CHAPTER 12

AN ACT to amend and reenact § 3 of Chapter 194 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1934, approved March 27, 1984, which provided a new charter for
the town of Lawrenceville, Virginia, so as to change the power of the
town to tax real and personal estate. 5 43]

(S 4

Approved February 17, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 3 of Chapter 194 of the Acts of Assembly of 1934, approved
March 27, 1934, be amended and reenacted as follows:

3. Powers of the town of Lawrenceville.—In addition to the powers
mentioned in section one hereof, the town of Lawrenceville shall have the
following powers:

First. To raise annually, by taxes and assessments in said town, on
all such property, real and personal, as is now or may be subject to taxation
by towns by the revenue laws of this Commonwealth, such sums of money
as the council thereof shall deem necessary for the purposes of said town,
in such manner as said council shall deem expedient in accordance with
the Constitution of this State and of the United States; provided that the
tax on said real and personal estate shall not exceed in any one year * one
dollar on every hundred dollars value thereof.

Second. To impose special or local assessments for local improve-
ments and to enforce payment thereof, subject to such limitations pre-
scribed by the Constitution and laws of Virginia as may be in force at the
. time of the imposition of such special or local assessments.

Third. To contract debts, borrow money and make and issue evi-
dences of indebtedness.

Fourth. To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.

Fifth. To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or other-
wise property, real or personal, or any estate therein, within or without
the town, for any of the purposes thereof; and to hold, improve, sell,
lease, mortgage, the same or any part thereof, including any property now
owned by the town.

Sixth. To construct, maintain, regulate and operate public improve-
ments of all kinds, including municipal and other buildings, grounds and
structures necessary or appropriate for the use and proper operation of
the various departments of the town.

Seventh. To own, operate and maintain water works and to acquire
in any lawful manner, in any county of the State, such water, lands, prop-
erty rights, and riparian rights as the council of said town may deem
necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate water supply to said
town and of piping or conducting the same; to lay all necessary mains
and service lines within and without the corporate limits of said town;
to erect and maintain all necessary mains and service lines within and
without the corporate limits of said town; to erect and maintain all neces-
sary dams, pumping stations and other works in connection therewith; to
make reasonable rules and regulations for promoting the purity of its said
water supply and for protecting the same from pollution, and for this
purpose to exercise full police powers and sanitary patrol over all lands
comprised within the limits of the water shed tributary to any such water
supply wherever such lands may be located in this State; to impose and
enforce adequate penalties for the violation of any such rules and regula-
tions and to prevent by injunction any pollution or threatened pollution
of such water supply, and any and all acts likely to impair the purity
thereof; and to carry out the powers herein granted, the said town may
exercise within the State all powers of eminent domain provided by the
laws of this State.

Eighth. To own, operate and maintain electric light and gas works,
either within or without the corporate limits of said town and to supply
gas and electricity whether the same be generated or purchased by said
town, to its customers and consumers both within and without the corpo-
rate limits of the said town, at such price and upon such terms as it may
prescribe, and to that end it may contract to purchase electricity and gas
from the owners thereof upon such terms as it may deem expedient.

Ninth. To establish, impose and enforce the collection of water, light
and sewerage rates and rates and charges for other services, products, or
conveniences operated or furnished by the town; and the said council may
prescribe a different rate to be paid for such services and conveniences
rendered to users or consumers without the corporate limits from the
charges made to those within the corporate limits of said town.

Tenth. To establish, enter, open, widen, extend, grade, improve,
construct, maintain, light, sprinkle and clean public highways, streets,
alleys, parkways and parks, and to alter or close the same; to regulate the
use of all such highways, parks and public grounds; to prevent the obstruc-
tion of such streets and highways; to require any railroad company oper-
ating a railroad at the place where any highway or street is crossed within
the town limits to erect and maintain at such crossing any style of gate
deemed proper, and keep a man in charge thereof or keep a flagman at
such crossing during such hours as the council may require in accordance
with the general law of the State, and to regulate the length of time such
crossings may be closed due to any operations of the railroad; to regulate
the operation and speed of all cars and vehicles upon said streets and high-
ways, as well as the speed of all engines, cars and trains or railroads with-
in the town; to permit or prohibit poles and wires for electric, telephone
and telegraph purposes to be erected and gas lines to be laid in the streets
and alleys, and to prescribe and collect an annual charge for such privi-
leges hereafter granted ; to require the owner or lessee of any electric light,
telephone or telegraph pole or poles or wires now in use or hereafter
erected to change the location or move the same.

Eleventh. To acquire by gift, purchase or by the exercise of the
power of eminent domain within this State, land or any interest or estate
in lands, rock quarries, gravel pits, sand pits, water and water rights and
the necessary roadways thereto, either within or without the town, and
acquire and install machinery and equipment and build the necessary
roads or tramways thereto and operate the same for the purpose of pro-
ducing materials required for any and all purposes of the said town.

