efficient laws for se-
curing the safety of persons from fires in halls and buildings used for
public assemblies, entertainments or amusements.

(21) To charge and to collect fees for permits to use public
facilities and for public services and privileges.

(22) To provide for the care, support and maintenance of chil-
{ren and of sick, aged, insane or poor persons and paupers.

(23) To provide and maintain, either within or without the town,
charitable, recreative, curative, corrective, detentive or penal insti-
utions,
(24) To prevent any person having no visible means of support,
yaupers and persons who may be dangerous to the peace or safety of
the town, from coming to said town from without the same; and for
his purpose to require the owner of any conveyance other than a com-
non carrier bringing such person to the town to take such person back
‘o the place whence he was brought, or enter into bond with satisfac-
‘ory security that such person shall not become a charge upon said
town within one year from the date of his arrival; and also to expel
therefrom any person who has been in said town less than six months;
also to expel from the town all persons found therein dangerous to the
peace, safety, and welfare of the town, or any person who may be
advocating the overthrow of the Federal, State, or municipal govern-
ment by force or violence or inciting the people, or any of them, to
riot, or to any unlawful effort against the social. governmental, indus-
trial, educational or moral welfare of the people.

(25) To provide for the preservation of the general health of the
inhabitants of said town, make regulations to secure the same, inspect
all food and foodstuffs and prevent the introduction and sale in said
town of any articles or thing intended for human consumption, which
is adulterated, impure or otherwise dangerous to health, and to con-
demn, seize and destroy or otherwise dispose of any such article or
thing without liability to the owner thereof; prevent the introduction
or spread of contagious or infectious diseases, and prevent and suppress
disease generally; to provide and regulate hospitals within or without
the town limits, and if necessary to the suppression af diseases, to en-
force the removal of persons afflicted with contagious or infectious
diseases to hospitals provided for them; to construct and maintain or
to aid in the construction and maintenance of a hospital or hospitals
for the use of the people of the town; to provide for the organization of
a department or bureau of health, to have the powers of a board of
health for said town, with the authority necessary for the prompt and
efficient performance of its duties, with power to invest any or all
the officials or employees of such departments of health with such
powers as the police officers of the town have, to establish quarantine
ground within or without the town limits, and such quarantine regula-
tions against infectious and contagious diseases as the council may see
fit, subject to the laws of the State and of the United States.

(26) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or other-
wise, lands, either within or without the town, or both, to be used.
kept and improved as a place for the interment of the dead, and tc
make and enforce all necessary rules and regulations for the protec-
tion and use thereof; and generally to regulate the burial and disposi:
tion of the dead.

(27) To accept and receive, unconditionally or upon conditions
absolutely or in trust, gifts, grants, bequests and devises of any kinc
of property, real or personal; ..... and to do all the things and act:
necessary to carry out the purposes of such giits, grants, bequests
and devises, with power to manage, maintain, operate, sell, lease o:
otherwise handle or dispose of the same, in accordance with the terms
and conditions of such gifts, grants, bequests and devises.

(28) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise or condemnation proper-
ty adjoining its parks, or other property used for public purposes, or
in the vicinity of such parks, plats or property which are used and
maintained in such a manner as to impair the beauty, usefulness or
efficiency of such parks, plats or public property; and may likewise
acquire property adjacent to any street, the topography of which,
from its proximity thereto, impairs the convenient use of such street,
or renders impracticable, without extraordinary expense, the improve-
ment of the same, and the town may subsequently dispose of the prop-
erty so acquired, making limitations as to the use thereof, which will
protect the beauty. usefulness, efficiency or convenience of such parks,
plats and property.

And when the town proposes to open or widen a street, or change
the channel of a creek, by taking any part of a block or square in such
manner that the value of the property abutting the proposed street or
creek would be injuriously affected, unless the property on such block
or square is replatted and the property line or lines readjusted, then
and in that event the town at the same time it acquires the land for
said street or creek channel may, in its discretion, also acquire by pur-
chase, gift, condemnation or otherwise, all or any part of the property
on such squares or blocks and may subsequently replat and dispose of
the property so acquired, in whole or in part, making such limitations
as to the uses thereof as it may see fit.

(29) To exercise full police powers and establish and maintain
a department or division of police. :

(30) To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street beg-
gars; to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve the peace and good
order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assem-
blages ; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling houses: to prevent
and punish lewd, indecent and disorderly exhibitions in said town;
and to expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who have not
resided therein as much as one year.

(31) To license and regulate the holding and location of shows,
circuses, public exhibitions, carnivals and similar shows or fairs, or
prohibit the holding of the same or any of them within the town.

(32) To make and enforce ordinances similar to the prohibition
laws of the State, which are now or may hereafter be enacted by the
said State.

(33) To establish, maintain and operate a market or markets in
and for said town; to prescribe the times and places for holding the
same; and to make and enforce such regulations as shall be necessary
to prevent huckstering, forestalling or regrating.

(34) To provide for the development of power and light and the
distribution and sale of same, and to construct, own, maintain, and Op-
erate facilities necessary thereto, and to acquire by condemnation or
otherwise, within or without the town, land, interests in land, water.
power sites, easements, property, and property rights necessary for
such purpose.

(35) To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient for pro-
moting or maintaining the general welfare, comfort, education, morals,
peace, government, health, trade, commerce or industries of the town;
or its inhabitants.

(36) To prescribe any penalty for the violation of any town ordi-
nance, rule or regulation or of any provisions of this charter, not ex-
ceeding five hundred dollars or twelve months imprisonment in jail,
or both.

(37) To pass and enforce all by-laws, rules, regulations and ordi-
nances not repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the State, which
it may deem necessary for the good order and government of the
town, the management of its property, the conduct of its affairs, the
peace, comfort, convenience, order, morals, health and protection of its
citizens of their property; and to do such things and pass such other
laws as may be necessary or proper to carry into full effect and power,
authority, capacity, or jurisdiction, which is or shall be granted to or
vested in said town, or in the council, court, or officers thereof, or which
may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

The town may maintain a suit to restrain by injunction the viola-
tion of any ordinance notwithstanding punishment may be provided
for the violation of such ordinance.

