CHAPTER 253

An Act to amend and reenact 8§ 8, 5, 8 and 19 of Chapter 887 of the
Acts of Assembly of 1948, approved March $1, 1948, which provided
a new charter for the town of Pulaski, the amended sections relating,
respectively, to the tuwn boundaries. town powers, councilmen, and
the town manager.
= {H 90]

Approved March 8, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3, 5, 8 and 19 of Chapter 337 of the Acts of Assembly of
1948, approved March 81, 1948, be amended and reenacted as follows: _

§ 8. Town Boundaries.—The corporate limits of the town of Pulaski,
Virginia, until altered as provided by law, shall embrace the territory
within the following boundary, to-wit:

BEGINNING at the east end of the fifth bridge on the Norfolk
and Western Railroad, west of the former Bertha Zinc works, and
running thence due north one-fourth of a mile (1320 feet), to a concrete
marker; thence due east 698.3 feet to a concrete marker in a line of
the former Bertha Mineral Company land; thence North 41 degrees 23
minutes East 2869.67 feet to a concrete marker on the north bank of
Tract Fork of Peak Creek; thence with the north bank of said creek,
North 77 degrees 31 minutes East 354.80 feet; North 66 degrees 42
minutes East 589.35 feet to a point at the center of the south side of
the abutment of the former narrow gauge railroad bridge; thence con-
tinuing with the north bank of said creek, North 89 degrees 50 minutes
East 75.88 feet; North 70 degrees 51 minutes East 189.60 feet; South
89 degrees 25 minutes East 83.45 feet to a concrete marker at the mouth
of a branch; thence up said branch North 31 degrees 25 minutes East
85.00 feet; North 14 degrees 58 minutes West 137.60 feet; North 14
degrees 58 minutes East 231.20 feet; North 35 degrees 31 minutes East
194.20 feet; North 9 degrees 53 minutes East 175.30 feet; North 54
degrees 42 minutes East 48.20 feet; North 20 degrees 31 minutes East
151.80 feet; North 8 degrees 10 minutes West 172.96 feet; North 20
degrees 48 minutes West 292.82 feet; North 8 degrees 56 minutes East
285.29 feet to the center line of a road and a small concrete culvert over a
branch; thence North 18 degrees 22 minutes West 482.14 feet to a
concrete market, at a fence corner; thence with a property line, North
4 degrees 08 minutes West 1980.20 feet to a set stone in the south line of
a colored cemetery; thence with said line North 88 degrees 35 minutes
West 320.90 feet to a concrete marker on the east side of Thaxton Road;
thence with the east side of said road, North 28 degrees 43 minutes east
445.30 feet to a set stone at the northwest corner of said cemetery; said
stone being in the northerly boundary line of the lands formerly owned
by Pulaski Land & Improvement Company; thence with said line to its
intersection with Robinson Tract Road; thence in a straight line to the
northwest corner of Oakwood Cemetery; thence along the northern and
eastern boundaries of said cemetery to the southeast corner of the same;
thence along the southern boundary of said cemetery to Jefferson Avenue;
thence along Jefferson Avenue to its intersection with Brook Avenue;
thence down Brook Avenue to Monroe Avenue near the former residence
of J. C. Wysor; thence along Monroe Avenue * to a point at the inter-
section of the East line of Monroe Avenue with the North right-of-way
of Fifth Street, Northeast, which point is also the intersection of the
East line of Monroe Avenue with the North edge of the existing sidewalk
on Fifth Street, Northeast; thence eastward, northeastward and north-
ward with the outer edge or right-of-way line of said sidewalk as exists
on the north and west side of Fifth Street (Lee Highway) to a point at
the intersection of the north edge of said sidewalk or right-of-way line
with the line between the property of O. H. Meredith and the property
of Paul H. Wade and G. B. Lawson; thence across Lee Highway North
82 degrees 34 minutes East, with a projection of said Meredith, Wade and
CH. 253] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 273

Lawson property line to the nearest point on the line of the land formerly
belonging to the Pulaski Iron Company; thence in an easterly course with
the northern boundary of the said former land of the Pulaski Iron Com-
pany land to where the same touches the northwest corner of the land
belonging to, or which formerly belonged to the Lake Spring Land and
Improvement Company; thence along the south side of the Pepper’s Ferry
Road to a stone marker at the northwest corner of the former Macgill land
(now Macgill Village); thence with the lines of said Macgill land
South 62 degrees 16 minutes East 686 feet to a point; thence South 73
degrees 21 minutes East 215 feet to a point; thence South 70 degrees 47
minutes East 292.4 feet to a concrete marker in the north line of Newbern
Road; thence crossing said road, and running with the south line of
another road South 70 degrees 47 minutes East 298.3 feet to a concrete
marker on the south side of said road; thence leaving said road with
old line of said Macgill land, South 2 degrees 00 minutes West 1783.33
feet to a concrete marker corner of General Chemical Company land;
thence with the lines of said land North 72 degrees 26 minutes West
430.0 feet to a concrete marker; thence South 12 degrees 27 minutes
West 712.3 feet to a concrete marker in the center line of Third Street,
N. E.; thence with said center line of Third Street, N. E., North 88
degrees 00 minutes West 804.7 feet to a concrete marker at the intersec-
tion with the center line of Union Avenue extended; thence southward
with the same, South 2 degrees 00 minutes West 516.27 feet to a point
near the General Chemical plant; thence South 71 degrees 30 minutes
East 691.6 feet to a concrete marker in the old line of Lake Springs Land
and Improvement Company; thence with said line South 12 degrees 27
minutes West 368.94 feet to a concrete marker in the south right-of-way
line of the Norfolk and Western Railway; thence with said line North
88 degrees 00 minutes West 1324.3 feet to a concrete marker, opposite
the west end of the bridge over Peak Creek (which railway bridge is
known as the Pierce bridge) ; thence South 30 degrees 03 minutes East
732.6 feet to a concrete marker at the southwest intersection of Maple
Avenue and Birch Street; thence south along the west side of Birch
Street to the north side of Jackson Avenue; thence east along the north
side of Jackson Avenue to the east line of the land of the Lake Spring
Land and Improvement Company; thence along the east line of said
Lake Spring Land and Improvement Company to the southeast corner
of the lands of said Lake Spring Land and Improvement Company;
thence around the south and western boundary of the Lake Spring Land
and Improvement Company to the land of the Martin Land and Improve-
ment Company; thence along the south boundary of the same to the
southwest corner of the same; thence due West 5141 feet to a point due
south from the point of beginning, and thence due north 2549.7 feet to the
place of BEGINNING.

