An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-299, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to devices signalling intention to turn or stop and rules therefor.
Volume 1968 Law 99
Law Body
Chap. 195.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act of the general assembly of
Virginia chartering the city of Buena Vista, approved February 15, 1892.
[H B 72]
Approved March 22, 1930
I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
of the general assembly, entitled an act to provide a charter for the
city of Buena Vista, approved February fifteenth, eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:
Section 1. The territory contained within the corporate limits
of Buena Vista as prescribed by said act shall remain unchanged.
Section 2. The administration and government of said city shall
be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor; one board
to be called the common council of the city of Buena Vista; and in
such other officers and boards as are hereinafter provided for or may
be appointed by the common council, or prescribed by State laws for
cities of this class.
Section 3. The municipal officers of the said city shall consist of
a mayor, a treasurer, twelve councilmen, a clerk of the corporation
court, an attorney for the Commonwealth, a commissioner of the reve-
nue, a sergeant, a coroner, a justice of the peace for each ward and
a constable for the city.
Section 4. A municipal election shall be held on the second Tues-
day in June, nineteen hundred and thirty and every second year there-
after which shall be known as the regular election for the election of
councilmen and mayor. Three councilmen from each ward shall be
elected at the June election of nineteen hundred and thirty and serve
for four years and three councilmen from each ward and a mayor
for the city shall be elected at the June election of nineteen hundred
and thirty-two, all of whom shall serve for four years, beginning their
terms of office on the first day of September following their election.
There shall be elected by the qualified voters of said city on Tues-
day after the first Monday in November, nineteen hundred and thirty-
three and every four years thereafter, the following officers; a city
treasurer, a commissioner of the revenue, an attorney for the Com-
monwealth, a city sergeant, a coroner, one justice of the peace for each
ward and one constable for said city who shall hold their offices for
four years from the first day of January following their election, and
until their successors are duly elected and qualified, unless sooner re-
muved from office; and there shall be elected as prescribed by the gen-
eral assembly of this State one clerk of the court who shall hold his
office for eight years. All of said elections shall be conducted under
the general laws of this State, and when two or more persons are run-
ning for the same office, the one receiving the highest number of votes
shall be declared elected. The council may in its discretion combine
in one person, an elective and an appointive office, where the duties of
such offices do not conflict.
The mayor, the councilmen and all elective officers before entering
upon the duties of their respective offices shall be sworn according to
the laws of this State by any one authorized to administer oaths under
the laws of this State. If any person elected or appointed to any office
in said city shall neglect to take the oath of office required of him for
sixty days after receiving notice of his election or appointment or for
the like period of time shall neglect to give bond as required of him he
shall be considered as having declined such office and the same may
be declared vacant and the vacancy filled as provided in this act.
Section 5. The common council shall have, subject to the pro-
visions of this act, the control of the fiscal and municipal affairs of
said city and of all the property, real and personal, belonging to said
city, and may make such ordinances and resolutions as they may deem
necessary to carry out the powers vested in them, and may name com-
mittees and give them power to act for the common council, or delegate
to the mayor certain powers and duties, which may expedite action
and relieve committee chairmen.
Section 6. The city shall be divided into two wards as follows:
The first ward shall consist of all that portion of said city south of
the middle line of Twenty-second street and the second ward shall
consist of all that portion of said city north of the middle or center
line of Twenty-second street. Each ward shall have six councilmen.
CITY MANAGER
Section 7. The salary of the mayor shall be fixed by the common
council, and his salary shall not be reduced during his term of office,
and the salary of the mayor shall be fixed before his election in June
and he shall receive no other emoluments from the city for his services.
By virtue of his office he shall act as police justice in criminal cases
and shall have full power to impose all penalties prescribed by city
ordinances and State laws in misdemeanor cases arising within said
city, and shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the courts of Rock-
bridge county in criminal cases arising within one mile of the corporate
limits of said city, and such additional concurrent jurisdiction as may
be given by State laws in prohibition cases, but with the additional
provision that any person accused may appeal to the corporation court
of said city, within ten days from time convicted. In felony cases he
shall have the same jurisdiction as justices of the peace of this State to
hold preliminary hearings and bind those accused over to the grand
jury of the said city.
