Chap. 130.—An ACTfto provide a new charter for the town of Big Stone Gap,
Wise county, Virginia, and to repeal all acts, or parts of acts in conflict there-
with. | [H B 87]

Approved March 10, 1932

Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, as follows:

I. Contracts and exercise of power of present council legal and
valid.—All contracts and obligations of the town of Big Stone Gap,
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 Constitution of this State, shall be and are hereby
declared to be valid and legal.

2. Town boundaries.—Beginning at a set stone in the middle of
the south fork of Powells river where the bridge east of Glencoe cem-
etery crosses same, thence up said river as it meanders to the mouth
of Debusk branch; thence up said Debusk branch in a northerly di-
rection, as it meanders, to a point in the center of the county road
between Big Stone Gap and Norton, where said road crosses said
branch; thence north one degree east three thousand and six hun-
dred feet to a stake on the south side of Stone mountain; thence south
sixty-five degrees fifteen minutes west ten thousand two hundred
feet to mile post number three on the Southern railway ; thence south
fifty-one degrees west thirteen thousand two hundred feet to a stake
on the south side of Stone mountain; thence south forty-one degrees
east two thousand three hundred and fifty feet to a stake in the middle
of Powells river; thence up said river as it meanders to a set stone
in the middle of said river opposite the upper end of the Tannery;
thence south forty-one degrees east three thousand nine hundred feet
to a stake on top of Wallens ridge; thence with or near the top of
Wallens ridge north fifty-nine degrees and forty-five minutes east
eight thousand seven hundred feet to a stake, the east corner of what
is known as the Tate tract; thence north one degree and thirty min-
utes east three thousand three hundred feet to the point of be-
ginning. ,

3. The municipal officers of the said town shall be a mayor and
six councilmen, all of whom shall be residents and qualified voters of
the said town. The council of said town shall have power to elect
or appoint any other officers they may deem necessary, and to de-
fine their duties, including a town manager, who may, or may not, be
a resident or qualified voter of said town who shall, under the control
of the council, have the general charge and management of the ad-
ministrative affairs and work of said town, and who shall perform
such other duties as may be required of him by the council. He shall
receive such salary as shall be allowed him by the council, and may
be dismissed at any time by said council.

4, The mayor and councilmen of the town of Big Stone Gap, as
now constituted, and as they shall be elected and qualified as herein-
after provided, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name of
the town of Big Stone Gap, and shall have perpetual succession and
a common seal, and by the name of the town of Big Stone Gap may
sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted
with, purchase and hold real estate, and sell and convey the same
needful for the public good, and may exercise, retain and enjoy all
the rights, immunities, exemptions and privileges, and be subject to
all the duties, liabilities and obligations now vested in, incumbent
upon, or pertaining to said town as a municipal corporation. This
provision shall not be construed to give to the town council the power
to sell and convey the town’s water system, or other public works, or
the lands constituting the water shed, or owned and used in connection
with the town’s water system, without first being authorized to do so
by a majority vote of the qualified voters in said town in an election
held for the purpose of determining whether such sale or convey-
ance should be made.

5. In all elections for mayor and coumelionen i in said town all per-
sons who may be, by the laws of this State, entitled to vote for members
of the general assembly, and who shall have actually resided in the
State one year, and in the county of Wise six months, and in the
town for thirty days next preceding the day of election then to be
held, shall be entitled to vote; but before being so entitled to vote,
they shall register before the registrar of said town.

6. The mayor and councilmen shall be elected by the qualified
voters of said town. All other officers of said town shall be elected
or appointed by the council.

7. The mayor and councilmen in office in said town at the time
of the passage of this act shall be continued in office until the expir-
ation of the terms for which they were elected and until their succes-
sors are duly elected or appointed and qualified according to law.

8. The first election under this act shall be held on the second
Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and thirty-three at the town hall,
or such other place in said town as may be designated by the council of
the town; and bi-ennially thereafter there shall be held an election of a
mayor and six councilmen of the said town on the second Tuesday
in June at such place and under such rules and regulations and subject
to such provisions as the council may prescribe.

9. The term of office of the mayor and councilmen to be elected as
provided in the preceding section of this act shall be for two years
from the first day of September next succeeding their election, and
until their successors have been duly elected and qualified.

10. All vacancies occurring from any cause in the office of mayor
and councilmen shall be filled for the unexpired term by the council.