§ 5. Powers of the Town of Pulaski.—In addition to any powers
which may be elsewhere enumerated in this chapter and the powers eon-
ferred by general law and the Constitution of Virginia, the town of
Pulaski shall have the following powers:

BUILDING AND ZONING

1. (a) To make and adopt a comprehensive plan for the town and
to that end all plats and replats hereafter made subdividing any land
within the town into streets, alleys, roads and lots, or tracts, shall be sub-
mitted to, and approved by the council before such plats or replats are
filed for record, or recorded, in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit
Court of Pulaski County, Virginia.
(b) Any street or alley reserved in the division or subdivision into
lots of any portion of the territory within the corporate limits of said
town by a plan or plat of record and approved by council shall be deemed
and held to be dedicated to public use, unless it appears by said record
that the street or alley so reserved is designated for private use, or that
council in approving said plat or subdivision refuses to accept dedication
of all or any of the streets or alleys shown on such plat. —

2. To enact and carry out zoning ordinances within the limits of
the said town in conformity with the laws of the State of Virginia and
by ordinances, from time to time, to modify and change the same. ;

3. To regulate the size, height, materials and construction of
buildings, fences, walls, retaining walls, excavations and other structures
hereafter erected in such manner as the public safety and convenience
may require; to remove, or require to be removed or reconstructed, 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 limitations, within which limitations
wooden buildings shall not be constructed, added to, enlarged or repaired
and to require that any or all future buildings within such limitations
shall be constructed of stone, natural or artificial brick, iron or other fire
proof materials; to enact stringent and efficient laws for securing the
safety of persons from fires in halls and buildings used for public assem-
blies, entertainments or amusements. .

.. To provide for regular and safe construction of houses in the
town for the future and to provide a building code for the town; to
provide set back lines on the streets beyond which no buildings may be
constructed; to require the standard of all dwelling houses to be main-
tained in residential sections in keeping with the majority of residences
therein and to require the standard of all business houses to be main-
tained in business sections in keeping with the majority of the business
houses therein; to establish sections or zones within the town to be used
exclusively for business, residential or other purposes as the council may
designate and to prohibit the construction of any building or the con-
ducting of any business within said section or zone inconsistent with the
purpose for which it has been exclusively designated. .

5. To issue, or refuse to issue, permits for the construction of
buildings, fences, walls, excavations, or other structures in. the said town ;
and any person, firm or corporation failing to secure such permit prior
to the beginning of said construction or other work shall be deemed guilty
of a misdemeanor.

6. To authorize and regulate the erection of party walls and fences
and to prescribe how the cost thereof shall be borne by coterminous owners.

7. To enact and carry out plumbing and heating ordinances, electric
light and power installation ordinances, and water and gas installation
ordinances, and to regulate within the limits of the town the installation
of water, gas and heating pipe lines, fixtures, boilers and plants, and
electric light and power lines, and to regulate and supervise the installation
of the same.

8. Any zoning ordinance passed by the council pursuant to authority
of this charter may be administered directly by the council or by a zoning
or planning commission created by the council, and the council, or the
commission, in the event the powers and authority are conferred upon
and delegated to a commission by action of a council, shall as nearly as
practical coordinate their plans and procedures with any planning com-
mission of the county of Pulaski, Virginia, or such other agency or
governmental department as may be vested with zoning authority within
the county of Pulaski, Virginia.
9. To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.

10. The town council shall prepare, or cause to be prepared, annually,
a budget showing the estimated receipts and proposed expenditures for
town purposes as required by State law. A public hearing shall be had by
the council prior to the adoption of the budget and a copy of the proposed
budget shall be published in one issue of a newspaper having general
circulation in the town of Pulaski, Virginia, at least one week prior to
said public hearing, and the publication of the proposed budget shall carry
with it a notice of the time and place of said public hearing on the proposed
budget and which public hearing may be at either a regular or special
meeting of council. The budget shall be adopted within six weeks follow-
ing the beginning of the fiscal year covered by the budget so adopted, but
the failure to adopt said budget within said six weeks period shall not
invalidate its subsequent adoption. However, no moneys may be legally
expended for town purposes after the expiration of said six weeks period
until after the budget shall have been adopted.

11. (a) The town may in the name, and for the use of the town,
contract debts and make and issue, or cause to be made and issued, as
evidence thereof, bonds, notes or other obligations within the limitations
prescribed by the Constitution, and in accordance with the provisions
of law concerning bond issues by towns, upon the credit of the town, or
solely upon the credit of specific property owned by the town, or solely
upon the credit of income derived from property used in connection with
public utilities owned and operated by the town.

_ (b) Pending the issuance and sale of any bonds, notes or other
obligations by this act authorized, or in anticipation of the receipt of
taxes and revenues for the current fiscal year, it shall be lawful for the
town to borrow money temporarily and to issue notes or other evidences
of indebtedness therefor, and from time to time to renew such temporary
loans, or to use current funds to be utimately repaid from the proceeds of
said bonds, notes or other obligations, or from the town taxes and
revenues as the case may be.

_ 12. To issue bonds in such manner, and for all such purposes as
is provided by the statutes and Constitution of the State of Virginia,
either as now existing, or as the same may be subsequently amended.

_13. The credit of the town shall not directly or indirectly, under any
device or pretense whatsoever, be granted to or in aid of any person, firm,
association or corporation. °

GENERAL POWERS

14. The town shall have the power to extend or contract the cor-
Porate limits of the town, as provided by the Constitution and the gen-
eral laws of Virginia im force at the time.

15. The council, hereafter created, shall have full power and
authority, except as herein otherwise specifically provided, to exercise
herein all of the powers conferred upon the town, and pass all laws and
ordinances relating to its municipal affairs, subject to the Constitution
and general laws of the State and of this charter, and shail have full and
complete control of all fiscal and municipal affairs of said town and of all
its real and personal properties, and may from time to time amend, re-
amend and/or repeal any or all of the said ordinances for the proper
regulation, management and government of the said town, and may
impose fines and penalties for the violation or nonobservance thereof.