He shall keep a book or regular account of all fines and costs im-
posed by him which account shall be open during business hours, to
inspection by the city attorney or any member of the common council,
and said fines shall be collected by him and turned over to the city
treasurer each month (the Commonwealth fines to the clerk of the
corporation court) and the costs paid by him to those entitled to them.
He shall meet with the common council at their regular meeting
each month and report to them the amount of fines collected for the
said city and make such recommendations regarding the improvements
and government of said city as he may deem proper or as the common
council may require of him.
He shall exercise a constant supervision over the police force, and
all subordinate officers and have power and authority to investigate
their acts and he shall have power to suspend any policeman or any
appointive officer of said city for misconduct in office or neglect of
duty but no such suspension shall be made without reasonable notice
to the person complained of and an opportunity afforded him to be
1930] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY tote
heard in his defense. On suspension of any such person the mayor
shall report the same to the common council at its next regular meet-
ing for their consideration; but in no case shall it be final unless rati-
fied by three-fourths of all the twelve councilmen. Elective officers
of said city shall be suspended or removed as required by State laws.
In the absence or inability of the mayor, the president of the coun-
cil, or in his absence or inability, the vice-president of the council, shall
discharge the municipal duties of the mayor, or the common council
may name some person to act.
If a vacancy occur in the office of mayor by death, resignation or
removal, the common council shall select some one to fill out the un-
expired term, provided however that if there be a June municipal elec-
tion two years or more before his term expires a new mayor shall be
elected to fill out the unexpired term, after such election.
Section 8. The common council of said city shall be composed of
twelve members. Each ward shall have six members, qualified to
hold office, who shall be elected by popular vote. |
The council shall meet to organize on the first legal day in September,
nineteen hundred and thirty, and every two years thereafter and shall
elect one of its members president and one for vice-president, and shall
elect a clerk of the council and a city attorney for the ensuing two
years. The president shall preside over the council, when there, and
may call special meetings when he thinks it necessary. A special meet-
ing of the council may be called by the clerk when three members of the
council request the same in writing. The council shall meet once each
month in regular meetings and it may, by ordinance, fix the date of its
regular meetings. No business shall be transacted at any special meet-
ing except the business for which it was called.
The common council shall have authority to adopt such rules and
appoint such officers, committees, clerks, and assistants as it may deem
necessary for the regulation and conduct of its business and the busi-
ness of the city. It may compel the attendance of absent members and
punish its members for disorderly conduct, and expel a member for
malfeasance or misfeasance in office, by a vote of three-fourths of the
whole council. The council shall keep a minute book in which their
clerk shall note the proceedings of the council and shall record the pro-
ceedings at large and keep the same properly indexed.
The meetings of the council shall be open to the public except when
the public welfare shall require secrecy.
A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business, but no ordinance shall be passed or reso-
lution adopted having for its object the appropriation of money except
by the concurrence of at least three-fourths of the members of the
council.
No vote or question decided at a regular meeting shall be recon-
sidered at a special meeting unless there shall be at least three-fourths
of the members present, and two-thirds of them concur.
Section 9. In addition to powers otherwise mentioned the said city
shall have power:
(a) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in said city such
sums of money as the council shall deem necessary for the purposes
of the city, and in such manner as said council shall deem expedient, in
accordance with the Constitution and laws of this State and of the
United States ; provided, however, that it shall not impose a tax to ex-
ceed two dollars and fifty cents on the one hundred dollars of the
assessed value of the real estate and personal property in this city.
(b) To impose special or local assessments for side-walks and
other iocal improvements and enforce payment thereof; provided, how-
ever, that such special improvements shall be made only with the con-
sent in writing of a majority of the property owners affected. This
may be in addition to the regular annual tax above mentioned.
(c) To contract debts, borrow money, and make and issue evi-
dences of indebtedness, subject to the provisions of the Constitution
of Virginia and the laws of this State.
