CHAP. 298.—An ACT to repeal chapter 56 of the acts of Assem-
bly of 1881-2, entitled an act in reference to fences in the county
of Princess Anne, approved February 3, 1882.

Approved February 18, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That chapter fifty-six of the acts of assembly of eighteen
hundred and eighty-one and eighteen hundred and eighty-
two, entitled an act in reference to fences in the county of
Princess Anne, approved February three, eighteen hundred
and eighty-two, be, and the same and each and every sec-
tion thereof, is hereby repealed.

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

a

CHAP. 298.—An ACT for working and keeping in repair public
roads in Norfolk county

Approved February 18, 1890.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That all of the public roads in the county of Norfolk shall
be improved and kept in order by a contract system, in
the following manner, to-wit:

2. The county court shall appoint one road trustee for
each magisterial district, who shall be a resident and voter
thereof, and whose term of office shall be four years from
the first day of July next succeeding his appointment;
except that the county court shall, at the time of appoint-
ing the first six trustees under this act, designate three of
such trustees whose term of office shall terminate at the
expiration of two years from the firat day of July next
succeeding their qualifications. After the first appoint-
ment under this act, three of the members of such board
of trustees shall be appointed biennially, whose term of
office shall be four years as hereinbefore designated. The
road trustees of the several districts shall constitute a
county board of road trustees. They shall be appointed
at the May term of the county court next preceding their
term of office; except that the first appointment of trustees
under this act shall be made at the February term, eighteen
hundred and ninety, of the county court. They shall
qualify at said term of court, and enter immediately upon
the discharge of their duties, and shall take charge of and
direct the expenditure of all appropriations for roads un-
expended at the date of their qualification; three of which
trustees first appointed shall continue in office two years
from the first day of July next succeeding the date of
their qualification, and three for four years from that date.
The trustees shall qualify as other district officers are
required by law to qualify, and each of them shall enter
into and acknowledge a bond before the court or judge
before whom he qualifies, with surety to be approved by
the court or judge in the penalty of not less than one
thousand ‘dollars. Such bond shall be payable to the
county, and with condition for the faithful performance
of his duties as such trustee.

3. The board of trustees shall have control of all public
roads within the county, and shall make and prescribe
such specifications, restrictions, directions, rules, and
regulations as they may deem best for the working, keep-
ing in order, and repairing the roads in the county. They
shall designate the principal roads in the county upon
which they shall, in their discretion, order more work to
be done and more money expended than upon other roads
of less importance.

4. The trustees shall, on the first Monday in each month,
hold a meeting at the court-house of the county for the
discharge of their duties, and may appoint and hold such
other regular meetings and such special meetings at such
other times and places as may be necessary for that pur-
pose. Four of the trustees shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business.

5. The board of trustees shall at their first meeting, and
every two years thereafter, choose one of their number as
chairman and another as clerk of the board. The chair-
man shall preside at such meeting and at all other meet-
ings during the term of his office as chairman, if present,
but in case of his absence from any meeting, the members
present shall choose one of their number as temporary
chairman. Every chairman shall have power to adminis-
ter an oath to any person concerning any matter submitted
to the board or connected with their duties. The clerk of
the board shall keep a record of all the proceedings of the
board, and perform such other clerical duties pertaining
to the work of the board, as it shall direct. He shall re-

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ceive for his services as such clerk an annual salary of
thirty dollars, to pe paid out of the general road levy upon
the order of the county court. All expenses incurred by
the board in the discharge of its duties shal] be paid by
the order of the board upon a warrant issued by the clerk
of the board and signed by the chairman thereof.

6. A special meeting of the board of trustees shall be
held when requested by two or more of the members thereof,
which request shall be in writing, addressed to the clerk
of the board, and specifying the time and place of meet-
ing; and upon such request the clerk shall immediately
issue a summons directed to the sheriff of the county,
commanding him to summon each member of the board to
appear at the time and place mentioned. The sheriff shall
be allowed fifty cents for the service of each summons,
payable out of the county levy.