16. The enumeration of specific powers, privileges and authority in
this charter shall not be deemed exclusive, but in addition to the powers
and privileges herein mentioned, implied or appropriated, the said town
shall have and exercise all other powers which are or may hereafter
be possessed or enjoyed by any towns under the Constitution and laws of
the Commonwealth of Virginia, or not denied by the same, as fully and
completely as if herein set out at length.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

17. To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within
the town, or within one mile thereof, or upon property owned by the
town beyond its limits irrespective of the distances from the town, at
the expense of the person or persons causing the same, or of the owner
or occupant of the ground or premises whereon the same may be, and
to collect said expense by suit or motion or by distress and sale; to re-
quire all lands, lots and other premises within the town to be kept
clean and sanitary and free from stagnant water, weeds, filth and unsightly
growths, 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 and prevent or prohibit slaughter houses, abattoirs or
other noxious or offensive business in said town, or within one mile
thereof, the keeping of hogs or other animals, poultry or other fowl
therein or the exercise of any dangerous or unwholesome business, trade
or employment therein, or within one mile thereof; 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, or to prohibit the same; to regulate the location,
construction, operation and maintenance of billboards and generally to
define, prohibit, abate, suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the
health, morals, aesthetics, safety, convenience and welfare of the in-
habitants of the town; and to require all owners or occupants of property
having sidewalks in front thereof to keep the same clean and sanitary and
free from all weeds, filth, unsightly deposits, ice and snow and to require
that any streets or alleys be kept free of any such weeds, filth, unsightly
deposits, ice or snow, together with the right to punish adjoining pro-
perty owners for permitting the same.

18. To regulate or prohibit the keeping or storing of gun powder,
nitroglycerin or other explosive or combustible substance; and to regulate
or’ prohibit the exhibition or possession of fire works, the discharge of
firearms and/or fireworks and the making of bonfires or other open
fires within the said town.

19. To collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage, trash,
carcasses of dead animals and other refuse and to make reasonable
charges therefor; to acquire, construct and operate reduction, incinera-
tion or other plants for the utilization or destruction of such materials
or any of them; to contract or regulate the collection and disposal thereof
and to regulate the storage and preparation for collection thereof.

20. To inspect, test, measure and weigh any commodity or com-
modities or articles of consumption for use within the town; and to
i regulate, license and inspect weights, meters, measures and
scales.

21. To extinguish and prevent fires, and to compel citizens to render
assistance to the fire department in case of need, and to establish, regulate
and control a fire department or division; to regulate the size, height,
materials and construction of buildings, fences, walls, retaining walls and
other structures hereafter erected in such manner as the public safety
and convenience may require; to remove, or require to be removed or
reconstructed, any building, structure or addition thereto which by reason
of dilapidation, defect of structure, or other causes, may have become
CH. 253] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 277

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 require that any or all future buildings within such
limits shall be constructed of stone, 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 assem-
blies, entertainments or amusements.
_,_ 22. To provide for the preservation of the general health of the
inhabitants of the said town; to pass ordinances and make regulations
to secure the same, inspect all food stuffs and the preparation thereof
for storage and/or consumption, and to prevent the introduction and
sale in said town of any articles or things intended for human consump-
tion which is adulterated, impure or otherwise dangerous to health, and to
condemn, seize and destroy, or otherwise dispose of, any such article
or thing, without liability to the owner thereof; to appoint inspectors,
agents or officers to enforce any such ordinances or regulations within or
without the corporate limits of the said town; and for such services of
inspection, to make reasonable charges therefor; to prevent the introduc-
tion or spread of contagious or infectious diseases, and prevent or sup-
press disease generally; to provide and regulate hospitals, within or
without the town limits, and if necessary to the suppression of diseases,
to enforce the removal of persons afflicted with contagious or infectious
diseases to hospitals provided for them; to construct and maintain, or
to aid in the construction and maintenance of a hospital or hospitals for
the use of the people of the town; to provide for the organization of a
department or bureau of health to have the powers of the board of health
for said town, with the authority necessary for the prompt and efficient
performance of its duties and with the power to invest any or all of the
officials or employees of such department of health with such powers as
the police officers of the town have; to establish quarantine ground within
or without the town, and to establish such quarantine regulations against
such contagious and infectious diseases as the town may see fit, subject to
the laws of the State and of the United States; and to provide for a bureau
of vital statistics and require physicians, midwives or parents to make
reports thereto.

23. To prevent fowls and animals being kept in or running at large
in the town or any portion thereof, and to subject the same to such taxes,
regulations and penalties as the council may think proper.

LICENSES

24. Except when prohibited by general law, the town may levy a
tax or a license on any person, firm or corporation pursuing or conducting
any trade, business, profession, occupation, employment or calling what-
soever, or offering to pursue or conduct the same, within the boundaries
of the town, whether or not such license is required therefor by the State
or exceeds any State license or tax, and may provide penalties for any
violation thereof.

Licenses may also be imposed upon persons, firms or corporations
selling and delivering at the same time at other than a definite place
of business, goods, wares and merchandise to licensed dealers, retailers or
consumers in the town.

25. For every license issued or transferred under this charter, there
may be prescribed by ordinance a reasonable charge or fee for issuing or
transferring the same. Such charges or fees shall be paid into the town

ry.
26. To license and regulate the holding and location within the
town, or within one mile thereof, of all shows, circuses, public exhibitions,
carnivals and other similar shows or fairs, together with the right to
police the same, or the right to prohibit the holding of any such shows,
public exhibitions, carnivals and other similar shows or fairs in the town,
or within one mile thereof; when any such shows, carnivals, fairs, circuses
or public exhibitions are licensed within the corporate limits of the town,
or within one mile thereof, the license tax imposed may exceed the license
tax imposed by the State on any such thing, unless expressly prohibited
by general law, and the amount of the license tax imposed by the town
may, in some instances, be in excess of the license tax imposed in other
instances for similar things, in the sole discretion of the council.

MOTOR VEHICLES

27. * To require every owner, whether it be a person, firm, or cor-
poration, or every resident, of the town who shall own, or have in his
custody, or under his control, a vehicle of any kind which shall be oper-
ated on the streets, alleys, or public ways of the town, or every person,
firm, or corporation not a resident of the town who shall habitually keep
or garage a vehicle in the town of Pulaski, and every person, firm, or
corporation not a resident of the town who shall operate on the streets,
alleys or public ways of the town a vehicle of any kind for the purpose
of pickup or delivery in furtherance of or in connection with the conduct
of a business located within the town, to annually register such motor
vehicles, on a date to be designated by the council, and to obtain a license
to operate the same by making application to such as may be designated
by the council of said town to issue said license, and to require the said
owner, resident, or custodian to pay an annual license fee therefor to be
fixed by the council, and to prohibit the use of streets, alleys or public
ways of the town without such license. No such license shall be required
of a nonresident of the town who shall use a vehicle exclusively for his
own personal transportation to and from his place of employment within
the town. And further to provide a license plate as evidence of the regis-
tration of said motor vehicle and payment of the license fee, and to require
that said license plate be attached to and prominently displayed upon the
motor vehicle so licensed.