11. It shall be the duty of the mayor, as soon as may be, after an
election, to call a meeting of the council to examine the returns, and
the council shall forthwith notify the persons elected of their election.

12. In case it is impossible to determine the candidate who has
received the highest number of votes by reason of a tie, the council
shall, by lot, determine the matter, and not more than two persons
selected by each candidate affected by said lot shall be present.
13. The manner of conducting elections under this act, shall, so
far as the same is not in conflict herewith, be the same as pre-
scribed by the general election laws of the State.

14. The mayor and six councilmen shall, after being notified of
their election to their respective offices, each take and subscribe to an
oath before any person authorized by law to administer an oath, that
they will truly, faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of
their said office so long as they shall continue therein, and said oaths
of office so subscribed shall be returned to the clerk of the council and
by him inscribed in his minute book. And if any of the officers
named in this section shall fail to qualify on or before the first day
of September next succeeding his election his office shall be deemed
vacant, and whenever as many as five members of the council (of
whom the mayor shall be counted one) shall have qualified by taking
oath of office as aforesaid, they shall enter upon the duties of their
said offices, and shall supersede the former council of said town.

15. The salary of the mayor of the town, as now constituted or
hereafter elected, if any be allowed by the town council, shall be fixed
by the town council, payable at stated periods; and no regulation di-
minishing such compensation after it has once been fixed, shall be
made to take effect until-after the expiration of the term for which
the mayor, then in office, shall have been elected. The salary of the
mayor when fixed shall so continue until changed by the town council.

16. The mayor shall preside over the deliberations of the council,
but will not be entitled to vote on any question coming before the
council except in the event of a tie. He shall have jurisdiction to
try all violations of town ordinances, and inflict such punishment and
impose such fines as may be prescribed for a violation of the same.
The mayor shall, by virtue of his office, possess all the jurisdiction
and exercise all the power and authority of a justice of the peace
in civil and criminal cases, including violations of the prohibition
laws arising in said town, or within one mile of the corporate limits
thereof. .

17. In case of the absence or inability of the mayor to act, the
council shall appoint one of their number to discharge the munici-
pal duties of the mayor during such absence or inability; in case a
vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor, the council shall elect a
qualified person to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term.

18. In case of any vacancy happening in the council by death,
resignation, removal, or otherwise, the council shall elect a qualified
person to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. ,

19. The mayor shall have the power to call a special meeting of
the council whenever he deems it necessary, stating the reason for
which the meeting is called, and in case of the absence, inability, or
refusal of the mayor to call a special meeting, the council may be
convened by order of any four members thereof.

20. The council shall fix the time of their regular stated meetings
and no business shall be transacted at a special meeting but that
for which it shall be called, |
Z1. The council shall have authority to compel the attendance of
absent members; to punish its members for disorderly conduct, and
by vote of a majority of the whole council to expel a member for
malfeasance in office or for voluntarily absenting himself from the
meetings of the council. The clerk shall record the preceedings of
the council at large on a record book, and keep the same properly in-
dexed. The meetings of the council shall be open, except when in the
discretion of the said council the public welfare shall require secrecy.

22. Four members of the council shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business; but no ordinance shall be passed, or resolu-
tion adopted, having for its object the appropriation of money, ex-
cept by a concurrence of a majority of the whole council. Upon the de-
mand of any member of the council, upon the passage of any ordi-
nance or resolution, the “yeas” and “nays” shall be taken and entered
of record. No vote or question decided at a stated or regular meeting
shall be considered or rescinded at a special meeting, unless there
shall be at least five councilmen present and four of them concur.

23. The town council, as now constituted, or hereafter elected,
shall have, subject to the provisions of this act, the control and man-
agement of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town, and of the
property, real and personal, belonging to said town, and make such
ordinances, orders and by-laws, relating to same, as they shall deem
proper and necessary; they shall likewise have power to make such
ordinances, orders and by-laws, and regulations as they shall deem
necessary and proper to carry out the powers which are hereby vested
in them.

First. To establish, enlarge and operate a system of sewerage,
water works, and electric light works within or without the limits
of the town; to contract or agree with the owners of the land for the
use and purchase thereof, or to have the same condemned according
to law, within or without the town, for the location, extension, or
enlargement of their said works, the pipes, or wires connected there-
with, or any other appurtenances or fixtures thereof, and shall have
power to protect from injury, by ordinance prescribing adequate
penalties, the works, pipes, fixtures and land or anything connected
therewith, whether within or without the limits of said town.