5. Administration and government.—The administration and gov-
ernment of the town shall be vested in one principal officer, styled the
mayor, and one board, composed of seven persons, styled the council,
together with a commissioner of the revenue, a clerk, treasurer and
one or more police officers whose qualifications to hold such offices, re-
spectively, shall be the same as is required of persons to vote and hold
office under the Constitution and laws of the State of Virginia. Vacan-
cies in the council shall be filled within thirty days, for the unexpired
term, by majority vote of the remaining members thereof.

6. Only the mayor and councilmen in office at the time of the
passage of this act, shall continue in office until the first day of Sep-
tember, nineteen hundred and thirty, or until their successors are
elected and qualified. The election for mayor and councilmen shall
be held on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and thirty
and every second year thereafter. And the mayor and the councilmen
elected under this act shall enter upon the duties of their respective of-
fices the first day of September succeeding their election.

7. The mayor and other municipal officers of said town, before
entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall be sworn in
according to the laws of the State by anyone authorized to administer
oaths.

8. The council shall fix the salary of the mayor, clerk, commissioner
of the revenue, treasurer and sergeant or police officers which shall
not be increased or diminished during their term of office; and all
fees and costs charged and collected on the trial of all cases by the

mayor, both civil and criminal cases, shall be paid into the treasury of
the town, and the mayor shall have no personal pecuniary interest
therein.

9. The council may, in its discretion, appoint a board of health
for the town and invest it with authority for the prompt and efficient
performance of its duties.

10. The council shall, by ordinance, fix the time of its meetings.
It shall have authority to adopt such rules as it may deem proper for
the regulation of its proceedings and compel the attendance of its
members, and to punish its members for misconduct, and by a vote of
three-fourths of the whole council expel a member for good cause.

11. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business; but no ordinance or resolution shall be
adopted, having for its object the levying of taxes or appropriation of
moneys, except by a vote of two-thirds of the council. The mayor
shall preside at all meetings of the council, and in the absence or
inability of the mayor the members of the council present shall elect
one of their body to preside over said meetings, but the mayor or pre-
siding officer over said meetings shall not be entitled to vote, except
in case of a tle.

12. Limitations on powers and disqualifications—(a) Any mem-
ber of the council who shall have been convicted of a felony while
in office shall thereby forfeit his office.

(b) No member of the council or other officer shall be interested
directly or indirectly in the profits of any contract of work, or be finan-
cially interested, directly or indirectly, in the sale to the town of any
land, materials, supplies, or service (other than official services). Any
member of the council, or any other officer of the town, offending
against the provisions of this section, shall, upon conviction thereof,
be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned not more
than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court, and shall for-
feit his office. The prohibitions of this section shall not apply if the
council shall declare by unanimous vote of the members thereof that
the best interests of the town are to be served despite a personal inter-
est, direct or indirect.

13. Organization rules of the council—(a) At nine o’clock, ante
meridian, on the first day of September following a regular municipal
election, or if such day be a Sunday, then on the day following, the
council shall meet at the usual place for holding the meetings of the
council of the town, at which time the newly elected councilmen, after
first having taken the oaths prescribed by law, shall assume the duties
of their office. Thereafter the council shall meet at such times as may
be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, except that they shall regularly
meet not less than once each month. The mayor, or any two members
of the council, may call special meetings of the council, at any time
(at least twelve hours), or written notice, with the purpose of said
meeting stated therein, to each member, served personally or left at
his usual place of business or residence; or such meeting may be held
at any time without notice, provided all members of the council and
the mayor attend. No business other than that mentioned in the call
shall be considered at such meeting.

(b) All meetings of the council shall be public and any citizen
may have access to the minutes and records thereof at all reasonable
times.

(c) The mayor shall appoint the members of such boards, com-
mittees and commissions as are necessary for the conduct of its muni-
cipal affairs and for the government of the town. The mayor may ap-
point.all such other boards, committees and commissions as may be
deemed proper, and the council shall prescribe the powers and duties
thereof. ‘The council may determine its own rules of procedure, may
punish its own members for misconduct and may compel attendance of
members. It shall keep a journal of its proceedings. A majority of
all members of the council shall constitute a quorum to do business,
but a smaller number may adjourn from time to time, and compel the
attendance of absentees. All elections by the council shall be viva voce
and the vote recorded in the journal of the council.

14. Powers of mayor.—The mayor shall preside at the meetings
of the council and perform such other duties consistent with his office
as may be imposed by the council but he shall have no vote in the pro-
ceedings, except that of veto, or in the case of a tie. He shall be the
official head of the town, and he shall be clothed with all the powers and
authority in civil and criminal matters as may be prescribed by the laws
of the State. In times of public danger, or emergency, he may take
command of the police and maintain order and enforce the laws, and
for this purpose, may deputize such assistant policemen as may be
necessary. During his absence or disability, his duties shall be per-
formed by another member elected by the council. He shall authen-
ticate by his signature such instruments as the council, this charter, or
the laws of the State shall require.

15. Appointments or elections——Upon the passage of this act,
and thereafter on the first day of September following each regular
municipal election and organization of the council, or as soon there-
after as may be practicable, the council shall elect a town clerk, a town
treasurer, a town commissioner of the revenue, a sergeant, and such
other officers as may come within their jurisdiction, each of whom shall
serve at the pleasure of the council; provided, that the council may
elect the town clerk, town treasurer and a sergeant for terms of one
year each, beginning September first, subject to removal by the council
for cause; and in no event shal! the council elect any officer for a term
extending beyond the thirty-first day of August next succeeding each
regular biennial municipal election for members of the council.

16. Legislative procedure-——Except in dealing with parliamentary
procedure, 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.

17. Enactments.—(a) Each proposed ordinance, or resolution,
shall be introduced in a written or printed form, and the enacting clause
of all ordinances passed by the council shall substantially be “be it
ordained by the council of the town of Burkeville, Virginia.”

(b) No ordinance, or resolution having the effect of an ordinance,
or resolution suspending an ordinance, unless it be an emergency meas-
ure, shall be passed until it has been read at two meetings not less than
one 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 affirmative vote of four mem-
bers of the council may be confined to the reading of the title only.
Any ordinance or resolution read at one such meeting may be amended
and passed as amended at the next such meeting, provided that the
amendment does not materially change the ordinance. No ordinance
shall be amended unless such section or sections as are intended to be
amended shall be re-enacted. The ayes and noes shall be taken and
recorded upon the passage of all ordinances or resolutions and entered
upon the journal of the proceedings of the council. Except as other-
wise provided in this charter, an affirmative vote of a majority of the
members elected to the council shall be necessary to adopt any ordinance
or resolution.