(d) To expend the money of the city for all lawful purposes.
(e) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or other-
wise, property, real or personal, or any interest therein, within or with-
out said city for any of the purposes of the city, and to hold, improve,
sell, lease, mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of the same or any
part thereof.
(f) To make and maintain public improvements of all kinds, in-
cluding municipal and other public buildings, markets, fire and police
departments, to acquire and maintain and operate public utilities, et
cetera, within or without said city.
(g) To acquire in any lawful manner in the city, or without, such
water lands and lands protecting water sheds as the council of said
city shall deem necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate
water supply for said city and of piping or conducting the same; to lay
all necessary mains; 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 said water supply
and for protecting the same from pollution; and for this purpose to
exercise full police powers and sanitary patrol over all the lands com-
prised within the limits of the water shed tributary to any such water
supply; to impose and enforce adequate 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 anc
all acts likely to impair the purity thereof; and to acquire lands or ma-
terial for such use.
The said city may sell or supply to persons, firms or industries re-
siding or located in said city or without said city any surplus of wate
it may have over and above the amount required to supply its own in:
habitants. Said city shall impose and enforce water rates and rates anc
charges for public utilities and industries, subject to regulations of
State corporation commission, or other .State regulations.
(h) To establish, open, widen, extend, close, grade, improve, con-
struct, maintain, light, sprinkle and clean, public highways, streets,
alleys, sidewalks and parks within said city; to construct, maintain, and
operate bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, sewers, and drains, and to
regulate the use of all such highways and public grounds; to plant and
maintain shade trees along the streets and highways, abolish and pre-
vent grade crossings over the same by railroads in the manner pro-
vided by law; regulate the operation and speed of all cars and vehicles
using the same, as well as the operation and speed of all engines, cars,
and trains on railroads within said city; to require all telephone and
telegraph wires and cables carrying electricity to be properly placed
and put in cables or underground when necessary; to grant franchises
to public utilities subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Vir-
ginia; to collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage, carcasses
of dead animals and other refuse; to compel the abatement and re-
moval of all nuisances within the city, or upon property owned by the
city, beyond its limits; to require all lands, lots and other premises
within the city to be kept clean and sanitary; to regulate or prevent
slaughter houses or other noisome or offensive business within said
city, the keeping of animals, poultry or other fowls therein, or the exer-
cise of any dangerous or unwholesome business, trade or employment
therein; to regulate the transportation of all articles through the streets
of the city; to regulate the location of stables and the manner in which
they shall be kept and constructed and generally to define, prohibit,
abate, suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals,
comfort, safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the
city. |
(i) If any ground in said city shall be covered by stagnant water,
or if the owner or occupant thereof shall permit any offensive or un-
wholesome substance to remain or accumulate thereon the said council
may cause such ground to be filled, raised or drained or the substance
removed and require the owner of the property to pay for same, pro-
vided reasonable notice be given the owner to do it himself. In case
of non-resident owners, notice shall be published for four weeks in
some newspaper published in said city, if no agent can be found in said
city, on which to serve notice.