Second. To close, widen or narrow, straighten, lay out, graduate,
curb and pave and otherwise improve the streets, sidewalks and pub-
lic alleys in the town and have them kept in good order, and to re-
quire the payment by the property owners benefited by such works or
improvements of not exceeding three-fourths of the cost of walks
and curbing, and to make such sum a lien upon their real estate and
collectable in the same manner as is herein provided for the collection
of taxes generally. And over any street or alley in the town which
has been, or may be ceded to the town, conveyed to the town by
proper deed, they shall have like power and authority as over other
streets, and may prevent or remove any structure, obstruction or en-
croachment over or under, or in any streets, sidewalks or alleys in
said town; and may permit shade trees to be planted along said
streets ; but no company, firm or individual shall occupy with its or his
works or appurtenances thereof, the streets, sidewalks and alleys
of the town without the consent of the council duly entered of record ;
and whenever in the construction of any sewer or conduit or other
public improvement, it is necessary that the same shall run through or
under private property, the said council shall have authority to con-
tract and agree with the owners thereof for the use and purchase
of the right of way or other easement in, through, or under the same,
or have the same condemned according to law. The said council shall
have the power to authorize the laying down of tracks and the run-
ning of cars thereon in the town by electricity or other motive power,
or under such regulations as the council may prescribe.

Third. To prevent the cumbering of streets, sidewalks, alleys,
lanes or bridges in the town in any manner whatsoever, and to have
full and complete control of the same. |

Fourth. To determine and designate the route and grade of any
railroad to be laid in said town, and to restrain and regulate the speed
of bicycles, motorcycles, traction engines, locomotives, engines, cars,
automobiles and other vehicles within said town. :

Fifth. To secure the inhabitants of said town from contagious
infectious, or other dangerous disease; to establish, erect and regulate
hospitals and to prescribe quarantine regulations ; to provide for and
enforce the removal of patients to said hospitals; to appoint and or-
ganize a board of health for said town, prescribe its duties, and in-
vest said board with public authority and with full power for the
prompt and efficient performance of its duties.

Sixth. To require and compel the abatement of all nuisances and
the removal thereof, within the town at the expense of the person
or persons causing the same, or the owner or owners of the ground
whereon the same may be; to require and compel the owners of
houses in the town, or if the owners be unknown or absent, the oc-
cupants of such houses, to connect their water closets and water
drains with the sewers of the town, or otherwise comply with such
regulations as to sewerage and nuisances as the council may prescribe;
and upon failure to do so the same may be done by the town by en-
tering upon the premises if necessary, and the cost of attending the
same shall be collected from the owners or occupants of such houses
as taxes are herein in this charter allowed to be collected by the town.

Seventh. To direct the location of all buildings for the storing of
eunpowder, firecrackers, or other fire-works manufactured or pre-
pared therefrom, kerosene oil, gasoline, nitro-glycerine, camphene,
burning fluid or other combustible material; to regulate the exhibi-
tion of fireworks; the discharge of firearms, the use of candles, or
lights in barns, stables, or other buildings, and to regulate or re-
strain the making of bon-fires in the streets and yards.

Eighth. To prevent horses, cattle, hogs, dogs, and all other animals
from running at large in said town, and may subject the same to such
confiscation, regulation and taxes as they may deem proper; and the
council may prohibit the raising and keeping of dogs in the town,
or in any part thereof.

Ninth. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and street
beggars, to prevent vice and immorality, obscenity and profanity; to
preserve peace and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturb-
ances and disorderly assemblies; to suppress houses of ill fame and
gambling houses; to prevent lewd, indecent and disorderly conduct
or exhibitions in said town, and to expel therefrom persons guilty
of such conduct.

Tenth. To designate such portions and parts of the town as they
may deem proper within which no wooden buildings shall be erected ;
to prohibit the building of wooden buildings in any portion of the
town without their permission, to regulate and control the erection
of all buildings, and to provide for the removal of any such build-
ings or additions which shall be erected contrary to such regulations
or prohibitions at the expense of the builder or owner thereof, and if
any such building shall have been commenced and it appears clearly
unsafe, or if any building in progress of erection appears clearly un-
safe, the council may cause such buildings to be taken down.

