Chap. 974.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Chincoteague, Accomac
county.

Approved March 7, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
island of Chincoteague, in Accomac county, as the same is now, and
shall hereafter be, laid off into lots, squares, streets, and allevs, he,
and the same is hereby, mace a town corporate by the name of Chin-
coteague, and by that name shall have and exercise all the powers con-
ferred on towns of less than five thousand inhabitants by the code of
Virginia, and to all laws now in foree, or which may hereafter be
enacted, in reference to towns of less than five thousand inhabitants,
so far as the same are not inconsistent with the provision of this
act.

2. The limits of said town shall be as follows: Bounded on south-
west by Chincoteague inlet: northwest, by Chincoteague channel and
bay; northeast, by Chincoteague bay, and southwest, by Assateague
channer

. The government of said town shall be vested in a mavor, recorder,
seven councilmen, and such other officers as may be provided for by
the mayor and council. W. N. Conant is hereby appointed mayor
thereof; N. S. Smith, recorder; and J. B. Richardson, O. M. Jones, R.
L. Marshall, T. H. Pruitt, J. B. Dale, Thomas Beebe, and Joshua W
Williams are hereby appointed councilmen thereof. The mayor anc
councilmen shall serve without pay; the recorder to receive such com:
pensation as the councilmen may prescribe; and the said mayor.
recorder, and councilmen shall have and exercise all the powers here-
inafter granted to said officers, and shall continue in office until the
fourth Thursday in May, nineteen hundred and one, and thereafter.
until their successors shall be elected and qualified according to law,
a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of
lusiness. The mayor, recorder, and councilmen shall constitute the
town council.

4. The election for mayor, recorder, and councilmen shall be held on
the fourth Thursday in May, nineteen hundred and one, and on the fourth
Thursday in May in every second year thereafter. Such election shall
be held at a designated place in the said town, and conducted under
the supervision of three commissioners appointed by the council for the
purpose. Within two days after any election has been held under this
act, the commissioners who conducted the same shall certify the names
of the persons elected to the clerk of the county court of Accomac
county, and to the officers elected, which certificate shall be entered
among the records of said county and corporation.

5. In all elections for the officers of this corporation, all persons
who are, by the laws of this state, entitled to vote for members of
the general assembly, and who shall have resided in the said town for
three months next preceding the day of election then to be held, shall
be entitled to vote.

6. The persons to be elected under the provisions of this act shall
be inhabitants of said town; and it shall be their duty, on or before
the first day of July next after their election, to take and subscribe the
oaths required by law to be taken by county and district officers before
a justice of the peace or notary public of Accomac or Northampton
counties, and they shall enter upon the discharge of their duties as such
officers on the first day of July next after their election, and hold office
for a term of two years and until their successors are elected or ap-
pointed and qualified. The oaths taken and subscribed under this
section shall be filed with the records of said town and the fact of
their being taken shall also be certified and recorded as provided by
section one hundred and seventy-five of the code of Virginia.

7. The mayor of said town shall take care that the ordinances, reso-
lutions, and by-laws of the town council are faithfully executed. He
shall be ex officio a conservator of peace within the said town, and
shall, within the same, exercise all the powers and duties vested by law
in justices of the peace in civil cases. He shall have power to render
judgment and issue executions in all matters wherein he has jurisdic-
tion by reason of the authority vested in him under this act; and in
all matters where it may be necessary to carry into effect the purposes
of this act, said town authorities shall have the right to use the lock-up
on Chincoteague island for that purpose.

9. The mayor, recorder, and any four councilmen, or the mayor or
recorder and any five councilmen, or, in the absence of both mayor
and recorder, any six councilmen, shall constitute a quorum to do husi-
ness. ‘he mayor shall preside at the meetings of the council. In his
absence, the council shall select one of their number to preside, and
the proceedings shall be signed by the person presiding. If, at any
meeting, the recorder be absent, the person presiding shall appoint
some other person to discharge the duties of recorder for that meet-
ing.

10. The town council shall cause to be kept in a journal an accurate
record of all its proceedings, which shall be open to the inspection of
any person residing in said town. ‘The mayor and recorder shall have
votes as members of said council, and the person presiding at the time
of any tie vote shall have the casting vote.

The recorder shall attend all meetings of the council, keep a journal
of its proceedings, have charge of and preserve the records of the town,
and perform such other duties as the council may prescribe.

11. It shall be the duty of the town council at their first meeting
after their appointment or election, or as soon thereafter as practicable,
to appoint a sergeant, who shall hold his office during the term of the
council which elected him, and until his successor is duly elected and
qualified, and who shall within the limits of said town and two miles
beyond the said limits have the powers and be subject to all the laws
applicable to constables by the laws of this state and not inconsistent
with the provisions of this act.