7. They shall sit with open doors, and all] persons con-
ducting themselves in an orderly manner may attend their
meetings. They may require the sheriff of the county in
person, or at his option one of his deputies, to attend their
meetings and preserve order, or discharge such other duties
as may he necessary to the proper dispatch of the business
before them; and such officer for his services shall be
entitled to a compensation, to be ascertained by the board
and paid out of the general road fund, not exceeding two
dollars per day or ten dollars per annum. All questions
submitted to the board for decision under the provisions
of this act shall be determined by a vote of a majority of
the trustees present; but in any case in which there shal]
be a tie vote of the board upon any question, it shall be
the duty of the clerk of the board tocertify that fact to
the judge of the county court, who shall thereupon attend
the meeting of the board, and the vote of the board shal]
be again taken upon such question, and if again there be
a tie, it shall be the duty of said judge to give the casting
vote, and thereby decide such question; whereupon, the
proper order in execution of such decision shall be entered
by the clerk. Every decision and order so made and entered
shall be as binding and valid as if the same were deter-
mined and entered upon the vote of all or a majority of
such board.

8. It shall he the duty of each trustee to go over the
roads of his district at least once within the months of
February and August of each year, and shall keep himself
informed as to the condition of the public roads and
bridges in his magisterial district, the manner in which
they are worked and kept in repair, and whether or not the
commissioners (as hereinafter designated) have fully per-
formed their duties, and make a written report thereon to
the board of trustees on the first Monday in March and
September in each year, and file the same in the clerk’s
office of the county court. Each trustee shall sign all war-
rants for the payment of work on roads in his district, and
shall receive for his services an annua! salary of one hun-
dred dollars, to be paid by the treasurer out of the general
road levy upon the order of the county court.

-9. Thé county court shall appoint two road commis-
sioners, one for each revenue district, whose term of office
shall be four years from the first day of July next suc-
ceeding his appointment. They shall be appointed at the
May term of the county court next preceding their term
of office, and shall qualify as other district officers are
required by law to qualify, and each of them shall enter
into and acknowledge a bond before the court or judge
before whom he qualifies, with surety to be approved by
the court or judge in the penalty of not less than two
thousand dollars. Such bond shall be payable to the
county, and with condition for the faithful performance
of his duties as such commissioner; except that the first
appointment of commissioners under this act shall be
made at the February term, eighteen hundred and ninety,
of the county court. They shall qualify at said term and
enter immediately upon the discharge of their duties;
and the commissioners first appointed shall continue in
office for four years from the first day of July next suc-
ceeding the date of their qualification.

10. It shall be the duty of each road commissioner to
lay off all the public roads in his district into sections,
which he may designate by numbers, the lengths of which
sections shall not exceed five miles. The commissioner
shall each year ascertain the amount and character of
work to be done on each section in his district, and shall
prepare specifications thereof, which shall be posted in
three or more public places on the section on which the
work is to be performed, authorizing bids for the same.
The commissioner shall post along with the specifications
the number of persons residing on such section who have
been returned delinquent in the payment of their road
tax, as also the time and place at which he will open the
bids for the work on such section, requiring all bids to be
in on the day previous to the day appointed for opening
the same. The contract shall be awarded to the lowest
bidder, who shall be required to accept, at his own risk
and on his own account, in part payment of the contract
price for such work, the work of all such persons residing
on the roads embraced in his contract who have been re-
turned delinquent in the payment of their road capita-
tion tax, as hereinafter provided—the value at which such
work is to be accepted by him to be stated in his bid, and
to be deducted from the price stated in his contract. The
contractor may, in lieu of such work, have the right to
collect by levy the fines of such delinquents as herein-
after prescribed. The commissioner shall require the con-
tractor for such work to execute to him a written agree-
ment setting forth all matters appertaining to the contract.
The commissioner may, in his discretion, reject any or
all bids. When the work contracted for shal] have been
completed, the commissioner shall inspect the same, and
if it shall appear to him to have been performed in ac-
cordance with the terms of the contract, he shall issue to
the contractor a warrant upon the county treasurer for the
amount due him under the contract, the warrant to be
signed by the commissioner and countersigned by the
trustee of the district wherein the work was done, and
also by the chairman of the board upon the order of the
board. All matters in controversy arising under such
contract between the commissioner and the contractor
shall be submitted to the board of trustees, and finally
settled by them. The commissioner shall annually, on
the first Monday in August, make to the board of trustees
a full report of his work as such commissioner for the
past year, which report shall be entered upon a book kept
by the commissioner for that purpose, and shall, if re-
quired by the board of trustees, be published in one or
more newspapers printed either in the city of Norfolk or
Portsmouth, the cost of such publication to be paid for
out of the general road levy, by order of the board, upon
warrant issued by the clerk of the board and signed by
the chairman thereof. Each commissioner of roads shall
receive for his services an annual salary of one thousand
dollars, to be paid quarterly by the county treasurer out
of the general road levy, upon the order of the county
court.