Twelfth. To establish, construct, and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer
lines and cisterns and to require the abutting property owners to connect
therewith and to establish, construct, maintain and operate sewerage
disposal plants and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or
without the town, all lands, rights of way and other rights and easements

necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and to charge and collect reasonable

ees or assessments or costs of service for connecting with and using
e same.

Thirteenth. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Virginia
and of this charter to grant franchises for public utilities.

Fourteenth. To collect and dispose of sewerage, offal, ashes, garbage,
carcasses of dead animals and other refuse and to make reasonable charges
therefor; to acquire and operate reduction or other plants for the utiliza-
tion or destruction of such materials or any of them, and to contract for
and regulate and collect for the disposal thereof and to require and regu-
late the disposal thereof.

Fifteenth. To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances
within the town or upon property owned by the town beyond its limits at
the expense of the person or persons causing the same, or of the owner or
occupant on the ground or premises whereon the same may be, and to
collect said expense by suit or by distress and sale; to require all lands,
lots and other premises within the town to be kept clean and sanitary and
free from stagnant water, weeds, filth, and unsightly deposits, or to make
them so at the expense of the owners or occupants thereof, and to collect
said expense by suit or motion, or by distress and sale; to regulate or
prevent slaughter houses or other noisome or offensive business within
the said town, the keeping of hogs or other animals, poultry or other fow]
therein, or the exercise of any dangerous or unwholesome business, trade
or employment therein; to regulate the transportation of all articles
through the streets of the town; to compel the abatement of smoke and
dust, and prevent unnecessary noise, to regulate the location of stables
and the manner in which they shall be kept and constructed; to regulate
the location, construction, and operation and maintenance of bill boards
and generally to define, prohibit, abate, suppress, and prevent all things
detrimental to the health, morals, aesthetics, safety, convenience and
welfare of the inhabitants of the town; and to require all owners or occu-
pants of property having sidewalks in front thereof to keep the same clean
and sanitary, and free from all weeds, filth, unsightly deposits, ice or snow.

Sixteenth. The council may, in its discretion, appoint a board of
health for the town and invest it with authority for the prompt and effi-
cient performance of its duties.

Seventeenth. To inspect, test, measure, and weigh any commodity or
article of consumption for use within the town, and to establish, regulate,
license, and inspect weights, meters, measures and scales.

Eighteenth. To extinguish and prevent fires, and to establish, regu-
late and control a fire department or division; to regulate the size, heights,
materials and construction of buildings, fences, walls, retaining walls and
other structures hereafter erected in such manner as the public safety and
conveniences may require; to remove or require to be removed or re-
constructed any building, structure or addition thereto, which by reason
of dilapidation, defect of structure, or other causes, may have become
dangerous to life or property, or which may be erected contrary to law; to
establish and designate from time to time fire limits, within which limits
wooden buildings shall not be constructed, removed, added to, enlarged, or
repaired, and to direct that any or all future buildings within such limits
shall be constructed of stone, natural or artificial, concrete, brick, iron or
other fireproof material; and may enact stringent and efficient laws for
securing the safety of persons from fires in halls and buildings used for
public assemblies, entertainments or amusements.

Nineteenth. To charge and to collect fees for permits to use public
facilities and for public service and privileges. The said town shall have
the power and right to charge a different rate for any service rendered
or convenience furnished to citizens without the corporate limits from the
rates charged for similar service to citizens within the corporate limits.

Twentieth. To prevent any person having no visible means of sup-
port, paupers, and persons who may be dangerous to the peace and safety
of the town, from coming to said town from without the same; and also
to expel therefrom any such person who has been in said town less than
twelve months.

Twenty-first. To provide in or near the town, lands to be used as
burial places for the dead; to improve and care for the same and the
approaches thereto and to charge for and regulate the use of ground
therein; and to provide for the perpetual upkeep and care of any plot or
burial lot therein, the town is authorized to take and receive sums of
money by gift, bequest, or otherwise to be kept invested, and the income
thereof used in and about the perpetual upkeep and care of the said lot or
plot, for which the said donation, gift, or bequest shall have been made.

Twenty-second. To exercise full police powers and establish and main-
tain a department or division of police.

Twenty-third. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street
beggars; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assem-
blages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling houses; to prevent
and punish lewd, indecent and disorderly exhibitions in said town; and to
expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who have not resided
therein as much as one year.

Twenty-fourth. To license and regulate the holding and location of
shows, circuses, public exhibitions, carnivals and similar shows or fairs,
or prohibit the holding of the same or any of them within the town or
within one mile thereof ; to require every owner of a motor vehicle residing
in the said town, on a date to be designated by the council, to annually
register such motor vehicle and obtain a license to operate the same by
making application to the treasurer of said town, or such other person as
may be designated by the council of the town to issue said license, and to
require said owner to pay an annual fee therefor, to be fixed by the council,
but com license shall not exceed the amount charged by the State on said
machine.

