Chap. 196.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 13 of an act approved July
11, 1870, providing a charter for the town of West Point, in King William
county, as amended by an act approved March 22, 1872, and as amended by
-an act approved March 1, 1884, and as amended by an act approved May 2,
1887, and as amended by an act approved March 1, 1892, and as amended by
an act approved March 14, 1910, and as amended and re-enacted and additional
sections added thereto by an act approved March 13, 1914. [H B 75]

Approved March 22, 1930

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
thirteen of an act approved July eleventh, eighteen hundred and seven-
ty, providing a charter for the town of West Point in King William
county as amended by an act approved March twenty-second, eighteen
hundred and seventy-two, and as amended by an act approved March
first, eighteen hundred and eighty-four, and as amended by an act
approved May second, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and as
amended by an act approved March first, eighteen hundred and ninety-
two, and as amended by an act approved March third, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-four, and as amended by an act approved March four-
teenth, nineteen hundred and ten, and as amended and re-enacted and
additional sections added thereto by an act approved March thirteenth,
nineteen hundred and fourteen, be amended and re-enacted so as to read
as follows:

Section 13. Town council.—The council shall have, subject to the
provisions, herein contained, the control and management of the fiscal
and municipal affairs of the town, and of all property, real and personal,
belonging to said town, and may make such ordinances, orders and by-
laws relating to the same, as it may deem necessary.

The council shall have power to enact suitable ordinances, to secure
and promote the general welfare of the inhabitants of the town by them
deemed proper for the safety, health, peace, good order and morals of
534 , ACTS OF ASSEMBLY _ [va.

the community, and to make and adopt ordinances and resolutions
deemed proper and necessary to secure and promote the same.

The council shall have power, subject to the statutes applicable to
cities and towns, to make such ordinances, resolutions, by-laws and
regulations as it may deem desirable and suitable to carry out the
following specified powers, which are hereby vested in them:

First. To establish or enlarge water works, gas works and electric
lights within or without the limits of the town, to contract and agree
with the owners of any land for the use or purchase thereof, or may
have the same condemned for the location, extension, or enlargement
of their said works, the pipes connected therewith, or any fixtures or
appurtenances thereof, for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants of
said town with water, lights or power.

Second. To erect or provide in the town suitable workhouses,
houses for correction or reformation, and houses for the reception and
maintenance of the poor and destitute.

Third. To establish and keep in order, alter or remove, landings,
wharves and docks on the lands belonging exclusively to, or which
may hereafter belong exclusively to said town, and to lay and collect
a reasonable duty on vessels coming to and using the same; to prevent
and remove all obstructions in and upon such landings, wharves and
docks; to preserve peace and good order upon the same, and upon all
other wharves and landings in the town.

Fourth. To open and lay off streets, walks and alleys; to widen
or narrow, graduate, curb and pave same; to extend, alter, improve
and light the same, and have them kept in good order; to grant rights,
privileges and franchises for the use of the same, for railroad and
other purposes; to close and vacate the same, in whole or in part; and
when said streets, walks or alleys, or parts thereof, lying west of “D”’
street, have or shall have been so closed or vacated, then by an ordi-
nance or resolution, passed by a recorded affirmative vote of three-
fourths of all the members elected to the council, to sell and convey the
said last named streets, walks or alleys, or parts thereof, so closed and
vacated, or the land formerly occupied thereby, in such manner as to
the council may seem wise and expedient, or proper; that they may
build bridges in, and culverts under, said streets and may prevent or
remove any structure, obstruction, or encroachment over or under, or
in, any streets, sidewalks, or alleys in said town; but no company or
person shall occupy with its works or any appurtenances thereof, the
streets, sidewalks or alleys of the town, without the consent of the
council, duly entered upon its records.

No franchise, lease or right to use its water front, wharf, property,
public landings, wharves, docks, streets, avenues, parks, bridges or
other public property, or easement, of any description in a manner not
permitted to the general public, shall be granted for a longer period
than thirty years. Before granting any such franchise or privilege for
a term of years, except for a trunk railway, the town council shall
proceed, as provided by general statutes applicable to the granting of
such rights by cities and towns.
Any and all franchises, or ordinances, heretofore granted or made,
by the council of the town of West Point, on behalf of the said town,
relating to the disposition, or the use of the streets thereof, are hereby
ratified and confirmed, and shall be in all respects as valid in law as
though made or granted after the passage of this act.

All deeds conveying any property of the said town, shall be exe-
cuted in the name of the town by the mayor, and shall have the cor-
porate seal of the town affixed to the said deed or deeds, and attested by
the sergeant of the said town.

For the purpose of the establishment of manufacturing plants, dry
docks, or like industries, or bridges or wharves, by any person or per-
sons east of “F” street, the council, by resolution or ordinance, adopted
by a recorded vote of three-fourths of the members elected to said
council, is authorized to vacate or discontinue any street or streets, or
parts thereof, deemed necessary by said council for said purposes, pro-
vided the interest of all abutting landowners on said street so vacated
or discontinued shall be protected.

The said vacation or discontinuance of said last named streets, or
parts of streets, for the purposes aforesaid, may be temporary or per-
manent as the town council shall decide, and order.

Fifth. To permit shade trees to be planted along said streets,
subject, however, to the control and supervision of the said council,
as to the location and kind of said shade trees; to require the removal,
or to remove any and all shade trees, or the branches thereof, which
may become dangerous from decay, or any other cause.

Sixth. To regulate and prescribe the breadth of tires upon wheels,
or wagons, carts and vehicles of heavy draught, used upon the streets
of said town.

Seventh. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious, or
other dangerous disease; to establish, erect and regulate hospitals or
pest-houses in or near the said town; to provide for and force the re-
moval of patients to said hospitals or pest-houses.