18. Emergency measures.—(a) No ordinance passed by the
council shall take effect until at least thirty days from the date of its
passage, except that the council may, by the affirmative vote of two-
thirds of its members, pass emergency measures to take effect at the
time indicated therein.

(b) An emergency measure is an ordinance for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, property, health or safety, or pro-
viding for the daily operation of a municipal department. The emer-
gency shall be stated in every such measure. Ordinances appropriating
money may be passed as emergency measures, but no measure, selling
or conveying any real estate or making a grant, renewal, or extension of
a franchise or other special privilege or regulating the rate to be
charged for its service by any public utility, shall ever be so passed.

19. Record of publication—(a) Every ordinance, or resolution
having the effect of an ordinance, when passed shall be recorded by
the town clerk in a book kept for that purpose, and shall be authentt-
cated by the signature of the presiding officer and the town clerk.

(b) Every ordinance of a general or permanent nature shall be
published in full once within ten days after its final passage by posting
a copy thereof at the front door of the municipal building and at two
other public places in the town, or when ordered by the council by
publication in a newspaper published or circulated in the town for
such time as the council may direct; provided, that the foregoing re-
quirements as to publication shall not apply to ordinances reordained
in or by a general compilation or codification of ordinances printed by
authority of the council.

(c) A record or entry made by the town clerk, or a copy of such
record or entry when certified by him shall be prima facie evidence of
the terms of the ordinance and its due publication.
All ordinances and resolutions of the council may be read as evidence
in all courts and in all other proceedings in which it may be necessary
to refer thereto, either from the original record thereof, from a copy
thereof certified by the town clerk, or from any volume of ordinances
printed by authority of the council.

20. Printing—The council may, from time to time, direct the
publication, with suitable index, of the town ordinances.

21. Municipal elections—A municipal election shall be held on
the second Tuesday in June of every second year, beginning with the
year nineteen hundred and thirty, and shall be known as the regular
municipal election for mayor and councilmen. All other municipal
elections that may be held shall be known as special municipal elections.

Nothing in the laws of the State applying to party registration, en-
rollment or other party procedure, shall apply to registrations, nomina-
tions, and elections held hereunder. Except as herein otherwise pro-
vided, registration, nominations and elections held under this charter
shall be in accordance with the general laws of the State.

22. Method of conducting municipal elections.—The candidates at
any regular municipal election for the election of mayor or councilmen,
equal in number to the places to be filled, who shall receive the highest
number of votes at such election, shall be declared elected.

In any such election each elector shall be entitled to vote for as
many persons as there are vacancies to be filled, and no more: and
no elector shall in such election cast more than one vote for the same
person.

In counting the vote any ballot found to contain a greater number
of names for the office of mayor or councilmen, than the number of
vacancies in the council to be filled, shall be void, but no ballot shall be
void for containing a less number of names than is permitted hereby.

ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENTS

23. Enumeration of departments.—The following administrative
Jepartments are hereby authorized, and in the discretion of the council,
nay be created:

(a) Department of finance.

(b) Department of fire.

(c) Department of lights.

(d) Department of public property.

(e) Department of sewers.

(f{) Department of water.

24. (a) At the head of each department the mayor shall appoint
1 chairman.

(b) The council shall, by ordinance, prescribe and determine the
‘unctions and duties of each department and may create new depart-
nents, or combine existing departments and establish new departments
or special work, when, in its opinion, the proper administrations of
he town require it. :

25. The town clerk.—(a) The town clerk shall he elected in the
manner and for the term provided by this charter. fie shall be the
slerk of the council, shall attend all meetings thereof, and shall keep a
permanent record of its proceedings. He shall keep all papers, docu-
ments and records pertaining to the town, the custody of which is not
otherwise provided for.

(b) He shall be custodian of the town seal, and shall affix it to all
documents and instruments requiring the seal, and shall attest the same.
He shall give to the proper department or officials ample notice of the
expiration or termination of any franchises, contracts or agreements.

(c) He shall, upon final passage, transmit to the proper depart-
ments or officials copies of all ordinances or resolutions of the council
relating in any way to such officials. He shall perform such other
duties as are required by this charter or by the council by ordinance or
resolution.

26. The town treasurer—(a) The town treasurer shall be the
disbursing agent of the town and have the custody of all moneys, and
all evidences of value belonging to the town or held in trust by the
town.

(b) He shall receive all moneys belonging to and received by the
town and keep a correct account of all receipts from all sources and
expenditures of all departments. He shall collect all taxes, and assess-
ments, light bills, water rents, and other charges belonging to and pay-
able to the town, and for that purpose he is hereby vested with any
and all powers which are now or may hereafter be vested in county
and city treasurers for the collection of county, city and State taxes
under the general law.

(c) He shall pay no money out of the treasury except in the man-
ner prescribed in this charter.

(d) He shall keep and deposit all moneys or funds in such manner
and only in such places as may be determined by ordinance or by the
provisions of the law applicable thereto.

(e) He shall be subject to the supervision of the council and
shall perform such other duties not inconsistent with his office, have
such powers and be liable to such penalties as are now or may hereafter
be prescribed by law or ordinance.

(f) He shall make all such reports and pérform such other duties
not inconsistent with his office as may be required by the mayor or by
ordinance or by resolution of the council.

(g) The said treasurer shall not be entitled to any commission
whatsoever for handling the funds of the town, but he shall be paid
for his services as such treasurer such salary as may be provided by
the said council.

(h) He shall as soon as the commissioner of the revenue com-
pletes the land and personal property books take the said books anc
carefully audit the same, and compare them with the books of the
previous year. The land book shall be compared with the assessor’:
book lodged in the clerk’s office of Nottoway county, and the persona
property book shall be compared with the books of the previous year
and the said treasurer shall procure a copy of the poll books used ir
the election next preceding the assessment from which said books were
made, and he shall ascertain which of the citizens and voters, if any,
have not been assessed by the commissioner of the revenue, and the
list of those not assessed shall be laid before the town council at its
next meeting. The said treasurer shall examine said books and see
that the amount of tax is correctly extended in accordance with the
rate of taxation at that time in force, and the columns of said book
shall be carefully audited and the errors therein, if any, shall be cor-
rected. The commissioner of the revenue is required to be present
and render the treasurer such assistance as he may desire, and in case
of a disagreement between the commissioner and the treasurer, the
finance committee shall, upon being notified, at once determine the
question in dispute; when said books are corrected and audited the
total thereof shall be charged to the town treasurer on his account.
The treasurer shall take the delinquent lists and lay the same before
the finance committee, and it shall be the duty of said finance com-
mittee to carefully examine said delinquent report of both real and
personal tax. If said treasurer has returned any tax, either real or
personal, delinquent that should not under the provisions of the ordi-
nances of the town have been returned delinquent, the finance commit-
tee shall refuse to allow him credit therefor and shall strike from the
delinquent report any and all such taxes; after said report has been
corrected as herein provided, the treasurer will be credited with the
amount of the same.