(j) To direct the location of all buildings for storing powder or
other explosives or combustible substance; to regulate the sale and use
of dynamite, firecrackers, powder, kerosene oil, gasoline, nitro-gly-
cerine, the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of firearms, the use
of candles and lights in barns, stables and other buildings, the making
of bonfires and carrying of concealed weapons; to prevent the running
at large in said city of all animals and fowls and to regulate the keep-
ing and raising of same within said city; to restrain and punish drunk-
ards, vagrants, mendicants and street beggars; to prevent vice and
immorality ; to preserve public peace and good order; to prevent and
quell riots, disturbances.and disorderly assemblages ; to suppress houses
of ill-fame, gambling houses and gambling devices of all kinds, to pre-
vent lewd, indecent or disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the city and
to expel from said city such persons, who have not been here for six
months, as may have no visible means of support and promise to be-
come a charge on the city; to enter any premises and do what is neces-
‘sary to extinguish fires and to compel citizens to render assistance tc
the fire department in case of need, and to establish, regulate and con-
trol a fire department; to regulate the size, material and construction
of buildings, fences and other structures hereafter erected in such a
manner as the public safety may require; to establish fire limits in
which no wooden buildings shall be constructed; to provide for the
care, support and maintenance, of the sick, aged and poor persons; to
establish, organize and administer public schools and libraries, subject
to the general laws of this State; to provide and maintain a jail and
other corrective or detentive institutions; to provide for the preserva-
tion of the general health of the inhabitants of said city and make rules
and regulations to secure the same, inspect food and foodstuffs and
prevent the introduction and sale in said city of any foods or other
articles for human consumption which is adulterated, impure or other-
wise dangerous to health; to prevent the introduction or spread of
contagious or infectious diseases and to provide and regulate hospitals
within or without said city and to enforce the removal of persons af-
flicted with contagious or infectious diseases to hospitals provided for
them; to establish a quarantine against infectious and contagious
diseases and to provide and keep records of vital statistics and compel
the return of all births, deaths and other necessary information; to
acquire and keep and improve, maintain and regulate places for the
burial of the dead; to exercise full police powers and establish and
maintain a police department; to prevent cumbering or obstructing
streets, alleys, or sidewalks or bridges in any manner whatever; to
levy and collect privilege taxes on persons and firms and corporations
for doing business or practicing professions in said city, not in conflict
with Federal and State laws; to fill vacancies in the common council
and the person so appointed shall hold during the unexpired term of
the person in whose place he is appointed; to regulate bill boards and
signboards and regulate shows and circuses and carnivals coming in
said city or performing in or near said city; to grant or refuse to grant
licenses to persons and places of entertainment or business when in the
discretion of the common council the same might be dangerous or
disorderly ; to compel persons convicted of crime and sentenced to jail
to work out their time on the streets or for the city; to appoint a city
engineer, a city attorney and such other officers and assistants as it
may deem necessary, and define their terms of office, powers, duties
and compensation, and may appoint one person to fill two offices where
their duties do not conflict, and may fix the compensation which the
city shall pay all officers, whether elective or appointive when the same
is not fixed by State laws; to change the boundaries of the wards and
increase the number thereof; to give names or alter the names of
streets ; to condemn and take down buildings or walls which are danger-
ous and unsafe, but before doing so the owner shall have notice and
be allowed a reasonable time to show cause why such action should not
be taken; to prescribe the penalty for violations of city ordinances
provided no greater penalty shall be inflicted than is prescribed by
State laws for like offenses; to prescribe how claims against said city
shall be made and how the money of the city shall be kept and when
and how paid out; to require reports of all city officers concerning the
duties of their offices and how they are being performed; to condemn
private property for public use when necessary for the public good; to
purchase machinery and supplies necessary to carry on the street work
and other business of the city; and to issue bonds and levy taxes to pay
same, subject to the Constitution and laws of this State.
Section 10. The enumeration of particular powers in this charter
shall not be deemed or held to be exclusive, but in addition to the
powers enumerated herein, implied hereby, or appropriate to the exer-
cise thereof, the said council and said city shall have and may exercise
all other powers which are now or may hereafter be possessed or en-
joyed by cities of its class under the Constitution and general laws of
this State.
Section 11. The clerk of the council shall attend the meetings of
the council and keep a record of its proceedings. He shall have custo-
dy of the corporate seal of the city, and shall be the proper officer of
the city to use the same. He shall keep all papers, required by the
council to be filed or kept by him. He shall publish such reports and
ordinances as the council may be required to publish and he shall per-
form such other acts and duties as the council may from time to time
require of him, and receive such compensation as the council may pro-
vide.