Eleventh. In addition to the special powers hereinbefore specifi-
cally delegated to the town council, all general powers, not in conflict
with the laws of this State, or of the United States, necessary for
the proper and sufficient government of such town, and which are by
law allowed to municipal corporations are hereby likewise delegated
to, and invested in, the said council of the town of Big Stone Gap.

24. Where, by the provisions of this act, the council have au-
thority to pass ordinances on any subject, they may prescribe any
penalty for the violation thereof not exceeding five hundred dollars,
or imprisonment in jail not exceeding six months, one or both, as
the council may see fit, and for failure to pay any fine which may be
imposed hereunder the said council may by ordinance require such
person so failing to be confined in jail for the length of time pre-
scribed for failure to pay fines as now prescribed by law for failure
to pay fines due to the State. All proceedings against persons violat-
ing the ordinances of said town, or to recover any penalty therefor,
shall be in the name of said town, and in such proceedings said town
may recover against such persons all costs.

Any person confined in jail, as provided by the foregoing section
may be required to work on the streets and public works of said
town during the time of said confinement; subject to the right of
the State to work any such prisoner on a State convict road force
under the general law.

25. All ordinances now in force in the town of Big Stone Gap,
not inconsistent with this charter, shall be and remain in force until
altered, amended, or repealed by the council of said town.

26. The town council may take from any officer, elected or ap-
pointed by them, a bond, with sureties to be approved by the coun-
cil in such penalty as they may deem proper, payable to the town,
with conditions for the faithful discharge of the duties of such office.
All officers elected or appointed by the council may be removed from
office at the pleasure of the council. All bonds of officers elected by
the people, or elected or appointed by the council, under this charter
shall be filed with and kept by the clerk of the council.

27. There shall be appointed by the town council one town treas-
urer, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the council; but
the present treasurer of the town shall continue to discharge the duties
of the office until removed by the council or until his successor shall
have qualified.

He shall qualify and give bond before the council, with surety
approved by it in a penalty to be approved by the council. Any
vacancy in this office shall be filled by the council. )

28. The said treasurer shall receive all money belonging to the
town, and he shall perform such other duties as are prescribed by the
council. He shall keep his office in some convenient place in the
town. He shall keep his books and accounts in such manner as
the town council may prescribe, and such books and accounts shall
always be subject to the inspection of the mayor and council, or
any committee, or committees of the council, or any interested tax-
payer of the town. He shall receive for his services such compen-
sation as the town council may, from time to time, allow.

29. No money shall be paid out by the town treasurer except by
order of the council, and in such manner as may be prescribed by the
council, and when directed by the council the said town treasurer shall
keep a separate account of each fund or appropriation and the
debits and credits belonging thereto.

30. The town treasurer shall report to the town council, or a
committee thereof, as often as required, a full and detailed account of
all receipts and expenditures during the month, and the state of the
treasury.

31. The town treasurer, or his deputy duly qualified, or by order
of the council of the said town, the town sergeant, or assistant ser-
geant, or any other person appointed by the council, shall collect all
taxes, licenses, fines, water rents, and other charges and assessments
which may be levied by the town council, and for this purpose the
said treasurer or other person appointed by the town council as
aforesaid, shall be vested with power and be subject to the liabilities
and penalties now prescribed by law in regard to the county treas-
urers of the State of Virginia in levying and collecting of taxes, and
said officers or persons appointed as aforesaid to collect said taxes,
assessments and other charges shall have full power to levy on prop-
erty and sell the same for the payment of such taxes, assessments
or other charges, as the county treasurers of the State of Virginia
are now empowered by law to do, and such sales shall be made upon
the notice and in such manner as now prescribed by law in the sales
of personal property for State taxes; and any person so appointed
shall give bond, and receive such compensation as the council may
direct. ‘he nuit : bgt ts | ; .
32. The treasurer shall be required to keep all moneys in his hands
belonging to the town in such place or places of deposit as the town
council may by ordinance provide or direct.

33, The clerk of the council shall be appointed by the council
and he shall attend the meetings of the council and shall keep a record
of its proceedings; he shall have the custody of the corporate seal
and all the papers that by the provisions of this act, or the direction
of the council, are required to be filed with or kept by them; he shall
give notice to all parties presenting petitions or communications to
the town council of the final action of the council on such communi-
cation or petition; he shall publish such reports and ordinances as
the town council is required to publish, and such other reports and or-
dinances as it may direct, and shall, in general, perform such other
acts and duties as the council may, fromi time to time, allow or require.