(1) He shall perform such other duties as may be required of
him by this charter or by the council.

(j) Unless and until otherwise provided by ordinance the duties
of the offices of town clerk and town treasurer shall be performed by
one official.

27. The commissioner of revenue shall, subject to the supervision
of the council, perform such duties as may be required by the laws
of the State and the ordinances of the town, in relation to the assess-
ment of property and license taxes.

(b) He shall have power to administer oaths in the performance
of his official duties.

(c) He shall perform such other duties not inconsistent with his
office as may be prescribed for him in this charter, by the finance com-
mittee or by the council.

28. Public improvement contracts, et cetera—Any public work
or improvement, costing more than one thousand ($1,000.00) dollars,
shall be executed by contract, except where a specific work of improve-
ment is, by the council, authorized and directed to be done by force
account, such work to be based on detailed estimates submitted by the
department authorized to execute such work or improvement, and
approved by the council. All contracts for more than one thousand
dollars shall be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder in such man-
ner and under such bond as may be prescribed by ordinance and after
the mayor shall have made due advertisement for such time as the
council may prescribe, by newspaper or posted notices. But the mayo:
shall have the power to reject all of the bids and advertise again; anc
all advertisements shall contain a reservation of this right.

In an emergency requiring immediate action the council may pro.
ceed to do the work by procuring the required labor and material:
without the necessity of advertising.

29. Sinking fund provision—(a) There shall be set apart an.
nually from the revenues of the town a sinking fund equal to one pet
centum on the aggregate outstanding debt of the town, which by its
terms is not payable within one year, and the council may, in its dis-
cretion, annually or from time to time, set aside such additional sinking
fund as may be deemed proper.

(b) When the taxes on real and personal property are collected
each year the town treasurer shall take therefrom the said one per cen-
tum and such additional sum, if any, so set apart, and deposit the same
in a separate account to the credit of the sinking fund in such bank or
banks as the council may designate; and the said council may, if it
shall so elect, cause its sinking fund to be loaned on improved real
estate situated within the State, and secure the same by first mortgage
liens thereon, provided such funds shall not be loaned at a greater rate
than fifty per centum of the fair market value of such real estate.

(c) All sinking funds shall be used exclusively in the payment
or purchase and redemption of the outstanding bonds of the town, and
when such sinking funds are not required or may not within a rea-
sonable time be required for the payment of any bond of the town, or
cannot be used to advantage in the purchase and redemption of any
bonds of the town, which may be outstanding, the same shall be secure-
ly invested in interest bearing municipal, State or government bonds
or loaned upon otherwise unincumbered real estate, within the State,
upon a basis not exceeding fifty per centum of the fair cash value of
such real estate, or invested in other securities approved by the general
laws of the State for the investment of such funds, or deposited in
bank on a reasonable rate of interest. Such sinking funds may be
used in the payment or purchase and a redemption of all of its bonds.

(d) The council may require of any bank or banks receiving on
deposit its revenues or any of its sinking fund a fidelity bond.

30. Bond issues.—(a) The council may, in the name of and
tor the use of the town, contract debts and make and issue, or cause
to be made and issued as eviclence thereof, bonds, notes or other obli-
vations, upon the credit of the town, or solely upon the credit of specific
property owned by the town, or solely upon the credit of income de-
rived from property used in connection with any public utility owned
and operated by the town. But except as provided in subsection (b)
of this section no debt shall hereafter be contracted for a longer period
han that of the probable life of the work or object for which the
lebt is to be contracted, to be determined by the council, and not to ex-
eed thirty years.

(b) Bonds issued for the refunding of previous issues shall in no
ase be for a greater period than thirty vears.
(c) In lieu, however, of creating a sinking fund, or sinking tunds,
as in section twenty-nine herein provided, the town may issue bonds,
called “serial bonds,” payable in annual installments, the first of which
shall be payable at any time the council may prescribe in the ordinance
authorizing the issue of such bonds; and the last of which shall be
payable within the period of the probable life of the work or object for
which the debt evidenced by said bonds was created, ascertained and
certified as hereinbefore provided.

(d) Pending the issuance and sale of any bonds, notes or other
obligations by this section authorized, or in anticipation of the receipt
of taxes and revenues of the current fiscal year, it shall be lawful for
the town to borrow money temporarily and to issue notes or other evi-
dences of indebtedness therefor, and from time to time to renew such
temporary loans, or to use current funds, to be ultimately repaid from
the proceeds of said bonds, notes or other obligations, or from the town
taxes and revenues, as the case may be; provided, that the proceeds of
sale of bonds shall not be used, except for the purposes set out in
this subsection, or for permanent improvements and utilities or refund-
ing matured issues, unless approved by vote of the people.

(e) Restrictions on loans and credits—The credit of the town
shall not directly, or indirectly, under any device or pretense whatso-
ever, be granted to or in aid of any person, association or corporation.
The council shall not issue any bonds, notes or other obligations of the
town, or increase the indebtedness thereof, to an amount greater than
eighteen per centum of the assessed valuation of the real estate in the
town, subject to taxation ; provided, however, that in determining the
limitation of the power of the town to incur indebtedness there shall
not be included the classes of indebtedness mentioned in subsections
(a) and (b) of section one hundred and twenty-seven of the Con-
stitution of the State.

(f) Bonds based solely upon the credit of specific property owned
by the town, or solely upon the credit of income derived from property
used in connection with any public utility owned or operated by the
town, shall be issued subject to this charter and any law applicable
thereto.

