CHAPTER 105

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 3 of Chapter 64, of the Acts of
Assembly of 1922, approved February 25, 1922, which pro-
vided a new charter for the city of Suffolk, so as to authorize
the council to appoint advisory boards or commissions; and
to further amend such act by adding a section numbered
2-j3, authorizing the establishment, construction, improve-
ment, enlargement, maintenance and operation of places
for the parking or storage of vehicles by the public and the
acquisition of property for such purposes and a section
numbered 2-n authorizing the establishment, construction,
tmprovement, enlargement, maintenance and operation of a
sewage disposal system and the acquisition of property for
such purposes, the borrowing of money and the issuance of
bonds therefor, and the collection of fees, rents and charges
for the use thereof, and prescribing certain powers and
duties of the city council.

[ H 190 ]

Approved March 4, 1950

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
lL. That § 3 of Chapter sixty-four, as amended, of the Acts of
Assembly of nineteen hundred twenty-two, approved February
wenty-five, nineteen hundred twenty-two, be amended and that
uch act be further amended by adding two sections numbered
wo-j and two-n, the amended and new sections being as follows:

§ 3. Creation and powers of council.—There is hereby
Treated a council, which shall have full power and authority,
except as herein otherwise provided, to exercise all of the
powers conferred upon the city, and to pass all laws and ordi-
nances relating to its municipal affairs, subject to the Constitu-
tion and general laws of the State and of this charter. It shall
by ordinance fix the salaries of all officers and employees of the
city, and may, so far as is not inconsistent with the provisions
of this charter, define the powers and prescribe the duties of
all such officers and employees.

The council may appoint boards or commissions, to be com-
posed of such number of citizens, regardless of sex, as the council
may deem expedient to act in an advisory capacity in conjunction
with the council or with any one or more of the officers of the
city; The members of all such boards and commissions shall
serve with or without compensation at the discretion of the
council.

§ 2-7. In addition to the other powers conferred by law,
the city is empowered to establish, construct, own, improve,
enlarge, maintain and operate within ‘and without the city, places
for the parking or storage of vehicles by the public, which shall
anclude but shall not be limited to parking lots, garages, build-
ings and other land, structures, equipment and facilities, when
in the opinion of the council they are necessary to relieve con-
gestion in the use of streets and to reduce hazards incident to
such use; provide for their management and control by the city
manager, a department of the city government, or by a board,
commission or agency specially established by ordinance for
the purpose; authorize or permit others to use, operate or main-
tain such places or any portions thereof, pursuant to lease or
agreement, upon such terms and conditions as the council may
determine by resolution or ordinance; and charge or authorize
the charging of compensation for the parking or storage of
vehicles or other services at‘or in such places; and to acqutre
by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise, property,
real or personal, or any estate or interest therein, necessary or
convenient for establishment, enlargement, maintenance or oper-
ation of such parking or storage places, and to dispose of prop-
erty so acquired no longer necessary for the use of such places.

§ 2-n. In addition to the other powers conferred by law,
the city 1s empowered and authorized:

(1) To acquire, establish, construct, improve, enlarge, oper-
ate and maintain, within or without the city, a sewage disposal
system with all the necessary sewers, conduits, pipe lines, pump-
ing and ventilating stations, treabment plants and works, and
other plants, structures, boats, conveyances and other real and
personal property necessary for the operation of such system.

(2) To acquire by purchase, gift, condemnation or other-
wise, real estate, or rights or easements therein, or riparian
rights, necessary or convenient for establishment, enlargement,
maintenance or operation of such sewage disposal system, and
to dispose of property so acquired no longer necessary for the
use of such system.

(3) To borrow money for the purpose of establishing, con-
structing, improving, and enlarging the sewage disposal system
and to issue bonds therefor in the name of the city of Suffolk,
as hereinafter provided.

(4) To accept gifts or grants of real or personal property,
money, material, labor or supplies for the establishment and
operation of such sewage disposal system and to make and per-
form such agreements or contracts as may be necessary or con-
venient in connection with the procuring or acceptance of such
gifts or grants.