34, There shall be appointed by the council of the town of Big
Stone Gap a sergeant as provided by general law. He shall qualify
and give bond before the council for such amount and with such
surety as the council may approve. His compensation shall be such
as the council may, from time to time, allow. In addition to his reg-
ular duties as town sergeant he shall perform such other duties as
may be from time to time prescribed by the council.

35. The council shall control and manage the water works and
water system of the said town, either by itself, or through such com-
mittees or agencies as it may adopt; and the council shall prescribe
and regulate the rate of charges to be paid for the use of water fur-
nished by the town to the citizens thereof, and to persons outside the
corporate limits thereof, who may wish to purchase water from the
town. They may impose fines and liabilities and punishments for
the injury and abuse of said works or property connected therewith,
or for waste of said water furnished by the town and may enforce and
collect said fines and penalties and the charges for water by distress
or otherwise, as the council may determine, or refuse to further fur-
nish water to citizens or other persons in arrears.

36. For the execution of their powers and duties, the council of
the town of Big Stone Gap shall have the power to raise annually
by taxes and assessments, in said town, such sums of money as they
shall deem necessary to defray the expenses of the same, and in
such manner as they shall deem expedient in accordance with the
Constitution and laws of this State and of the United States, and
shall have the power to tax all subjects of property which the laws
of the State permit the towns to tax, and to impose a license upon any
business which may be conducted in said town in whole or in part,
whether the person, firm, or corporation resides in said town, or has
his or its principal place of business in the said town, or not, pro-
vided the laws of this State permit a license to be imposed upon such
business by towns.

37. The council may grant licenses to owners or keepers of wag:
ons, drays, carts, hacks, automobiles, buses, and other wheel vehicle:
kept and employed in said town for hire; and may require the owne!
or keepers of such vehicles aforesaid using them in town to take out
a license thereon and subject the same to such regulations as they
may deem proper, and may prescribe their fees and compensations

38. All goods and chattels wheresoever found may be distrained
and sold for taxes and licenses assessed and due thereon; and no
deed of trust or mortgage upon goods and chattels shall prevent the
same from being distrained and sold for taxes and licenses assessed
against the grantor in such deed while such goods and chattels re-
‘main in the grantor’s possession.

39. The council shall annually order a levy upon all real estate
within said town not exempt by law from taxation, and on all such
personal property and other subjects as may at the time be subject
to taxation for local purposes by general law; and, in its discretion,
may order a levy upon all persons within said town not exempt by
law from the payment of State capitation tax, over twenty-one years
of age; provided, however, that the tax on persons shall not exceed
one dollar, and the tax levied for general purposes shall in no year
exceed two dollars and fifty cents on the one hundred dollars worth
of property, real and personal, and this maximum rate of taxation for
general purposes shall not be increased except by amendment to this
charter. ,

40. The town council shall, subject to the limitations imposed
by general law, have power to levy a license on all persons, firms or
corporations whose principal office is or is not located in said town,
if said persons, firms or corporations do, or offer to do business in
the said town, and the annual rate or fee for such license shall be
the same as now fixed by the town of Big Stone Gap in its ordinances,
or until such time as the council may change their rates; provided,
however, that any farmer may sell the products of his farm in said
town without a license. The jurisdiction of the corporate authorities
of said town for imposing and collecting a license tax on shows, per-
formances and exhibitions shall extend one mile beyond the corpor-
ate limits of the town. It is the purpose of this section to give the
council of this town the power to tax all subjects within its jurisdic-
tion not withheld from taxation by cities and towns by the laws of
this State, whether herein specifically enumerated or not; provided
that the tax on any intangible property which towns are authorized
by law to tax shall be within the limitations prescribed by general law.

41. The council may organize and maintain a fire department for
the town and make such rules and regulations for the government
of the officers and men of said department, and may make such ordi-
nances as they may deem proper to extinguish and prevent fires; to
prevent property from being stolen, and to require citizens to render
assistance to the fire department in case of need.

42. 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 re-
mainder of the 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 vendered.

43, This act may for all purposes be referred to or cited as the
Big Stone Gap charter of nineteen hundred and thirty-two.

44. The enumeration of particular powers and authority 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 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.

45. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed, in so far as they affect the provisions of this charter; and
former charters and amendments thereto for the town of Big Stone
Gap are hereby repealed.