(g) Every ordinance authorizing the issuance of bonds shall spect-
fy the purpose or purposes for which they are to be issued, the aggre-
gate amount of the bonds, the term for which they shall be issued, and
the maximum rate of interest to be paid thereon. Any such ordinance
may be amended by ordinance at any time before the bonds to be
affected by such amendment have been sold. All other matters relating
to such bonds may be determined by resolution within the limitation:
prescribed by such ordinance or by this charter.

(h) However, if there shall be omitted from this charter any pro.
vision essential to the valid authorization, sale, execution and issuanc«
of any of the bonds of said town, the provisions of the general law
with reference to similar bonds shall supply said omission.

(i) Any bonds issued by the town under this charter shall be
signed by the mayor and attested by the clerk under the seal of the town
and shall be made payable at the office of the town treasurer or suck
other place, in or out of the State, as the council may provide. Suck
bonds shall be advertised by the mayor and sold by the town treasurer
under supervision of the mayor and clerk, and the sale reported to anc
approved by the council, and the proceeds from said sale shall be paic
to the town treasurer.

31. Unless and until otherwise provided by ordinance the fiscal
year of the town of Burkeville shall begin January first, and end De-
cember thirty-first.

32. Payments of claims.—Payments by the town shall be made
only upon vouchers certified to by the head of the appropriate com-
mittee, or other division of the town government, and by means of
warrants on the town treasurer, issued by the treasurer and counter-
signed by the mayor. The finance committee shall examine all pay-
rolls, bills and other claims and demands against the town and no
warrant shall be issued for payment unless he finds that the claim is
in proper form, correctly computed and duly certified; that it is justly
and legally due and payable, and that an appropriation has been made
therefor which has not been exhausted, or that the payment has been
otherwise legally authorized; and that there is money in the town
treasury to make payment. He may require any claimant to make
oath to the validity of a claim. He may investigate any claim, and for
such purpose may examine witnesses under oath, and if he finds it is
fraudulent, erroneous or otherwise invalid, shall not issue a warrant
therefor.

33. Certification No contract, agreement or other obligation in-
volving the expenditure of money shall be entered into, nor shall any
ordinance, resolution or order for the expenditure of money be passed
by the council or be authorized by an officer of the town unless the
treasurer shall first certify to the council or to the proper officer, as
the case may be, that the money required for such contract, agreement,
obligation or expenditure is in the treasury or safely assured to be
torthcoming and available in time to comply with or meet such con-
tract, agreement, obligation or expenditure; and no contract, agree-
ment or other obligation involving the expenditure of money payable
from the proceeds of bonds of the town shall be entered into until the
issuance and sale of such bonds have been duly authorized in accord-
ance with the provisions of this charter in reference to town bonds.

TAXATION

34, License taxes——(a) License taxes may be imposed by ordi-
ance on businesses, trades, professions and callings and upon the per-
sons, firms, associations and corporations engaged therein, and the
igents thereof, except in cases where taxation by the localities shall be
orohibited by the general law of the State, and nothing herein shall
9e construed to repeal or amend any general law, with respect to
‘axation.

(b) The council may subject any person, who, without having first
436 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [VA.

obtained a license therefor, shall do any act or follow any business,
occupation, vocation, pursuit, or calling in the town for which a license
may be required by ordinance, to such fine or penalty as it is authorized
to impose for any violation of its laws.

(c) For every town license granted by the treasurer under this
charter he shall charge a fee to be prescribed by an ordinance not in ex-
cess of seventy-five cents, and for transferring a license, the fee shall be
fifty cents; all such fees shall be paid to the treasurer by the person ob-
taining the license or transfer and such license or transier may be with-
held until the fees be paid into the town treasury for town purposes, arid
the commissioner of revenue shall be paid a salary in lieu thereof.

35. General taxes—(a) The council may impose a tax of one
dollar per annum upon all residents of the town who have attained the
age of twenty-one years, except such persons as may be exempt by law.

(b) The council may impose a tax upon every dog in the town,
unless the general law of the State provides for such tax on behalf of
the town.

(c) The council of the town is authorized to, and shall annually,
order a town levy for so much as in their opinion is necessary to be
raised in that way, in addition to what may be received from. licenses
and from other sources, to meet the appropriation made and to be made
and all sums required by law to be raised for the purposes of the town.
The levy so ordered may be upon all persons in the said town above
the age of twenty-one, not exempt by law from the payment of the
State capitation tax, and upon any property therein subject to local
taxation and not expressly segregated to the State for purposes of State
taxation only, and on such other subjects as may be at the time assessed
with State taxes against persons residing therein.

It is hereby expressly provided that said council shall, in its discre-
tion, be authorized to fix such annual levy on property subject to taxa-
tion in the town for town purposes, without any limit as to the rate
thereof, any provision of the general laws of the State to the contrary
notwithstanding, provided that said council shall not fx such levy on
property partially segregated to the State for purposes of State taxation
at a higher rate than is or may be permitted by the general laws relating
thereto.