The town council shall require of said sergeant a bond in such pen-
alty and with such conditions and such sureties as it may prescribe,
which bonds shall be filed with the records of said town, and a copv
thereof, certified by the mayor, recorded in the bond-books of the
county court of Accomae county; and the said sergeant shall take and
subseribe the oaths required by the town council before entering upon
the duties of his office.

12. It shall be lawful for said council to make and pass orders, bv-
laws, ordinances, and resolutions for the government of said town, so
the same be not contrary to the laws and constitution of this state and
of the United States; and for the violation of the same, to prescribe
reasonable fines, but in no case to exceed fifty dollars: and provided,
no order, by-law, ordinance, or resolution shall be made or adopted
by said council to prevent the running at large of horses, mules, sheep,
and cattle within the corporate limits without having first submitted
the question of adopting or rejecting such order, by-law, ordinance,
or resolution to the qualified voters of said town. And in the event
of any such vote being taken, the council shall provide that a notice
of the same shall be given by posting the time of said election at the
voting place where elections are held in said town, and in at least three
other conspicuous places within the corporate limits, for at least thirty
days prior to the date of such election. The rules governing said elec-
tion shall conform to the election laws of the state, except that the
expenses thereof for conducting, recording, and certifying the same
shall be paid out of funds of the incorporation.

13. To meet any expenses that may be necessary and chargeable to
said town for any purpose, the town council may, at such times as it
may seem proper, levy a town levy of so much as, in its opinion, may
be necessary upon all persons and property in said town not exempt
from taxation by the laws of this state: provided, that a capitation
tax greater than one dollar per head on all male inhabitants of said
town over the age of twenty-one years shall not be levied in any one
year: and provided further, that the tax levies on all property shall
not exceed twenty-five cents on every hundred dollars of the assessed
value of the property in the town in any one year: provided, however,
that said council, by a two-thirds vote of the entire council, may exempt
any real or personal estate used for manufacturing purposes, or other
enterprises, from all municipal taxes for a period of not exceeding
five years at a time, if it shall deem it expedient to do so in order to
encourage the establishment of any enterprise in said town.

14. The town sergeant shall have power to collect the town taxes,
fines, and levies, and one month after the time he shall have received
the book of the assessor of said town to distrain and sell therefor in
like manner, as now provided by law for the collection of taxes, and
shall have the same powers as constables and county treasurers to en-
force the collection and payment of such taxes, fines, and levies, and
executions issued by the mayor in civil causes; and such sergeant may,
at any time, be removed by said council for any neglect or default in
duty or for failure to properly account for any money in his hands,
as the council may direct.

15. There shall be a lien on all real estate for town taxes and levies
assessed thereon from the commencement of the year from which they
are assessed; and the town council may order and require real estate
within said corporate limits, delinquent for the non-payment of town
taxes thereon, to be rented or sold by the sergeant at public auction,
and at some public place in said town, for the arrears, with interest,
with such a per centum as said council may prescribe for all costs and
charges, and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the person entitled
thereto; but before offering such delinquent real estate for sale or rent,
the time, terms, and place of sale, the amount due thereon, and person
in whose name the same is charged, shall be advertised by posting
notices at the front door of the court-house of Accomac county and
at three or more public places in said town for at least thirty davs. Said
council shall fix a time within which such property may be redeemed
bv any person who has an interest in such property, or as creditor for
such person; and if there be a failure to redeem within the time pre-
scribed by said council, the recorder of said town shall make conveyance
of the real estate so sold in the manner as now provided by law for
conveyance by clerks of courts of lands sold for taxes, and such con-
vevances shall operate to pass whatever title the party charged had in
such property. The lien for town taxes and levies and any conveyance
under this section shall be subject to the lien of any state and county
taxes and all prior liens of every kind belonging to any individual, firm,
or corporation due on the real estate upon which such lien is, or which
may have been, so conveyed.

16. The said town shall keep in repair its streets and roads, and the
council is authorized to lay a tax therefor not exceeding twenty cents
on the one hundred dollars, but the said town shall not be liable for any
county road tax.
17. The persons named in the third section of this act shall, imme-
diately after their appointment hereunder, take the oath of office re-
quired by section six of this act; and if any fail so to qualify, those
who do so qualify shall appoint other inhabitants from said town in
their room and stead.

18. The town council may levy a tax on or license to agents of insur-
ance companies; to theatrical or other performances, or shows; to
keepers of billiard or pool tables or ten-pin alleys; on other persons
engaging in any other business for which a license may be required by
the laws of this state.

19. This act shall be in force from its passage.