Section 12. The city attorney shall prosecute all suits, actions and
proceedings for and on behalf of the city and the school board and
shall defend all suits or actions against the same and shall prepare con-
tracts and other instruments in writing in which the city or the school
board shall be interested. He shall be prosecuting attorney for the
prosecution of the violation of city ordinances. He shall give legal
advice to the city council and all city officers and the school board
when requested. He shall prepare city ordinances and shall apply in
the name of the city to a court of competent jurisdiction for such in-
junction as may be necessary to restrain and prevent the misapplica-
tion of the funds of the city or the invasion or abuse of the corporate
powers or the usurpation of authority by any city official and shall
meet with the common council at their regular monthly meetings and
report annually the condition of the legal affairs of the city and make
such suggestions as to the affairs of the city as may seem proper or
necessary or as the council may require.
CITY TREASURER
Section 13. The city treasurer shall be elected every four years
in the manner and at the times hereinbefore mentioned. He shall give
bond in such sum as the council may prescribe with surety to be ap-
proved by the council, conditioned for the faithful discharge of his
530 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY © [va.
official duties in relation to the revenue of the city, and of such other
official duties as may be imposed on him by this charter and the ordi-
nances of the city. He shall collect and receive all city taxes, levies,
assessments, license taxes, rents, school funds, fees and all other reve-
nues or moneys accruing to the city, except as the council may by
ordinance make it the duty of some other officer to collect and for that
purpose he shall be vested with any and all powers which are now or
may hereafter be vested in such city treasurer as collector of State
taxes. He shall be the custodian of all the public money of the city and
all other money coming into his hands as city treasurer. He shall keep
and preserve such moneys in such banks as may be determined by ordi-
nance or by provisions of any law applicable thereto. It shall be the
duty of said city treasurer to conduct all the proceedings and render
all services necessary to perfect the sale and transfer of real estate
in said city where the same shall be sold or advertised for sale for the
non-payment of any taxes or assessments imposed by the council. He
shall perform such other duties, have such powers and be liable to such
penalties as are now or may hereafter be prescribed by law or ordi-
nance, and shall receive such compensation as the council may pre-
scribe. ,
COMMISSIONER OF THE REVENUE
Section 14. The commissioner of the revenue shall be elected for
four years at the time and in the manner hereinbefore provided. He
shall give bond in such sum as the council may by ordinance prescribe
with surety to be approved by the council, conditioned for the faithful
performance of all his duties under this charter and under any law or
ordinance. He shall perform such duties not inconsistent with the
laws of this State in relation to the assessment of property and licenses
as may be required by the council for the purpose of levying city taxes
and licenses. He shall have power to administer such oaths as may be
required by law or ordinance in the assessment of license taxes or other
taxes. He shall make such reports in regard to assessments of both
property and licenses, or either, as may be required by council or law.
For all such services the said commissioner shall recetve such com-
pensation as the council may from time to time prescribe by ordinance,
not in conflict with State laws.
CITY SERGEANT
Section 15. The city sergeant shall be elected for four years at the
time and in the manner hereinbefore provided. He shall have and ex-
ercise within said city the powers and duties of sheriffs in their re-
spective counties, and such additional jurisdiction and power outside
the corporate limits of said city as are given by State laws. He shall
attend the terms of the corporation court for said city and act as the
officer thereof and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by
city council and receive such compensation therefor as council may
determine. Before entering upon his duties he shall give bond with
sureties to be approved by the council in such sum as the council may
direct or may be prescribed by State laws, conditioned for the faithful
discharge of his duties as such officer.
The sergeant may with the approval and consent of the corporation
court appoint a deputy who may be removed from office by the sergeant.
During the continuance in office of said sergeant his said deputy may
discharge any of the duties of sergeant, but the sergeant and his sure-
ties shall be liable therefor.
Section 16. Vacancies.—In case of any vacancy in the office of
city treasurer, commissioner of the revenue, or sergeant, the council
shall select a qualified person to fill the office in which such vacancy
occurs for the unexpired term.
COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY
Section 17, The Commonwealth’s attorney shall be elected for four
years at the time and in the manner hereinbefore provided, and shall
hold office until his successor be elected and qualified. He shall repre-
sent the Commonwealth in the courts of said city in all Commonwealth
cases where he is required by law to act. He shall receive such com-
pensation as is allowed by State laws and such additional compensation
from the said city as the council shall vote.
