Chap. 349.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections twenty hundred and forty-
nine and twenty hundred and fifty of the Code of Virginia, relating to the
regulation, operation, management and lease of the ferries across the Elizabeth
river and the branches thereof, and providing for the issuance of bonds there-
for. [H B 343]

Approved March 29, 1934

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, That sec-
tions twenty hundred and forty-nine and twenty hundred and fifty
of the Code of Virginia, as amended by an act approved March sev-
enth, nineteen hundred and twenty-four, be amended and re-enacted
to read as follows:

Section 2049. Norfolk county ferries-——The ferries which now
ply, by authority of law, between the cities of Portsmouth and Nor-
folk, and Wellington Point or Berkley, known as Norfolk county
ferries, shall continue to run as now authorized by law, and shall be
the joint and equal property of said city of Portsmouth and the county
of Norfolk.

Section 2050. How regulated and managed.—The said ferries shall
be regulated and managed by the council of the city of Portsmouth
and the board of supervisors of Norfolk county. The said council and
board of supervisors are authorized, after advertising the same for
thirty days previous to the day of lease, to lease out the said ferries
or any part thereof at public auction to the highest bidder for a term
of ten years, at the expiration of which said term they may again
lease the same and continue to lease the same for terms not exceed-
ing ten years each, upon such terms and conditions as the said council
and board of supervisors shall determine, and may require bond or
bonds from the lessee or lessees in such sum as they may deem best
for the faithful performance of the terms of the lease and with sure-
ties deemed by them sufficient, which bond or bonds shall be made
payable to the city of Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk. Pro-
vided, however, that should the council and the board of supervisors
consider that the highest bid was not sufficient, or unsatisfactory, said
council and board of supervisors are given the specific right to reject
any or all bids. Said council and board of supervisors may lease
out the said ferries as a whole, or in such parts as they may deem
best for the interest of said city or county.

The said council and board of supervisors are, however, authorized
and directed, should the two bodies so jointly agree, to operate and
manage said ferries, and the said council and board of supervisors
shall then appoint a superintendent of the ferries, whose salary shall
be fixed and who shall be under the control of the said council and
board of supervisors, and who may be removed by said bodies at their
pleasure. The said superintendent shall make monthly reports of
the operation of the ferries to said council and board of supervisors,
and he shall be bonded in a sum to be fixed by the council and board
of supervisors. The said superintendent shall, under such rules and

regulations as the said council and board of supervisors may prescribe,
have entire charge of the operation and maintenance of said ferries.
He shall annually, before the first day of November of each year,
submit to the council and the board of supervisors, a budget cover-
ing the operation and maintenance of the ferries for the following
calendar year; provided, however, the budget for the first year may
be for the unexpired portion of the year. This budget shall give in
detail the classification and the number of employees proposed to be
employed for the year, their salaries and wages, the amounts needed
for the various classes and supplies, materials, maintenance and re-
pairs for new plant. This budget shall be considered by the coun-
cil and by the board of supervisors and by them approved as orig-
inally submitted or in modified form, before the first day of January
of the year in which it applies. After said budget has been approved,
the superintendent of the ferries shall have full power to employ with-
out prior authority such persons as he may deem necessary for ef-
ficient operation of such ferries, if the total of their pay shall be with-
in the budget requirement, and to discharge any employee of the fer-
ries for any specific cause or general inefficiency.

In the event of a dispute between the said council and the board
of supervisors as to any question concerning the regulation, man-
agement or operation of said ferries, said dispute shall be settled
by an arbitrator appointed by the president of the Supreme Court of
Appeals of Virginia, such arbitrator shall not be a resident of the
city of Norfolk, Portsmouth, South Norfolk or the county of Nor-
folk, and he shall receive for his services twenty-five dollars per diem,
together with necessary traveling expenses, to be paid out of the re-
ceipts of said ferries.

Whether said ferries be operated directly by the city of Ports-
mouth and the county of Norfolk or be leased in whole or in part,
a sum equal at least to ten per centum of the net receipts accruing:
to the city of Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk shall be paid
annually in monthly installments, into a fund to be known as the “de-
preciation fund,” which fund shall be used solely for the purchase
of new equipment or to replace permanent structures, in whole or
in part, when such replacement becomes necessary or the rebuilding
of permanent equipment.

For the purchase of additional real estate and new equipment,
and for the building and re-building of permanent structures and
equipment, the city of Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk are
hereby authorized and empowered, as they deem necessary, to
issue, either jointly or severally, serial bonds payable not more than
twenty years after their date. Any ordinance or resolution providing
for the issuance of such bonds may provide for the payment of the
principal of and interest on said bonds exclusively from the revenues
and receipts of the ferries. and for the pledging of the revenues and
receipts for that purpose, and may further provide for the pledging
or not pledging of the full faith and credit of said city and county.

The accounts of the ferries if operated directly by the said city
and county shall be audited semi-annually, by a certified public ac-
countant selected by the said council and board of supervisors.

It shall be competent for either the city of Portsmouth or the
county of Norfolk to become the lessee of the whole property here-
under in the same manner and to the same extent as any other person
or corporation might become such.