Twenty-fifth. To make and enforce ordinances, not in conflict with the
laws of this State, to regulate, control license and/or tax the manufacture,
bottling, sale, distribution, transportation, handling, advertising, posses-
sion, dispensing, drinking and use of alcohol, brandy, rum, whiskey, gin,
wine, beer, lager beer, ale, porter, stout, and all liquids, beverages and
articles containing alcohol obtained by distillation, fermentation or other-

Twenty-sixth. To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient and
lawful to be done, for promoting or maintaining the general welfare,
comfort, education, morals, peace, government, health, trade, commerce,
or industries of the town; or its inhabitants.

Twenty-seventh. To prescribe any penalty for the violation of any
town ordinance, rule, or regulation or of any provision of this charter, not
exceeding five hundred dollars or twelve months’ imprisonment in jail,
or both.

Twenty-eighth. To prohibit and punish mischievous, wanton, or ma-
licious damage to school and public property as well as private property.

Twenty-ninth. To prohibit and punish minors from frequenting, play-
ing in, or loitering in any public poolroom, billiard parlor, or tenpin alley,
and to punish any proprietor or agent thereof for permitting same.

Thirtieth. To pass and enforce all by-laws, rules, regulations and
ordinances which it may deem necessary for the good order and govern-
ment of the town, the management of its property, the conduct of its
affairs, the peace, comfort, convenience, order, morals, health and pro-
tection of its citizens or their property, and to do such other things and
pass such other laws as may be necessary or proper to carry into full
effect, all power, authority, capacity, or jurisdiction, which is or shall be
granted to or vested in said town, or in the council or officers thereof, or
which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation. _

The town of Lawrenceville may maintain a suit to restrain by injunc-
tion the violation of any ordinance, notwithstanding punishment may be
provided for the violation of such ordinance.

CHAPTER 12

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

§ 12.01. School Board and Superintendent of Schools.—The de-
partment of education shall consist of the city school board, the division
superintendent of schools, and the officers and employees thereof. Except
as otherwise provided in this charter, the city school board and the division
superintendent of schools shall exercise all the powers conferred and per-
form all the duties imposed upon them by general law.

The school board of the city of Covington shall continue to consist
of three trustees, who shall be residents and qualified voters of the city,
and shall be appointed by majority vote of all the members of the coun-
cil. The school trustees of the city in office at the time this charter be-
comes effective shall constitute the school board of the city and shall con-
tinue in office for the terms for which they were appointed and until their
successors are appointed and qualified. All appointments thereafter shall
be for the term of three years. Any vacancy occurring in said school board
by expiration of term of office or other reason shall be filled by majority
vote of all members of the council.

The division superintendent of schools shall be appointed and serve
for a term of office as prescribed by general law. The person holding
office as division superintendent of schools of Alleghany County and the
city of Covington at the time this charter takes effect shall continue as
division superintendent of schools for the city of Covington and serve for
the remainder of the term he would have served without the adoption
of this charter. Thereafter the division superintendent of schools for the
city of Covington shall be appointed as prescribed by general law.
CHAPTER 12
County Officials

12.01.—Powers; Right to Vote for Such Officials. .

The Commonwealth’s attorney of Carroll County, the clerk of circuit
court of Carroll county and the sheriff of Carroll county, whether hereto-
fore elected or appointed, shall continue to exercise and have the same
rights and privileges, perform the same duties, have the same jurisdiction
in that part of the area lying within the City, which was a part of and
lying in Carroll county, Virginia, before and at the time of the transition
of the town of Galax into a City, as they had in such area of the town
before such municipality became a City, and the qualified voters residing
in such area of the City shall be entitled to vote for such officers, as well as
the candidates for members of the legislature of said county, at the general
county election for such officers, and the precinct or precincts of the City in
said area shall be treated, for such election purposes, as precincts of the
county, as if such City had not been declared to be a City of the second class.

12.02.—_The commonwealth’s attorney of Grayson county, the clerk
of the circuit court of Grayson county and the sheriff of Grayson county,
whether heretofore elected or appointed, shall continue to exercise and have
the same rights and privileges, perform the same duties, have the same
jurisdiction in that part of the area lying within the City, which was a
part of and lying in Grayson county, Virginia, before and at the time of the
transition of the town of Galax into a City, as they had in such area of the
town before such municipality became a City, and the qualified voters
residing in such area of the City shall be entitled to vote for such officers,
as well as the candidates for members of the legislature of said county, at
the general county election for such officers, and the precinct or precincts
of the City in said area shall be treated, for such election purposes, as
precincts of the county, as if the City had not been declared to be a City of

the second class.