CLERK OF COURT
Section 18. The clerk of the corporation court shall be elected
for eight years as prescribed by the laws of this State and shall have
the same power and duties with said limits as are provided by law in
respect to clerks of counties and other cities of this class and shall
receive such fees as are allowed such clerks and in addition, such com-
pensation as the council may provide.
CORONER, CONSTABLE AND JUSTICES
Section 19. The coroner, constable and justices of the peace shall
be elected for four years at the time and in the manner hereinbefore
provided and shall have the powers and perform the duties and receive
for their services such fees as are provided by law for such officers in
counties, but justices have jurisdiction only in civil cases.
Section 20. In case of a vacancy in the office of Commonwealth’s
attorney, clerk of the court, justice of the peace, coroner, or constable,
the court shall fill the vacancy as provided by the laws of this State.
JUVENILE COURT
Section 21. There shall be a court of juvenile and domestic rela-
tions as provided by State laws with all the powers and duties pre-
scribed by State laws.
Section 22. There shall be for said city a corporation court to be
held by the judge of said court on the first Mondays of February,
April, June, August, October and December of each year, and for as
many days immediately after said first Mondays in each of said
months as may be necessary; but the judge of said court may from
time to time change the day on which said court shall commence.
The said court shall have concurrent original jurisdiction with the
circuit court of Rockbridge county to hear and determine all cases at
law and in chancery, respectively arising within said city or within one
mile of the corporate limits thereof, except civil cases to recover prop-
erty or money not of greater value or amount than twenty dollars, ex-
clusive of interest. |
The said court shall, within the limits aforesaid have concurrent
jurisdiction with the circuit court of Rockbridge county to hear and
determine all motions, matters and things made cognizable by any
statute, authorized by law to be done by or in the circuit or corporation
courts of this Commonwealth. |
The said court shall, within the limits aforesaid, have the same
jurisdiction as the circuit courts over all offenses committed within
one mile of the corporate limits of said city and exclusive jurisdiction
of all offenses committed within the corporate limits of said city; and
also such additional jurisdiction in prohibition cases and other cases
as is conferred by general laws on corporation courts. The jurisdic-
tion conferred by this paragraph shall be exclusive of courts outside
of this city as to criminal offenses committed within this city.
The said court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all
matters of probate and record arising within the limits of said city.
The said court shall have exclusive original jurisdiction to hear and
determine all matters and things which may become the subject matter
of suits or proceedings in court arising under the charter of this city, or
other laws relating thereto, and of all cases of contested elections in
said city, except so far as otherwise provided.
The said court and the judge thereof in vacation shall possess the
same jurisdiction and powers and shall perform the same duties as
are vested in and imposed upon other corporation courts and the judge
thereof by any law or statute of this State relating to corporation
courts.
The judge of said corporation court shall be elected or appointed
as provided by State laws of Virginia and shall receive such salary
or compensation as may be fixed by State laws and the council of
Buena Vista.
The said court and the judge thereof shall have the same juris-
diction and powers and shall perform the same duties in summoning
and empanelling grand juries and other judges civil and criminal as
are invested in or imposed upon the circuit or corporation courts of
this State and the judges thereof.
Section 23. The city of Buena Vista and its inhabitants shall be
exempt from all assessments for levies in the way of taxation imposed
by the authorities of Rockbridge county, on property in Buena Vista,
nor shall any of the inhabitants of Buena Vista be liable to serve on
juries of said county.
Section 24. Unless otherwise provided the persons holding office
in said city at the time of the adoption of these amendments, shall
continue to hold the same under their present election or appointment
until their said terms of office shall expire, or until their successors
are elected and qualified.
Section 25. All laws and ordinances in force at the time of the
passage of these amendments, so far as consistent herewith, and all
liabilities, actions, claims, contracts and prosecutions thereunder, shall
remain and continue as if this act had not been passed.
Section 26. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.