_ ,,28. Insofar as not prohibited by general law: to control, regulate,
limit and restrict the operation of motor vehicles carrying passengers
or freight for hire upon the streets or alleys of the town, and to require
the owners or operators of such carriers to provide and maintain, within
the town, suitable terminals for the convenient loading and unloading of
passengers and freight; to regulate the fares to be charged by operators of
taxicabs or other motor vehicles operating from established stands within
the town or carrying passengers or freight within, out of or into its cor-
porate limits, and to require that the drivers of such vehicles be of such
moral character as meets with the approval of the council and that they
be licensed by the town, pursuant to such examination, regulations or
restrictions as council may prescribe; to regulate the use of automobiles
or other automotive vehicles upon the streets; to regulate the routes in
and through the town to be used by motor vehicle carriers operating in
and through said town, and to prescribe different routes for different
carriers; to prohibit the use of certain streets by motor trucks or buses;
to pass any ordinance or ordinances, or a complete traffic code, regulating
the use and operation of motor vehicles on the streets of the town, and
generally to prescribe such regulations respecting motor traffic therein as
may be considered necessary for the general welfare.

POLICE POWERS

29. To exercise full police powers and establish and maintain a
department or division of police.
CH. 253] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 279

80. Insofar as not prohibited by general law, to pass and enforce
all by-laws, rules, regulations and ordinances which it may deem necessary
for the good order and government of the town, the management of its
property, the conduct of its affairs, the peace, comfort, convenience, order,
morals, health and protection of its citizens or their property, and to do
such other things and pass such other laws as may be considered neces-
sary or proper to carry into full effect all powers, authority, capacity or
jurisdiction, which is, or shall be granted to or vested in said town or in
the council, court or officers thereof, or which may be necessarily incident
to a municipal corporation.

31. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street beggars,
.to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assemblies; to
suppress houses of ill fame and gambling houses, and to prevent and
punish lewd, indecent and disorderly exhibitions within said town, or
within one mile thereof; and to expel from the town persons guilty of
such conduct who have not resided therein as much as one year.

32. To prevent from coming to the town from without, and to expel
therefrom, any person not having‘ resided therein as much as one year
who has no visible means of support, paupers and persons who may be
dangerous to the peace and safety of the town.

33. To make and enforce ordinances, insofar as not prohibited by
the general laws of this State, to regulate, control, license and/or tax
the manufacture, bottling, sale, distribution, drinking and use of alcohol,
brandy, rum, whiskey, gin, wine, beer, lager beer, ale, porter, stout, and
all liquids, beverages and articles containing alcohol by distillation, fer-
mentation or otherwise.

- To prohibit and punish for mischievous, wanton or malicious
damage to school and public property as well as private property.

35. To offer and pay rewards for the apprehension and/or convic-
tion of criminals.

86. To prohibit minors from frequenting, playing in and loitering in
any public pool room, billiard parlor, bowling alley, or any restaurant or
place where alcoholic beverages are dispensed or sold, and to punish any
proprietor or agent thereof for permitting the same.

87. Except when prohibited by general law, to prohibit or punish
any person, firm or corporation from pursuing or conducting any trade,
business, profession, occupation, employment or calling within the boun-
daries of the town on the Sabbath.

38. To impose any penalty for the violation of any town ordinance,
rule or regulation, or of any provision of this charter, not exceeding five
hundred dollars ($500.00) or twelve months’ imprisonment in jail, or
both, and to provide that the offender, on failing to pay the penalty
recovered with costs, shall be imprisoned in jail, or prison farm of the
town, for a term of not exceeding ninety (90) days, which penalties may
be prosecuted and recovered with costs in the name of the town of Pulaski,
or to compel them to work on the streets or other public improvements of
the said town, together with the additional right to require that any person
adjudged to be a person of disrepute, ill fame, immoral, or of having com-
mitted or threatened to commit a breach of the peace, may be required to
give bond in a penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500.00) with
approved surety, to keep the peace and be of good behavior, or to conduct
himself or herself in such a manner as not to be of disrepute, ill fame, or
immoral, for a period of one year, and upon the failure to give any such
bond when required, the trial officer shall have the right to commit such
person to confinement in jail, or some other penal or corrective institution,
for an additional period not exceeding six (6) months.

89. To compel persons sentenced to confinement in jail to serve
a jail sentence, or for nonpayment of any fine and costs, for any misde-
meanor or other violation of the rules or ordinances of the said town, to
work on the public streets, parks or other public works of the town; and
on the requisition of the mayor, police justice, or other person acting
as judge of the municipal court, it shall be the duty of the chief of police
of the town to deliver, or cause such person to be delivered, to the duly
authorized agent of the town for such purposes from day to day as may
be required; for the purpose of carrying into effect the police regulations
of said town, the town shall be allowed the use of the county jail of
Pulaski county for the safekeeping and confinement of all prisoners who
shall be sentenced to imprisonment under the ordinances of said town, but
which shall not preclude the right to confine such prisoners in any jail
or other corrective, detentive or penal institution which might be subse-
quently owned, operated or maintained by the town.

40. To enjoin and restrain the violation of any town ordinance or
oe esc, although a penalty is provided upon conviction of any such
violation.

PUBLIC PROPERTY

41. To exercise the power of eminent domain within this State with
respect to lands and improvements thereon, machinery and equipment
for any lawful purposes of the said town.

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

43. To acquire in any lawful manner, for the purpose of encouraging
commerce, manufacturing and industry, education, recreation, home build-
ing, health, or for the correction or punishment of crime, or any other
lawful purpose, lands either within or without the town, and from time
to time to sell, dispose of, lease, donate, exchange, or in any manner alien,
the whole or any part thereof, for commercial, industrial, educational,
recreational, residential, health, or any other uses and purposes, either
private or public, and irrespective of whether the same has or has not
been dedicated to a specific public use, including the right to abandon
the public use to which it has been dedicated, or to alter the same, and
this shall apply to lands now owned by the town as well as those which
may be subsequently acquired.