(5) To enter on any lands, waters and premises for the
purpose of making surveys, borings, soundings and examina-
tions for constructing and operating the sewage disposal system,
and for the prevention of pollution of the tidal waters.

(6) To enter into contracts with the United States of
America, or any department or agency thereof, or of the State
of Virginia, or any person, firm or corporation, providing for
or relating to the treatment and disposal of sewage and indus-
trial wastes. |

(7) To fiz, charge and collect fees, rents or other charges
for the use and services of the sewage disposal system. Such
fees, rents, and charges may be charged to and collected from
any person contracting for the same, or from the owner or lessee
or tenant, or some or all of them, who uses or occupies any real
estate which directly or indirectly is or has been connected with
the sewage disposal system, or from or on which originates or
has originated sewage or industrial wastes, or either, which di-
rectly or indirectly have entered or will enter the sewage dis-
posal system, and the owner or lessee or tenant of any such real
estate shall pay to the city such fees, rents and charges at the
teme and place where the same are due and payable.

Such fees, rents and charges, being in the nature of use or
service charges, shall, as nearly as the city council shall deem
practicable and equitable, be uniform for the same type, class and
amount of use or service of the sewage disposal system, and may
be based or computed either on the consumption of water on
or in connection with the real estate, making due allowances for
commercial use of water, or on the number and kind of water
outlets on or in connection with the real estate or on the number
and kind of plumbing or sewage fixtures or facilities on or in
connection with the real estate or on the number or average num-
ber of persons residing or working on or otherwise connected
or identified with the real estate or any other factors determin-
ing the type, class and amount of use or service of the sewage
disposal system, or on any combination of such factors, or on
such other basis as the city council may determine. Such fees,
rents, and charges shall be due and payable at such time as the
city council may determine, and the council may require the
same to be paid in advance for periods of not more than siz
months. The revenue derived from any or all of such fees, rents,
and charges ‘is hereby declared to be revenue of such sewage
disposal system.

In the event the fees, rents or charges charged for the use
and services of the sewage disposal system by or in connection
with any real estate shall not be paid when due, interest shall
at that time begin to accrue thereon at the rate of one per centum
per month, and the owner, lessee or tenant, as the case may be, of
such real estate shall, until such fees, rents and charges shall be
paid with such interest to the date of payment, cease to dispose
of sewage or industrial waste originating from or on such real
estate by discharge thereof directly or indirectly into the sewage
disposal system, and if such owner, lessee or tenant shall not
cease such disposal within two months thereafter, the city or
person or corporation supplying water for the use of such real
estate shall cease supplying water thereto unless the health
officers shall certify that the shutting off the water will endanger
the health of the occupants of the premises or the health of others
in the city.

Such fees, rents and charges and interest thereon may be
recovered by the city of Suffolk by action at law or suit in equity,
and shall constitute a lien against the property, ranking on a
parity with liens for unpaid city taxes.

Bonds of the city of Suffolk, the principal and interest of
which shall be payable from ad valorem taxes, which shall be
levied upon all the taxable property of said city without limita-
tion of rate or amount, in the event that the revenue hereinafter
referred to is insufficient for the payment of the principal and
interest thereof, may be issued from time to time in the manner
prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven (b) of the Con-
stitution of Virginia to establish, construct, improve and enlarge
a sewage disposal system with all the necessary sewers, con-
duits, pipe lines, pumping and ventilating stations, treatment
plants and works and other property, real and personal, neces-
sary for the operation thereof, from which the city may derive
a revenue pursuant to the provisions of this section; to reim-
burse the general fund or any other fund of the city for moneys
paid from said fund or funds for such purposes, and to fund o7
refund any existing indebtedness incurred for such purposes.
and such bonds shall not be included in determining the power o}
the city to incur indebtedness within the limitation prescribea
by section one hundred twenty-seven of the Constitution of Vir-
ginia, but from and after a period to be determined by the coun-
cil, not exceeding five years from the date of the election author-
wzing such bonds, whenever and for so long as such sewage dis-
posal system fails to produce sufficient revenue to pay for cost
of operation and administration, including the interest on such
bonds, and the cost of insurance against loss by injury to persons
or property, and an annual amount to be covered into a sinking
fund sufficient to pay, at or before maturity, all such bonds,
then all such bonds outstanding shall be included in determining
the limitation of the power of the city to incur indebtedness;
provided, however, that bonds may be issued from time to time
for any or all of such purposes, including reimbursement of
funds and the funding or refunding of existing indebtedness, in
the manner prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven ( b)
of the Constitution of Virginia, the principal and interest of
which bonds shall be payable solely from the revenue of such
sewage disposal system, which bonds shall never be included in
determining the power of the city to incur indebtedness within
the limitations prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven
of the Constitution of Virginia. The ordinance authorizing the
issuance of any of such bonds and the calling of an election on
the question of the issuance thereof shall state:

(a) the maximum amount of bonds to be issued;

; (6) the purpose or purposes for which such bonds are to
e is

(ce) that the principal and interest of said bonds shall be
payable from ad valorem taxes without limitation o f rate or
amount, if the revenue of the sewage disposal system is insuffi-
cient for that purpose, or that the principal and interest of such
bonds shall be payable solely from the revenue of such sewage
disposal system;

(d) if the bonds are to be payable from ad valorem tazes
without limitation of rate or amount in the event that the reve-
nue of the sewage disposal plant is insufficient for that purpose,
that the bonds are to be issued pursuant to the provisions of
section one hundred twenty-seven (b) of the Constitution of Vir-
ginta and are not to be included in determining the power of the
city to uncur indebtedness within the limitation prescribed by
section one hundred twenty-seven of the Constitution of Vir-
ginia; provided, however, that from and after a period specified
in such ordinance not exceeding five years from the date of the
election authorizing the bonds, whenever and for so long as such
sewage disposal system fails to produce sufficient revenue to pay
for cost of operation and administration, including the interest
on such bonds, and the cost of insurance against loss by injury
to persons or property, and an annual amount to be covered into
a sinking fund sufficient to pay at or before maturity, all such
bonds, then all such bonds outstanding shall be included in deter-
mining the limitation of the power of the city to incur in-
debtedness;

(e) If the bonds are to be payable solely from the revenue
of such sewage disposal system, that the bonds are to be issued
pursuant to the provisions of section one hundred twenty-seven
(b) of the Constitution of Virginia and are never to be included
in determining the power of the city to incur indebtesness within
the limitation prescribed by section one hundred twenty-seven of
the Constitution of Virginia;

(f) the maximum rate of interest to be borne by the bonds,
not exceeding six per centum per annum;

(g) the maximum period within which such bonds shall
mature, not exceeding thirty-five years from the date of issue;

(h) such other details as the council may, in its sole discre-
tion deem necessary, including but without limiting the gener-
ality of the foregoing, a pledge of the net revenue of the sewage
disposal system to the payment of the principal and interest of
any such bonds and a covenant to maintain fees, rents or other
charges for the use of such sewage disposal system, authorized
by this section two-n, at a level which will produce net revenue
sufficient for the payment of the principal and interest thereof,
and any reserve funds deemed necessary for the efficient admin-
istration of such sewage disposal system and for the protection
of the holders of the bonds. |

§§ 24-141, 15-596, 15-624, 15-625, and 15-626 of the Code of
Virginia shall govern the calling and holding of the election on
the question of the issuance of such bonds, and the provisions of
§§ 15-587, 15-588 and 15-598 of the Code of Virginia, except in
so far as the same may be in conflict herewith, shall govern the
issuance of such bonds. If such bonds are sold at public sale, the
notice of sale may provide that the bidders shall name the rate
or rates of interest to be borne by such bonds, not exceeding the
maximum rate prescribed by the ordinance calling the election,
to be expressed in a multiple or multiples of one-fourth or one-
tenth of one per centum per annum. The powers conferred by
this section shall be deemed to be supplemental to, cumulative of,
and in addition to all other powers heretofore granted by the
general laws of the State or by special acts or other charter pro-
visions of the city of Suffolk, and no general law or special act
or other charter provision, except as herein expressly provided,
shall in any way affect the issuance of such bonds.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its pas-
sage. ,