(d) That all taxes, whether general or special, assessed upon any
land or lot in said town, are hereby declared to constitute a lien upon
such land or lot, as to general taxes and levies from the commencement
of the year for which they were assessed, and as to special taxes and
levies from the time assessed, and if the treasurer of the said town
shall not be able, with due diligence, to collect the said taxes by the first
day of August of the year after the same were assessed, he shall make
out lists of such as cannot be collected, in the same manner as county
treasurers are required to do in cases of delinquent State taxes, and
present said lists to the said council at its first regular meeting there-
after. The said council shall examine said lists, and if approved, shall
credit the said treasurer with the amount of same, and shall have its
clerk certify a copy of said list to the county clerk of Nottoway county,
to be by him recorded in the current delinquent land book provided for
the record of delinquent taxes on real estate due the State, and shall
also certify a copy of the said list to the treasurer of Nottoway county
to be used by said treasurer in accordance with the law regulating the
sale of delinquent lands; and in the said book there shall also be col-
umns for the entering of the names of purchasers and the amount and
date of sales of the real estate sold by the said county treasurer for
delinquent taxes due the said town. ‘This record shall be held as notice
of the lien thereof, and the said real estate shall be liable for such tax
as against creditors and purchasers, or other persons into whose hands
the said real estate may pass. The said clerk shall be entitled for each
entry of lots in said record book to a fee of ten cents, and a fee of ten
cents for the entry of each name of purchasers, with date of sale, to be
paid by the town, and a fee of twenty-five cents for each redemption
entered, to be paid by the person redeeming the same, and to be charged
against and be a lien upon said land along with the taxes and levies
against same. When the county treasurer sells the land for non-
payment of State taxes due the State, he shall include in such taxes
the amount due the town, and he shall collect and account for same,
except where the State is the purchaser. If the land is not delinquent
for State taxes, he shall, nevertheless, sell for the town taxes. The
sales and report of sales and confirmation of same shall be in all respects
in accordance with the law connected with and regulating the sales of
delinquent lands for the nonpayment of State taxes, and the said council
shall charge the treasurer with whatever may be due from him on
account of said sales, less a commission of ten per centum to the said
treasurer. No land or lot, or parts thereof, shall be sold for less than
the amount of taxes, levies, interest, penalties and costs, and if no bids
shall be received at such sale for said amount and the Commonwealth
is not the purchaser, the same shall be bid in and purchased by the
said treasurer for the said town, in which event the treasurer shall
execute to the said town a certificate of sale, in which the description
and local situation of the property, the name of the person assessed with
same, the amount of taxes, levies, interest, penalties and costs, and
the date of sale, shall be specified, and shall deliver the same to the
clerk of the council to be by him preserved, and also to the county
clerk of Nottoway county, to be by him recorded in said book. Any
one having the right to redeem said land may redeem same within the
time allowed by law, for the redemption of real estate sold for de-
linquent taxes due the State by paying to the county clerk of Nottoway
county the taxes, levies, penalties, interest and costs due upon said
land. At the expiration of the time within which the said real estate
may be redeemed as provided by law for the redemption of real estate
sold for delinquent taxes due the State, if same has not been redeemed,
a deed shall be executed to the purchaser other than the town of Burke-
ville by the county clerk of Nottoway county, according to the pro-
visions of the statute law, providing for the execution of deeds to pur-
chasers of delinquent lands sold for State taxes. The council of the
said town shall, after four months from the expiration of the time for
the redemption of such real estate as it may have under the terms of
this charter prescribed, have recorded in the deed book of the clerk’s
office of the county clerk of Nottoway county the certificate of sale
made by the county treasurer and hereinbefore referred to with the
oath of the said county clerk attached thereto, that the said real estate
has not been redeemed ; and thereupon the said town of Burkeville shall
acquire an absolute title to same; provided, that four months’ notice
of its intention to have such certificate recorded shall be given to all
persons having the right to redeem the said real estate, and any one
having such right may redeem the same at any time before the expira-
tion of said four months. The said certificate, or record thereof, or
a certified copy thereof, shall be evidence of the facts therein stated,
in all courts and other places of this Commonwealth; provided, how-
ever, that the faliure to obtain or record such certificate shall not
affect the lien of the town of Burkeville for the taxes assessed against
such real estate, but the said town may, at any time, elect to enforce
its lien for taxes in a court of equity, and release its rights as pur-
chaser or to become a purchaser of said real estate. The said council
shall have the right to impose a penalty of five per centum upon all
taxes and levies not paid by December first of the year in which the
same are assessed.

(e) If the commissioner of revenue ascertains that any person
or any real or personal property, or salary, has not been assessed for
town taxation for any year, or that the same has been assessed at less
than the law requires for any year, or that the taxes thereon for any
cause have not been realized, it shall be the duty of the commissioner
to list the same and assess town taxes thereon at the rate prescribed
for that year, adding thereto interest at the rate of six per centum per
annum. Where the same was omitted by no fault of the person charged
with the taxes, no interest shall be charged.

(f{) The provisions of subsections (d) and (e) of section forty-
two of this charter, in so far as applicable, shall apply to the assess-
ment and collection and to the administration of the assessment and
collection of taxes on personal property and all classes thereof.

(g) All goods and chattels of any person against whom taxes for
the town are assessed 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.

A tenant by whom payment is made or from whom payment is ob-
tained, by distress or otherwise, of taxes or levies due the town, by a
person under whom he holds shall have credit for the same against such
person out of the rents he may owe him, except when the tenant is
bound to pay such taxes and levies by an express contract with such
person. And where taxes or levies are paid to the town by any fiduci-
ary on any estate in his hands or for which he may be liable, such taxes
and levies shall be refunded out of the said estate.

36. Special assessments——(a) All local or special assessments
shall be made and assessed by the council under such regulations as it
may by ordinance prescribe.

“Provisions shall be made by ordinance for the method of levying
and apportioning such special assessments, for the publication and for
giving to such owners an opportunity to be heard before final action on
the assessment.

Any person affected by such special or local assessment may appeal
from the decision of the council as to any such assessment against him
to the circuit court of Nottoway county.

(b) The council may by ordinance provide the method of making
sale of any lands, lots or premises for nonpayment of the amount of any
local or special assessment thereon, or for the nonpayment of any ex-
pense incurred by the town in abating any nuisance thereon, or cutting
or removing weeds therefrom as provided in section four (subsection
seventeen hereof ).

37. Audits of accounts——Upon the death, resignation, removal or
expiration of the term of any officer of the town, the council may order
an audit and investigation to be made of the accounts of such officer and
such report shall be filed with the said council. The council may at
any time provide for an examination or audit of the accounts of any
officer or department of the town government.

Pupsutic PRorERTY AND FRANCHISE

38. Transfer of franchise-—(a) No public utility franchise shall
be transferable except with the approval of the council expressed by
ordinance, and copies of all authorized transfers and mortgages or
other documents affecting the title or use of any such public utility shall
be filed with the town clerk within ten days after the execution and
delivery thereof.

(b) Rights reserved to the town.—All grants, renewals, exten-
sions or amendments of public utility franchise, whether so provided
in the ordinance or not, shall be subject to the right of the town.

(1) To repeal the same by ordinance at any time for misuse or
nonuse or for failure to begin construction within the time prescribed,
or otherwise to comply with the terms prescribed.

(2) To require proper and adequate extensions of plants and
services and the maintenance of the plants and fixtures at the highest
practical standard of efficiency.

(3) To impose such other regulations as may be conducive to the
safety, welfare and convenience of the public.

(4) Extensions—All extensions of public utilities within the town
limits shall become a part of the aggregate property of such public
utility, shall be operated as such and shall be subject to all the obliga-
tions and reserved rights contained in this charter and in any original
grant hereafter made. The right to use and maintain such extension
shall terminate with the original grant.