44. To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise,
lands either within or without the town, or both, to be used, kept, im-
proved and maintained, as a place for the interment of the dead, and to
make and enforce all necessary rules and regulations, establish such
trusts or deal with the same in any manner necessary for the protection,
use or perpetual maintenance thereof; to permit or prohibit the establish-
ment of such places of interment and to regulate the same, and also
those heretofore established, together with the right to regulate, prescribe
or prohibit the burial therein of any person or persons belonging to any
particular race, creed, color or denomination; to charge for and to
improve, care for and regulate, the use of the ground therein; to cooperate
with any non-profit corporation or society in the improvement and care
of burial places and approaches thereto; and to provide for the perpetual
upkeep and care of any plot or burial lot therein, and the said town is
authorized to take and receive sums of money by gift, bequest or other-
wise, to be kept invested, and the income thereof used in and about
perpetual upkeep and care of said burial place; and said town is further
impowered to subdivide any such land acquired as burial places for the
dead into lots, and to sell or otherwise dispose of the same, to person or
persons, and to contract with such person or persons, either at the time
of sale or other disposition of said lot or lots, or at any other time, for
temporary or permanent care and maintenance, the payment of such sum
or sums to the said town as it may deem sufficient, to be held and invested
by it, the income to be used for said permanent care and maintenance,
and in all such cases such permanent care shall be consistent with the
general rules and regulations governing such burial places as may be
designated by the council of the said town. And all acts of the said town
in accepting from any cemetery or other private company, society or
corporation any such land to be used as a burial place for the dead,
whether said land had been heretofore used or not, as well as all contracts
and agreements made with any person or persons for perpetual care and
maintenance, are hereby declared valid. The said town shall have the right
to sell or convey any property either now owned or subsequently acquired
by it as a place for the burial of the dead, to trustees under a trust to
perpetually maintain the same, or to convey any of the said property,
either now owned or subsequently acquired, to private persons, firms or
corporations, provided any such grantee is charged with perpetual main-
tenance and such action approved by the town council.

45. To accept and receive, unconditionally or upon conditions, abso-
lutely or in trust, gifts, grants, bequests and devises of any kind of
property, real or personal, for educational, charitable or any other public
purposes; and to do all the things and acts necessary to carry out the
purpose of such gifts, grants, bequests and devises, with power to manage,
maintain, operate, sell, lease or otherwise handle or dispose of the same
in accordance with the terms and conditions of such gifts, grants, bequests
and devises.

46. To acquire by purchase, gift, devise or condemnation, property
adjoining its parks or other property used for public purposes, or in the
vicinity of such parks or property used for other public purposes, which
is used and maintained in such a manner as to impair the beauty, useful-
ness or efficiency of such parks or property used for public purposes, or
may be necessary for the enlargement or expansion of the same, and may
likewise acquire property adjacent to any street, the topography of which,
from its proximity thereto, impairs the convenient use of such streets,
or renders impractical without extraordinary expense, the improvements
of the same, and the town may subsequently dispose of the property so
acquired, making limitations as to the use thereof, which will protect the
beauty, usefulness, efficiency or convenience of such parks, plats, property
or streets.

47. To construct in such parks, play grounds and public grounds
as it may maintain, or upon any town property, stadia, swimming pools,
gymnasia and recreation or amusement buildings, structures or enclosures
of every character, refreshment stands, restaurants, etc.; to charge admis-
sion for the use of the same and to rent out or lease the privileges of
construction or using such stadia, swimming pools, recreation or amuse-
ment buildings, structures or enclosures of every character, refreshment
stands, restaurants, etc.

48. To construct, maintain, regulate and operate public improve-
ments of all kinds, including municipal or other buildings, armories, com-
fort stations, markets and all buildings and structures necessary or appro-
priate for the use and proper operation of the various departments of the
town.

49. To establish, maintain, operate, supervise, control or regulate a
market, or markets, in and for said town; to prescribe the times and
places for holding the same; to make and enforce such regulations as shall
be necessary to prevent huckstering or forestalling, regrating or any
282 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [vA., 1956

unfair market practice; and to prescribe and collect a use or license fee
for the privilege of selling on:said market.

_ 50. To acquire by condemnation, purchase, or otherwise provide for,
maintain, operate, lease and protect air craft landing fields, either within
or without the corporate limits of the town.

51. 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
land, rock quarries, gravel pits, sand pits, mineral or oil rights, water or
water rights, and the necessary roadways thereto, either within or with-
out the town, or acquire and install machinery and equipment, and build
the necessary roads or tramways thereto, and operate the same for the
purpose of producing materials required for any and all purposes of the
town with the right to sell any such materials so produced for any and
all private purposes and to any and all private persons, firms, corporations,
federal, state or municipal agencies or corporations.

52. To provide and maintain, either within or without the town,
charitable, recreative, punitive, corrective, detentive or penal institutions.

STREETS, SEWERS AND STREAMS

_ 53. To establish, open, widen, extend, grade, improve, construct,
maintain, light, sprinkle and clean, public highways, streets, alleys, boule-
vards and parkways, and to alter or close the same; to establish and main-
tain and operate bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, sewers and drains,
and to regulate the use of all such highways, parks, public grounds and
works; to plant and maintain shade trees along the streets and upon such
public grounds; to prevent the obstruction of such streets and highways,
abolish and prevent grade crossings over the same by railroads in the
manner prescribed by general law for the elimination of grade crossings;
to require any railroad company operating a railroad at the place where
any highway or street is crossed within the town limits to erect and main-
tain at such crossings 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 provisions of Section
thirty-nine hundred and ninety-eight and other sections of the Code of
Virginia; and to regulate the length of time such crossings may be closed
due to any operations of the railroads; to regulate the operation, weight
of load, and speed of all cars and vehicles using the same, as well as the
operation and speed of all engines, cars and trains, or railroads within
the town; to regulate the services to be rendered, including route traversed,
the rates charged by busses, motor cars, cabs and other vehicles for
carrying of passengers and by vehicles for the transfer of baggage; to
permit railroads and street car lines to be built in the streets and alleys,
and to determine and designate the route and grade thereof; and to
specify and require the proper construction and maintenance of the streets
between the rails and on either side thereof for such distances as such
streets may be affected by the construction, operation, repair or main-
tenance of such railroads or street car lines, and to require the recon-
struction of so much of said streets as may be damaged by the removal
of such railroads or street car line; to permit or prohibit poles and wires
for electric, telephone and telegraph purposes to be erected and gas pipes
to be laid in the streets and alleys, and to prescribe and collect an annual
charge for such privileges, heretofore or 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; to open, lay out, and improve new streets across the
track or tracks, yard or yards, of any railroad in the town, and any such
new or existing street or streets may cross any such track or tracks, yard
or yards, of any railroads in the town, in the discretion of the council,
either at grade, or pass above or below any such existing structure or
structures; provided, that after due notice to such railroad company and
full opportunity to be heard and after the council shall have decided
whether such crossing shall be made at grade, or pass above or below any
such existing structure or structures, the plans and specifications for such
crossing as the council shall have determined upon, shall be submitted to
the principal agent of such railroad company in the town, and in the event
the town and railroad company cannot, within sixty days thereafter, agree
upon such plans and specifications, or cannot agree in regard to the divi-
sion of the cost of constructing such crossing, then the town shall submit
such plans and specifications to the State Corporation Commission, and
the State Corporation Commission, after reasonable notice to such railroad
company and after hearing such evidence as either party may adduce,
shall approve, or revise and approve the plan for such crossing as the
council shall have determined shall be made, or substitute such other plans
or character of crossing, whether at grade, overhead or underpass, as the
State Corporation Commission may deem proper under all the facts, cir-
cumstances and conditions in the case, and the State Corporation Commis-
sion shall determine what part of the cost of constructing such crossing
shall be paid by the town, if any, and what part by the railroad company,
but in no event shall the town be required to pay more than one-half
thereof, and after such crossing shall have been constructed, it shall be
maintained, within the limits of the railroad right of way, by such rail-
road company or by the lessee thereof; and to do all other things what-
soever adopted to make said streets and highways safe, convenient and
attractive.

