Chap. 472.—An ACT to amend, consolidate and re-enact chapter thirty-one
(31), acts of 1872-73, approved January 16, 1873, entitled an act to incor-
porate the town of Covington, in the county of Alleghany, and chapter 774,
acts of 1895-96, approved March 4, 1896, entitled an act authorizing the elec-
tion of a town assessor for the town of Covington, in Alleghany county,
Virginia, relating to the charter and corporate limits of the town of Coving-
ton, and to extend the corporate limits of said town and enlarge its powers.

Approved February 21, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That chapter
thirty-one, acts of eighteen hundred and seventy-two and seventy-three,
approved January sixteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, en-
titled an act to incorporate Hues town of Covington, in the county of ‘Alle-
ghany, and chapter seven hundred and seventy- -four, acts of eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-five and ninety-six, approved March fourth, eighteen
hundred and ninety-six, entitled an act authorizing the election of a town
assessor for the town of Covington, in Alleghany county, Virginia, be
amended, consolidated, and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 1. The town of Covington comprised in the following boundaries—
to wit: Beginning at the intersection of the southwest line of Lexington
street with Jackson’s river; thence with the meanders of said river along
low water mark, to the west line of Third street extended, to said river;
thence with said west line of Third street to the northerly line of
Marion street; thence with said northerly line of said Marion street and
a prolongation of same to the line between the lands of the Lowmoor
iron company and the Covington machine company; thence with same
to northerly line of Lexington street; thence with the northerly line
of Lexington street to its intersection with the easterly line of Alleghany
avenue as laid down on the recorded map of the addition to the town of
Covington made by the Covington improvement company; thence with
said easterly line of said Alleghany avenue to its intersection with the
line between lots numbers nineteen (19) and twenty (20) of block number
sixty-six (66) of the said Covington improvement company’s addition;
thence with same to the southerly line of the alley in the rear of said
block sixty-six; thence with said southerly line of said alley to the east
line of the Fudge reservation; thence with same in a southerly direction
to the northerly line of said Alleghany avenue; thence with same to its
intersection with a prolongation of the east line of Beverly street (Mc-
Allister addition); thence with the same to the south line of Cedar street
(McAllister addition); thence with the same to the east line of the
Healing springs turnpike; thence crossing said turnpike on a straight line
to the north end of McAllister and Bell’s mill dam at low water mark,
on said Jackson’s river; thence with the meanders of said Jackson’s
river at low water mark to the beginning—shall be, and the same is
hereby, made a town corporate by the name of “ the town of Covington,”
and by that name shall have and exercise all of the powers conferred
upon towns by the forty-fourth and forty-fifth chapters of the code of
Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven and amendments thereto,
and of all laws now in force or that may hereafter be enacted for the
government of towns containing less than five thousand inhabitants.

§$ 2. The officers of said town shall be a mayor and six councilmen,
all electors of said town, who shall hold their offices for the period of
two years, or until their successors are duly elected and qualified accord-
ing to law.

§ 3. The first election for mayor and councilmen under this act, shall
be held on the fourth Thursday in May, nineteen hundred, and an elec-
tion for the said offices shall be held on the fourth Thursday in May
every second year thereafter. All persons in office in said town at the
time of the passage of this act, shall be continued in office until the
expiration of the terms by which they were respectively elected or ap-
pointed, or until their successors are duly elected or appointed, and
qualified according to law.

§ 4. The mayor and three councilmen, or, in the absence of the mayor,
four councilmen, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi-
ness.

S$ 5. The council of said town shall have power to appoint a sergeant,
treasurer, secretary, town assessor, and such other officers as may be nec-
essary, together with a police force for the preservation of order, who
shall remain in office until their successors shall have been duly appointed
and qualified according to law.

Police officers appointed under this section shall have all the powers
granted to special police under section three thousand nine hundred and
twenty-seven of the code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, and amendments thereto, and may arrest without warrant, and
carry before the mayor to be dealt with according to law, any and all
persons who shall violate any ordinance of the town in their presence,
their jurisdiction for the exercise of these powers being the same terri-
tory as is embraced in the jurisdiction of the sergeant. Such police
officers shall qualify by taking, before the mayor, the oaths of office pre-
scribed by law.

§ 6. The council of said town may appoint annually, at its regular
meeting in the month of February of each year, a town assessor, who
shall perform all the duties in relation to the assessment of property for
the purpose of levying the town taxes, that may be required of him
by the mayor and council of said town: provided, that the town sergeant
shall not be disqualified from holding said office of town assessor.

§ 7. The mayor, as chief magistrate of said town, shall take care that
the by-laws and ordinances thereof are faithfullly executed. He and the
other members of the council shall have power to issue process, hear and
determine all prosecutions, cases, and controversies which may arise
under the by-laws and ordinances of the town; impose fines and commit
the defendant to jail until such fine is paid, or until the costs are paid
when there is no fine; inflict punishment when and wherever they are
authorized by the said by-laws and ordinances, and issue execution for
the collection of said fines; and shall have all other powers conferred
upon them by law.

§ 8. The sergeant of the said town shall have the powers and discharge
the duties of constables; shall have the power to arrest without warrant,
and carry before the mavor to be dealt with according to law, any and
all persons who shall violate any ordinance of the town in his presence,
and all powers granted to special police under section thirty-nine hun-
dred and twenty-seven of the code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and
eighty-seven, and amendments thereto; and shall have all other powers
conferred upon him by the laws of this state. The powers and duties
herein prescribed shall be exercised by the sergeant of said town within
the limits of said town and to a distance of one mile beyond the same.
The sergeant shall be the collector of taxes for the town and shall dis-
charge such other duties as may be required by the ordinances of the
town, or as shall be imposed upon him by the council from time to time.
He shall qualify within thirty days from the date of his appointment
by giving bond in such penalty as the council may require and taking
before the mayor the oaths of office required by law.

§ 9. The council of said town may prescribe limits in the town within
which shall be prohibited the erection of any building, or addition to any
building, more than ten feet high, unless the outer walls thereof be made
of brick and mortar, or stone and mortar, and provide for the removal
of any building or addition erected contrary to such prohibition.

810. The jurisdiction of the corporate authorities of said town in
criminal matters, and for imposing and collecting a license tax on all
saloons, shows, performances, and exhibitions shall extend one mile
beyond the corporate limits of said town.

§ 11. All ordinances now in force in said town not in conflict with this
act, the laws of this state, or of the United States, shall remain in full
force until altered, amended, or repealed by said council.

$12. The maximum levy for corporation purposes shall be limited to
not exceeding the aggregate amount of the levy in the county of Alle-
ghany for county and road purposes for any year from and after the first
day of February, nineteen hundred, and shall not be increased beyond
such limit without the consent of the legislature of Virginia, by amend-
ment to this charter or otherwise.

= 13. The assessments and levies within the corporate limits, as pro-
vided in section one of this act, for the year nineteen hundred, and for all
subsequent years, shall enure to the benefit of the town of Covington,
commencing with the first day of February, nineteen hundred.

§ 14. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby
repealed.

§ 15. This act shall be in force from its passage.