(5) However, if there shall be omitted from this charter any
provision essential to the valid sale, or granting, renewing, extending,
or amending, any franchise, privilege, lease, or right of any kind to
use any public property therein, the provisions of the general law with
reference to this subject shall supply said omissions; provided, how-
ever, that nothing contained in this charter shall affect any franchise
heretofore granted, or any contract heretofore made with a public utility
corporation, nor shall anything contained in this charter be construed
to conflict with the jurisdiction of the corporation commission of the
State of Virginia.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

39. WVacancies.—Vacancies in any offices provided for in this
charter shall be filled by the authority and in the manner provided herein
for the original appointment or election of such officers.

40. Salaries of councilmen.—The council shall have the right to
fix salaries for the members thereof, but not to exceed the sum of ten
dollars per month, and the same shall not be increased or diminished
during their respective terms of office.

41. Oath of office and qualification Except as otherwise provided
by general law or by this charter, all officers elected or appointed under
the provisions of this charter shall take the oath of office and execute
such bond as may be required by general law, by this charter, or by or-
dinance or resolution of the council and file the same with the town
clerk, before entering upon the discharge of their duties, and if the
requirements of this section have not been complied with by an officer
within thirty days after the term of office shall have begun or after
his appointment to fill a vacancy, then such office shali be considered
vacant.

42. Officers to administer oaths——The commissioner of the rev-
enue, town clerk and town treasurer, shall have power to administer
oaths, to take and sign affidavits in the discharge of their respective
official duties.

43. Bond.—All officers elected or appointed under the provisions
of this charter shall, unless otherwise provided by general law or by
this charter, execute such bonds, with such approved corporate security,
as may be required by general law, by this charter, or by ordinance or
resolution of the council, and file the same with the town clerk before
entering upon the discharge of their duties. The town shall pay the
premiums on such bonds.

44, Investigations—The council, the mayor and any officer, board
or commission authorized by them, or either of them, shall have power
to make investigation as to town affairs, and for that purpose to sub-
poena witnesses, administer oaths, and compel the production of books
and papers.

Any person refusing or failing to attend, or to testify or to produce
such books and papers, may by summons issued by such board or
officer be summoned before the mayor of said town by the board or
official making such investigation, and upon his failure to give satis-
factory explanation of such failure or refusal may be fined by the
mayor not exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisoned not exceeding
thirty days, and such person shall have the right to appeal to the circuit
court of Nottoway county. Any person who shall give false testimony
under oath at any such investigation shall be liable to prosecution for
perjury.

45. Revocable permits.—Every permit given or authorized by the
council or mayor in violation of the ordinances of the town establishing
fire limits and providing for the character of materials which may be
used in the construction of buildings within such fire limits, and every
permit authorizing the violation of the ordinances of the town relating
to obstructions in, over and under, or encroachments on the streets,
alleys, parks and other public grounds and property of the town, and
every permit authorizing the violation of any ordinance of the town
shall be deemed to be a license and not a franchise or grant, and shall
be revocable at the will of the council.

46. Books and papers delivered to successor or town clerk.—Any
person holding a municipal office and vacating the same on account of
removal or otherwise shall deliver over to his successor in office, or
to the town clerk, all property and books and papers belonging to the
town, or appertaining to such office which may be in his possession or
under his control, and in case of his failure to do so within ten days
after he shall have vacated the office, or within such time thereafter as
the council shall elect and upon due notification or request of the town
clerk, he shall forfeit and pay to the said town a sum not in excess of
five hundred dollars, to be sued for and recovered with costs; and all
books, records and documents used in such office by virtue of any pro-
visions of this act or of any ordinances or resolution of the council,
or by order of any superior officer of said town, shall be deemed the
property of said town as appertaining to said office, and the incumbent
of such office and his sureties on his bonds shall be responsible therefor.

47. All elections shall be held at such place or places within said
town as the council by ordinance may prescribe.

48. Working prisoners.—Subject to the general laws of the State
regulating the working of those convicted of offenses against the State,
the council shall have the power to provide by ordinance for the em-
ployment or the working, either within or without the town limits, or
within or without any town prison or jail, of all persons sentenced to
confinement in said prison or jail for the violation of the laws of the
State of Virginia, or the ordinances of the town of Burkeville.

49. Penalty for officers failing to perform duties—If any officer
of the town of Burkeville, whether he be elected by vote of the people
or by the council, or appointed by the council, or the mayor, who shall
fail or refuse to peform any of the duties required of him by this
charter or by ordinance or resolution of the town council, shall be fined
not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars for each
offense, and he and his sureties on his official bond shall be liable for
all damages which may accrue to the town or any other person by rea-
son of such failure or refusal.
50. Town plan.—The town council may cause to be prepared and
adopted a comprehensive town plan providing for the future improve-
ment and growth of the town within and without the town limits, and
including the altering and extension of streets, and opening of new sub-
divisions, the changing and improving the channels of the creeks run-
ning into and through the town, the location and opening of the most
practical and direct highways from the town into the adjoining country,
the improvement of entrances and terminals to and from the town, in-
cluding those of public service corporations looking to the future har-
monious development of a town plan, the planning for playgrounds,
parks and boulevard system, the location of public buildings, including
school buildings and other public works, and public utilities, and all
such other things as will tend to make the town of Burkeville a more
convenient, attractive and modern town.

The council may, in its discretion, appoint an advisory town plan-
ning commission, and define its powers and prescribe its duties by
ordinance.

51. Laying out streets, rights therein, and subdividing lands and
recording plats thereof —(a) Whenever any street, alley or lane sha"
have been opened to and used as such by the public for the period of
five years, the same shall thereby become a street, alley or lane for all
purposes ; provided, that the town council shall, by ordinance. so declare,
and after such declaration the town shall have the same authority and
jurisdiction over and right and interests therein as it has by law over
the streets, alleys and lanes laid out by it.

And any street or alley, park or land reserved for other public pur-
poses, in the division or subdivision into lots of any portion of the
territory within the corporate limits of the town by a plat or plan of
record shall be deemed and held to be dedicated to the public use, and
the council shall have authority, upon the petition of any person in-
terested therein or upon its own initiative, to open such street or alley,
park or lane reserved for other public purposes, or any portion of the
same. No agreement between, or release of interest by the person
owning the lands immediately contiguous to any such alley or street,
park or land reserved for other public purposes, whether the same has
been opened and used by the public or not, shall avail or operate to
abolish said alley or street, park or land reserved for other public
purposes, so as to divest the interest of the public therein, or the author-
ity of the council over the same. Notwithstanding anything in this
section contained, the said town shall not be liable for any accidents
which may occur upon any street, alley, boulevard, or way, whether
heretofore or hereafter laid out, until the said street, boulevard, alley or
way shall have been accepted or declared by the town council.