54. To establish, construct and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer lines
and systems, 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, riparian and other rights and
easements necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and to charge and collect
reasonable fees or assessments or costs of service for connecting with
and using the same.

55. In every case where a street, alley, park or public property of
the town has been, or shall be, encroached upon by any fence, building or
otherwise, the town may require the owner to remove the same, and if
such removal be not made within the time prescribed by the town, it may
impose such penalty as it may deem proper for each and every day it is
allowed to continue thereafter, and may cause the encroachment to be
removed, and collect from the owner all reasonable charges therefor, with
costs, by the same process that they are hereinafter empowered to collect
taxes.

56. To give names to or alter the names of streets.

57. To divert the channels of creeks or flowing streams and for that
purpose to acquire property by condemnation or otherwise.

TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS

58. To raise annually by levy of taxes and assements in the said
town on all such property, real and personal, as is now or may be subject
to taxation by the laws of the Commonwealth such sums of money as
the council therof shall deem necessary for the purpose of the said
town, in such manner as the said council shall deem expedient, in
accordance with the Constitution of this State and of the United States,
the said town to have the right to levy such taxes and assessments on all
such rea] and personal property, except that which municipalities may
be expressly prohibited from levying upon by the general laws of the
284 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [va., 1956

Commonwealth or the Constitution of this State or of the United States;
provided, however, that it shall impose no taxes on the bonds of the
said town.

_ 59. To levy an amusement tax upon the admission to all places or
things of amusement within the town of Pulaski.

60. To impose a tax, not exceeding one dollar per annum, upon all
persons residing in said town above the age of twenty-one years not
exempt from the payment of State capitation tax, the proceeds of which
tax so imposed shall be paid into the general funds of the town, and
the council in levying said tax by ordinance, either may, or may not,
make the payment of any taxes so levied a prerequisite to the right to
obtain any license or franchise to do business in the town.

61. The town shall have authority to impose taxes or assessments
upon abutting land owners for making or improving walkways, upon
new or then existing streets and improving or paving new or then
existing alleys, and for either the construction or for the use of sewers,
and the procedure for making such assessments and the method of col-
jecting such taxes and assessments shall be in accordance with general
aw.

62. The town of Pulaski may levy a tax on all subjects of taxation
not prohibited to it nor exempted in the Constitution and general laws
of Virginia.

63. The town council shall provide for the assessment each year
of all taxable property within said town in the same manner as provided
by State law or in such manner as the council shall prescribe, not incon-
sistent with State law.

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

To charge and collect fees for permits to use public facilities and
for public service and privileges. The amount of any such fee shall
be in the sole descretion of the council and the fact that the fees charged
are not uniform shall not be deemed an abuse of that discretion.

66. To establish, impose and enforce the collection of water, light,
gas and sewage rates and rents and charges for other services. products
or conveniences operated or furnished by the town, together with the
right to terminate or suspend the furnishing of water, light, gas, sewage
disposal or other services during such time as payment due for any
such commodity or service is delinquent, and for the purpose of detemin-
ing the right to terminate or suspend any such service or commodity,
any unpaid charges for the same shall be deemed delinquent as to the
real property for the benefit of which the same was furnished, until such
time as the same are paid. In fixing any such rates, the council may
prescribe a different rate to be paid for such services and conveniences
rendered to users or customers without the corporate limits of the town.

The council may assess, or cause to be assesed, water, light and
sewage rates and charges, directly against the owner or owners of the
real estate for the benefit of which the same is furnished, or against the
proper tenant or tenants, and may, by ordinance, provide that where
charges are made against tennants, the owner or owners shall be directly
liable in case such tenant or tenants fail to pay when rates or charges are
assessed; and in event such rates and charges shall be assessed against
a tenant, then the said council may by an ordinance require of such ten-
ant a deposit of such reasonable amount as may by such ordinance be
prescribed before furnishing such services to such tenant.

67. A lien shall exist on all real estate within the corporate limits
of the town for taxes, water, gas, electric or sewage disposal furnished by
CH. 253] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 285

the town, the same to be a lien against the real estate for the benefit of
which the same is furnished, together with all penalties and interest due
thereon as the same may be fixed and prescribed by council, and the
lien herein provided for, shall commence as of the beginning of the
year or period for which it is assessed, and the procedure for collecting
such taxes or assessment which are herein made a lien on real estate,
and for the selling of such real estate to enforce the lien for such taxes
or assessments and for the redemption of the real estate so sold, shall
be the same as provided in the general law for the State of Virginia, to
the same extent as if the provisions of said general law were herein set
out at length. The said town and its treasurer shall have the benefit of
all other and additional remedies for the collection of such town taxes
or assessments as now or hereafter may be granted or permitted under
the general law.

68. All goods and chattels wheresoever found may be destrained
and sold for taxes, licenses and assessments assessed and due thereon;
and no deed of trust or mortgage upon goods and chattels shall prevent
the same from being destrained and sold for taxes and licenses against
the grantor in such instrument while such goods and chattels remain in
the grantor’s possession.