Eighth. To appoint and organize a board of health for said town,
with authority for its government and support, and for the prompt
and efficient performance of its duties.

Ninth. To adopt and enforce such regulations as may be neces-
sary, under the usual system of quarantine, to prevent vessels or
boats, or persons, infected with contagious or infective disease from
entering any part of the harbor appertaining to the said town.

Tenth. To require and compel the abatement and removal of all
nuisances within said town, at the expense of the person or persons
causing the same, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon the
same shall be. To regulate and prevent slaughter-houses, soap and
candle factories, or the prosecution of any dangerous, offensive or
unhealthy business, trade or employment therein, which may be injur-
ious to the health of the inhabitants of the said town.

Eleventh. If any ground in said town shall be subject to be
covered by stagnant water, or if the owner or owners, occupier or
occupiers thereof, shall permit any offensive or unwholesome sub-
stance to remain or accumulate therein or thereon, the council may
cause such ground to be filled up, raised, or drained, or may cause such
substance to be covered or removed therefrom, and may collect the
expense of so doing from the said owner or owners, occupier or occu-
piers, or any of them, by suit or otherwise; provided that reasonable
notice to abate said nuisance shall be first given to the said owners, or
their agent. In case of non-resident owners who have no agents in
said town, such notice may be given by publication for not less than
two weeks in any newspaper published in said town.

Twelfth. To prevent hogs, dogs and other animals from running
at large in the town, and may subject the same to such regulations as
they may deem proper; and the council may prohibit the raising or
keeping of hogs, or cows, in the town.

Thirteenth. To prevent the riding, or driving of horses or other
animals at any improper speed; to prevent the running of engines and
vehicles propelled by steam, gasoline, electricity, or other like motive
power, at any improper speed within the limits of the town, or to wholly
exclude the said engines and vehicles; to prevent the flying of kites,
throwing stones, or engaging in any employment or sports in the
streets or public alleys, dangerous or annoying to the people; and to
prohibit and punish the abuse of animals.

Fourteenth. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, mendi-
cants and street beggars.

To prevent vice and immorality; to make such regulations as may
be necessary to secure the inhabitants of said town against thieves,
robbers and burglars; to preserve the public peace and good order of
the town; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances, and disorderly as-
semblages ; to suppress houses of ill-fame, and gambling houses; to pre-
vent, suppress and punish lewd, disorderly and indecent conduct or
exhibitions in the town, and to expel therefrom persons guilty of such
conduct, who shall not have resided therein as much as one year.

Fifteenth. To prevent the coming into the town, from within or
beyond the limits of the State, persons who may be dangerous to the
peace and safety of the town, or of persons having no ostensible means
of support; and for this purpose may require and compel any railroad
company, or the master of any steamboat or vessel bringing such per-
sons to the town, to take them back from whence they come, and to
compel such persons to leave the town.

Sixteenth. The council shall have power, and authority is hereby
given it, to issue from time to time bonds, or other interest bearing
obligations for the purpose of borrowing money to carry into effect the
purposes and objects authorized by this charter; provided, however,
that no such bonds or other interest-bearing obligations shall be issued,
except upon an ordinance passed by a recorded affirmative vote of
two-thirds of all the members elected to said council, setting forth
the purpose for which the said bonds, or interest bearing obligations
are to be issued, the length of time for which they are to be issued,
which time shall not exceed thirty years, and the rate of interest which
shall not exceed six percentum per annum; and provided further that
no such bonds, or other interest bearing obligations, shall be issued until
and except the question of issuing the same shall have been submitted to
the voters of the town of West Point, as provided by statute for hold-
ing elections in towns for the purpose of deciding upon the question of
bond issue, this provision for the election does not apply to interest-
bearing obligations maturing within one year from date of issue.

Seventeenth. The council shall have authority to prescribe rules
for the orderly building of houses and chimneys; to regulate black-
smith shops, and all other shops, structures and business considered
likely to occasion accidents by fire, and the erection of stoves, and
stove pipes; to regulate the erection of privies, stables and cow sheds,
and prescribe their location; to make regulations concerning the build-
ing of houses within the town, and in its discretion, to establish and
maintain parks, playgrounds and boulevards, and cause the same to be
laid out, equipped or beautified; to make regulations for. the purpose
of guarding against danger from accidents by fire, and on the petition
of owners of not less than two-thirds of the ground included in any
square, to prohibit the erection in such a square of any building, or
an addition to any building more than ten feet high, unless the outer
walls thereof be made of brick and mortar, or stone and mortar, or
cement blocks, and provide for the removal of any building or addition
erected contrary to such prohibition.

Eighteenth. To provide for the collection of taxes on any real or
personal property, liable therefor, which has not been assessed for
town taxes for any year, or that may have been assessed for less than
the law requires for any year, or that the taxes thereon for any cause
have not been realized, and to that end may require the town sergeant to
list the same and assess town taxes thereon, at the rate prescribed for
any year the same was so omitted, adding thereto interest at the rate
of six percentum per annum; provided that this section shall not apply,
however, to any taxes omitted prior to the passage of this act.

Nineteenth. To levy annually upon all persons within the said
town, over twenty-one years of age, a poll tax, not exceeding one
dollar, and to levy annually upon all dogs in said town a tax not ex-
ceeding one dollar, to be paid by the owner thereof, and in the event
of the failure to pay said dog tax, to provide for the killing of said
dog.

Twentieth. To levy a tax upon all the real and personal property
in said town, liable to municipal taxation, to be used exclusively for
public free school purposes, in addition to the tax levied for other pur-
poses, and to apply any other funds in the town treasury not otherwise
appropriated, as the same may be needed, to provide for the main-
tenance of the public schools in the said town.

2. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from its
passage.