(b) The said town shall have the use and control of all streets,
avenues and alleys, both below and above ground.

(c) No plat of any subdivision of lots or lands within the town,
or contiguous to its corporate limits, such as is mentioned in section
fifty-two hundred and seventeen of the Code of Virginia, shall be
recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of Nottoway
county, as provided by said section fifty-two hundred and seventeen of
the Code of Virginia until the same shall have been submitted to the
council and approved by the council by ordinance or resolution, a copy
of which shall be certified thereon by the town clerk and mayor, and
recorded with such plat.

(d) Before approving such plat, and thereby accepting the dedi-
cation of the streets, alleys, parks and public places thereon, the council
shall require that the streets and alleys thereon shall be properly laid out
and located with reference to the topography of the land so platted
and the relation thereof to the streets and alleys contiguous thereto and
the adjoining lands, both as to connections and widths, which widths
of such.streets and alleys shall be plainly marked in figures or written
on such plat, and which streets and alleys shall be laid out in harmony
with the general plan of the town.

(e) And, before approving such plat, and thereby accepting the
dedication of the streets and alleys thereon, the council shall require
the owner thereof to execute and deliver to the town of Burkeville a
release and waiver of any claim or claims for damages which such
owner, his heirs, successors or assigns may have or acquire against
the town of Burkeville, by reason of establishing proper grade lines
on and along such streets and alleys and by reason of doing necessary
grading or filling for the purposes of placing such streets and alleys
upon the proper grade and releasing the town of Burkeville from
building any retaining wall or walls along the streets and alleys and
property lines; and the council may require such release and waiver
to be written and executed on said plat and recorded in said clerk’s
office of the circuit court of Nottoway county.

And the council may, in its discretion, require the owner of such
platted lands to submit profiles of such streets and alleys, showing
the contour thereof, together with proper grade lines laid thereon, and
if and when the council is satisfied that the proper grade lines are laid
on such profiles, the profiles shall be approved by the council and re-
corded by the owner or at his expense in the record of profiles of
streets and alleys of the town, and the council may, in its discretion,
require such release and waiver to be made with reference thereto.

({) Before approving any such plat of any subdivision of lots or
lands the town council may, at its discretion, require the owner of such
lots or lands to grade the streets and alleys therein, according to grade
lines approved and established by the council.

(g) Before approving any such plat of any such subdivision of
lots or lands within the town, the council may, in its discretion, re-
quire the owner thereof to lay out and establish proper building lines
thereon, and to show on such plat that all conveyances of lots shown
on such plat are to be made with reference thereto for the benefit of the
respective lot owners and the town of Burkeville.

(h) Before approving any such plat of any such subdivision of
lots or lands the town council may, in its discretion, require the owner
thereof to designate and establish segregation districts thereon, as
is provided by sections thirty hundred and forty-three, thirty hundred
and forty-four, thirty hundred and forty-five, thirty hundred and forty-
six, thirty hundred and forty-seven, thirty hundred and forty-eight,
thirty hundred and fort-nine, thirty hundred and fifty, thirty hundred
and fifty-one, thirty hundred and fifty-two and thirty hundred and fifty-
three of the Code of Virginia.

52. Powers of policemen—For the purpose of enabling the town
to execute its duties and powers, each member of the police force and
the sergeant are hereby made and constituted a conservator of the peace
and endowed with all the power of a constable in criminal cases and all
other powers which under the laws of the State of Virginia and of the
town may be necessary to enable him to discharge the duties of his
office.

53. Use of county jail by town.—The council shall have power
to enforce the collection of all fines not exceeding five hundred dollars,
and imprisonment not exceeding twelve months, for the violation of
any of the ordinances of the said town, and may commit to the jail of
the county of Nottoway, for safekeeping and confinement, all prisoners
who shall be sentenced to imprisonment under the ordinances of the
said town; and until such fines and costs shall have been paid, compel
such person or persons so committed to the said jail for violation of
such ordinances to work on the streets and public works, or buildings
of said town for a term not exceeding twelve months, and shall have
exclusive jurisdiction in all cases arising under the ordinances of said
town, and to issue any and all proper process, whether mesne or final
which may be necessary to enforce its authority.

94. General powers.—Said council shall have power to pass all
ordinances, regulations, or orders not contrary to the Constitution and
laws of the United States, or of this State, which the said council may
deem necessary and proper for the welfare of said town, or any of its
citizens, and such other powers as are now or may hereafter be vested
in it by the laws of this State, and to amend or repeal the same at its
pleasure, and to enforce the observance of such ordinances, orders, and
regulations under penalties not exceeding five hundred dollars, or im-
prisonment not exceeding twelve months, or both, fines to be recovered,
with costs, in the name of said town before the mayor, or any council-
man of said town, in the absence of the mayor, and applied in aid of
the taxes imposed upon said town.

55. Ordinances to continue in force.—All ordinances now in force
in the town of Burkeville, not inconsistent with this charter, shall be
and remain in force until altered, amended or repealed by the council
of said town.

56. Partial invalidity—If any clause, sentence, paragraph, or
part of this act, shall, for any reason, be adjudged by any court of
competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect,
impair or invalidate the remainder of said act, but shall be confined in
its operations to the clause, sentence, paragraph, or part thereof directly
involved in the controversy in which said judgment shall have been
rendered.

57. Citation of act——This act may for all purposes be referred to
or cited as the Burkeville charter of nineteen hundred and thirty.

58. General laws to apply—The enumeration of particular powers
and authority in this charter shall not be deemed or held to be ex-
clusive, but in addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied hereby,
or appropriate to the exercise thereof, the said town shall have and
may exercise all other powers which are now or may hereafter be
possessed or enjoyed by towns under the Constitution and general laws
of this State.

59. Repealing clause—All acts and parts of acts in conflict with
this charter are hereby repealed, in so far as they affect the provisions
of this charter, and former charters and amendments thereto for the
town of Burkeville are hereby repealed.

60. When charter takes effect—In order that this act may be
given effect as soon as practicable, an emergency is declared to exist,
and this act shall be in force from its passage.