PUBLIC UTILITIES

69. To own, operate and maintain water works and to acquire in
any lawful manner in any county of the State such water, lands, property
rights and riparian rights as the council of said town may deem necessary
for the purpose of providing an adequate water supply for said town and
of piping or conducting the same; to lay all necessary mains and service
lines, either within or without the corporate limits of said town, for the
distribution of water to its customers and consumers, both within and
without the corporate limits of said town, and to charge and collect water
rents therefor; to erect and maintain all necessary dams, pumping stations
and other works in connection therwith; to make reasonable rules and
regulations for promoting the purity of its said water supply and for pro-
tecting 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 watershed 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 regulations; 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
for the purpose of acquiring lands, interest in lands, property rights
and riparian rights or materials for any such use, to exercise within the
State all powers of eminent domain provided by the laws of this State.

70. To own, operate and maintain electric light and gas works,
either within or without the corporate limits of the said town, for the
generating of electricity and the manufacture of gas for illuminating,
power and other purposes, and to supply the same, whether said gas and
electricity be generated or purchased by said town, to its customers and
consumers, both within and without the corporate limits of the said
town, at such price and upon such terms as it may prescribe, and to
that end it may contract with owners of land and water power for the
use thereof, or may have the same condemned, and to purchase such elec-
tricity and gas from the owners thereof, and to furnish the same to its
customers and consumers, both within and without the corporate limits
of the said town, at such price and on such terms as it may prescribe.

71. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and general laws
of Virginia and this charter, to grant franchises for public utilities
or services; provided, however, the town shall, at any time, have the
power to contract for, own, operate, manage, sell, encumber or otherwise
dispose of, either within or without the town, any and all public utilities
of the town and to sell the services thereof, any existing franchise to the
contrary notwithstanding.

WELFARE

72. To provide for the care, support and maintenance of children

and of sick, aged, insane or poor persons and paupers. .

_ 18. To establish a child welfare board to have control and supervi-
sion of maintaining and educating poor, dependent, delinquent and desti-
tute children, and to administer funds appropriated for that purpose,
together with the right appropriate funds therefor and to employ such
child welfare workers, probation officers, agents or employees as may
be necessary to carry out its functions. .

74. To establish, organize, operate, contribute or to administer
public schools and libraries, subject to the general laws establishing a
standard of education for the State.

75. To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient for promot-
ing or maintaining the general welfare, comfort, education, morals, peace,
Seca health, trade, commerce or industries of the town or its
inhabitants.

COUNCILMEN

§ 8. (1) Election—Councilmen shall be elected for * the firat time
under the provisions of this charter on the second Tuesday in June, nine-
teen hundred fifty-six, and on the second Tuesday in June every two years
thereafter, as herein provided. At the first election to be held under this
charter on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred fifty-six, there
shall be eight councilmen elected at large from the town of Pulaski; four
councilmen thereof to be elected for a term of four years and four coun-
cilmen to be elected for a term of two years, with the determination of
which of the councilmen shall serve four years and which of the council-
men shall serve two years to be made at the council’s organizational meet-
ing held in September after the said election. At the organizational meet-
ing in September, nineteen hundred fifty-six, eight slips of paper shall be
placed in a container. On four of said slips there shall be written “Two
years’’, and on four slips there shall be written “Four years”. Each coun-
cilman elected at the first election after the effective date of this charter
shall drawn one slip from satd container, and each councilman shall be
declared elected for the term of years designated on the slip of paper
which he draws.

After the first election held in June, nineteen hundred fifty-siz, there
shall be an election held on the second Tuesday in June every two years
thereafter, at which time four councilmen shall be elected at large from
the town of Pulaski for a term of four years.

Of the eight councilmen to be elected * in the town of Pulaski after
the effective date of this charter, all thereof shall be elected at large from
said town, that is to say, there shall be no designation or no reference to
the election of any councilmen by wards.

(2) Qualifications and Electors.—Any person elected to or seeking
the office of councilman shall be a freeholder and a resident within and of
the town of Pulaski and shall be a qualified voter in the town election tn
which he or she offers, and any such person shall be eligible for the office
of councilman. All qualified voters who are residents of the town shall be
entitled to vote for the person seeking election as councilman without
respect to any ward in which either the councilman resides or the voter
CH. 253] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 287

resides, and he or she shall be entitled to vote for all councilmen seeking
office in that election.

_. (3) Term of office—The eight councilmen elected as herein pro-
vided, shall enter upon the discharge of their duties of office on the first
day of September next succeeding their election, and * four of said coun-
cilmen shall continue in office for a term of two years and four of the
councilmen shall continue in office for a term of four years; the designa-
tion of which councilmen shall serve for two years and which councilmen
shall serve for four years shall be determined as hereinabove provided,
and shall continue in office until their successors are qualified. The terms
of office for all councilmen elected after the first election held hereunder
shall be four years, or until their successors are qualified.

TOWN MANAGER

§ 19. (1) Establishment of Town Manager Form of Government.—
There is hereby established, subject to the provisions of subsection (2) of
this Section 19 of this charter, a town manager form of government for
the town of Pulaski, as follows:

(a) The town shall be governed by a council composed of a mayor
elected at large, and eight councilmen elected * for the term and in the
manner hereinbefore prescribed. The mayor and the councilmen respec-
tively and the council as a collective body, consisting of the mayor and
councilmen, shall have and exercise all the powers, functions and duties
conferred upon them respectively by this charter or by general law, except
such as fhey may from time to time delegate to the town manager, and the
delegation of any such powers may at any time be revoked by the council.

(b) A town manager shall be appointed by the council at its first
meeting after the adoption of the town manager form of government as
hereinafter provided, or as soon thereafter as practical and thereafter,
at the first meeting of the council after its qualification and assumption
of office pursuant to election, or as soon thereafter as practical. The town
manager shall be chosen solely on the basis of his executive and admin-
istrative qualifications. He need not, when appointed, be a resident of the
town or of the State of Virginia, but shall, during his term of office, reside
within the county of Pulaski and shall be appointed for such term as he
and the council agree upon not to exceed two years, but in. any event to
end with the term of the council making the appointment, but any such
town manager may be reappointed for an indefinite number of succeeding
terms. The town manager may be suspended or removed by the council
prior to the expiration of the term for which he was appointed, for any
cause which it deems sufficient, provided that no order of suspension or
removal shall be made until after he shall have been given at least
five (5) days’ notice in writing, stating the cause for such suspension or
removal, and fixing a day at which he may be heard thereon, and he shall
not be removed or suspended except upon a majority vote of all members
elected to the council, and the manner in which each councilman votes
shall be recorded and disclosed to the town manager, but in the event the
provisions of this paragraph are complied with, the action of the council
shall be final and their decision on the merits shall not be subject to
review by any body or tribunal.

(c) The town manager shall be responsible to the council for the
proper administration of all affairs of the town coming within his juris-
diction under this charter, the general law, or the ordinances or resolu-
tions of the council. He shall have power and it shall be his duty:

1. tosee that all laws and ordinances are enforced;

2. to appoint such town officers and employees as the council shall
determine are necessary for the proper administration of the town, and
any such officers or employees may be removed or discharged by the town
manager, except that the town manager may neither appoint, remove nor
discharge the clerk of council, the clerical and other attendants of the
council, the town treasurer, the director of public works, the town attor-
ney, the chief of police, the police justice, the issuing justices, and the
superintendents of the various departments herein created, or which may
be created by ordinance of council, and which powers of appointment,
removal and discharge herein excepted from the power of the town man-
ager are expressly reserved to the council; but the town manager shall
report each appointment, removal or discharge to the council at the next
meeting thereof following any such appointment, removal or discharge,
and the council shall have the right to review such appointment, removal
or discharge and to revoke the same;

3. to see that all terms and conditions imposed in favor of the town
or its inhabitants, in any public utility franchise or any contract, are
faithfully kept and performed and upon any knowledge of any violation
thereof, to call the same to the attention of the council ; _.

4. to exercise supervision and control of all departments and divi-
sions created herein, or that may be hereafter created by the council, and
have general supervision over all public improvements, works and under-
takings, except as otherwise provided in this charter or by the council;

5. to attend all meetings of the town council, except an executive
session thereof, with the right to take part in the discussions, but he
shall have no vote, and he may attend any such executive session with
the consent of council;

to recommend to the council for adoption, such ordinances or
measures as he may deem necessary or expedient;

7. to make reports to the council, from time to time, upon the affairs
of the town;

8. to keep the council fully advised of the town’s financial condition
and its future financial needs and to prepare and submit to the council
a tentative budget for the next fiscal year;

to make all such contracts on behalf of the town as may be
authorized by this charter, under general law or in accordance with the
provisions of the appropriations made by the council, or under continuing
contracts, or contracts pursuant to resolution or ordinance of the town;

10. to act as town purchasing agent unless and until otherwise
provided by the council;

11. to perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this
charter, or be required of him by ordinance or resolution of the town
council, and shall be bonded as the council may deem necessary ;

to perform all of the duties which are now or may hereafter
be conferred upon, or delegated to town managers under the laws of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, except as may be otherwise provided by the
council, or as may be in conflict with the provisions of this charter.

(2) The provisions of this Section (19) of this charter shall not take
effect or become operative except upon a vote of the qualified electors of
the town as follows: upon the petition of electors, equal in number to
at least ten per cent (10%) of those qualified to vote at the last preceding
general election at which a mayor or council was elected, specifying that
the particular form of government sought to be adopted shall be in
accordance with subsection (1) of Section 19 of this charter, and which
said petition shall be presented to the Circuit Court of Pulaski County,
Virginia, or to the judge thereof in vacation, asking that an election be
held to vote upon the adoption of said town manager form of government.
The petition herein provided for shall be signed by none but qualified
voters of the town. The petition shall contain, in addition to the signature
of the petitioners, the street and house number in which the petitioner
CH. 253] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 289

resides. The names of the petitioners need not all be on one petition pro-
vided the several petitions are copies of each other, each page to have
printed at the top a brief statement of the proposal to be voted on. Upon
the filing of such petition, if it conforms to the provisions and require-
ments herein contained, the court or judge shall enter an order, in term
time or vacation, directing the proper election officers for the town of
Pulaski to take such steps and prepare such means as may be necessary
to submit to the qualified voters of the town of Pulaski for determining
the question whether the town manager form of government, as provi-
sionally set up by this charter, shall be adopted or not; and the court or
judge shall make such order as may be proper to give due publicity to such
election, the same to be held not less than thirty (30) nor more than
ninety (90) days after the entry of the order by the court or judge.
Accompanying the petition of said electors there shall be a certificate from
the clerk of the Circuit Court of Pulaski County which shall show the
number of persons qualified to vote at the last preceding June election for
municipal officers. If the list of qualified voters filed in the office of said
clerk shall not contain the names of persons who are not required to pay
their poll tax in order to vote, then there shall likewise accompany such
petition a certificate from the registrars giving the number of persons
who were qualified to vote at said election and not on the list filed with
said clerk.

Such election shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by law
for the conduct of regular elections, and by the regular election officers
of or for the town. The election shall be by secret ballot and the ballot
used shall contain the following: “For proposed town manager form of
government” and “Against proposed town manager form of govern-
ment’; and before, or in front of each of the foregoing statements printed
on said ballot shall be a square, and the voter shall place in the square
immediately preceding the proposition for which he or she intends to
vote a check (\/), or a cross(X< or -+-) mark, or a line (—), and shall
leave blank the square preceding the proposition for which he or she does
not wish to vote. Returns of the election shall be certified by the com-
missioners of election, or their clerk, to the court, or the judge thereof
in vacation; and if it shall appear that the proposed town manager form
of government has not been adopted by a majority vote of the qualified
electors, an order shall be entered of record accordingly and no other
election for a town manager form of government, or for any change in
the form of government for the town, shall be held within two years after
such election; but if the said town manager form of government is
adopted by a majority vote of the qualified electors, the court or judge
thereof, shall enter an order of record accordingly, a copy of which shall
be forthwith certified by the clerk of said court to the council of the town
of Pulaski for recordation upon its journal. Any such election may be
contested and the proceedings for all such contests shall conform as
near as may be to the provisions of Section 2754 of the Code of Virginia.

(3) In the event the town manager form of government should be
adopted as herein provided for, the same may be abandoned in accordance
with and subject to the limitations of Section 2954 of the Code of
Virginia.

(4) Nothing herein contained shall be construed as depriving
the council of its right to employ a town manager without adopting
the provisions of Chapter 119 of the Code of Virginia, or without
adopting the town manager form of government as herein provided, as
the same is authorized under provisions of Section 2949 of the Code
of Virginia.

(5) Nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing the
right to change the form of government as provided by Chap 119
290 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [VA., 1956

of the Code of Virginia, but should there be more than one petition
filed with the court or judge asking for different provisions of Chapter
119 of the Code of Virginia, or asking for the town manager form of
government as provisionally established by this charter, the court or
judge shall order an election upon the plan having the greatest number
of voters petitioning for the same.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.