11. When the commissioner shall have rejected the
lowest bid, the bidder may, if he feels himself aggrieved
thereby, appeal to the board of trustees at their next regu-
lar meeting after:such bid shall have been rejected; and
the decision of the board upon such appeal shall be final
and binding. But the bidder in order to avail himself of
this privilege, shall, within five days after the bid shall
have been rejected, notify the commissioner in WIILIng of
his purpose to appeal.

12. All male persons residing in the county who may
have been returned delinquent forthe road tax shall be lia-
ble to road duty, and shall, either in person or by sufticient
substitute, when notified by either the commissioner of his
district or the contractor for such work under this act,
their deputies or agents, attend with proper tools and
work the road on such days, not exceeding two days in any
one year, as the commissioner, contractor, their deputies
or agents shall direct. For every day on which there may
be a failure to work a fine of seventy-five cents shall be
paid to the commissioner or contractor within thirty days
thereafter, by the person in default. If the fine be not
paid, the commissioner or contractor shall make out a
ticket against the delinquent party for the amount thereof,
with an addition of fifty per cent. toy costs, which ticket
shall be placed by him in the hands of the constable or the
sheriff of the county for collection: provided, however,
that such delinquent may, after notice to such commis-
sioner or contractor, apply to the county court or judge
thereof, in vacation, or to the trustee of his district, and
for good cause shown have said fine remitted, or such
delinquent may, before the ticket goes into the hands of
the constable or sheriff, discharge said fine by labor upon
the roads in his district. The officer having charge of the
collection of such fines, may distraim therefor, or otherwise
collect the same in the mode prescribed for the collection
of taxes and county levies. He shall ‘account to the com-
missioner or the contractor who placed the ticket in his
hands for all fines collected by him, and shall turn the
same over to the commissioner or the contractor, as the
case may be, retaining the costs aforesaid and return to
the board of trustees, at their February meeting in each
year, a list of all fines which may have been collected by
him, and turned over to the commissioner, and a list of
all delinquents, which list shall be passed upon by the
board, and such amount thereof as may not be approved
by the board, the collecting officer shall be liable to the
commissioner, and forthwith pay the same to him. Such
fines so collected and returned to the commissioner shall
be applied to the general road fund of the district wherein
such fine was collected, to be used and applied by the
commissioner in working the roads in such district in
manner as hereinbefore provided; the purpose and intent
of this act being that all persons who shall have paid the
road tax assessed against them shall not be liable to road
duty. ;

13. The county court shall have power to remove any
officer appointed under this act at any time during the
term of office, for neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.
A vacancy in the office of any officer appointed under this
act shall be filled by the county court; and in case of a
vacancy where the office has been filled partly by one
officer and partly by another in one year, the annual com-
pensation shall be apportioned between them by the board
of trustees in such manner as may be just. A recovery on
any bond as hereinbefore prescribed shall be for the benefit
of the ruad district of the officer against whom the recovery
was made.

14. No trustee or commissioner appointed under this
act shall become interested, directly or indirectly, in any
contract or in the profits of any contract made by or with
any person who may contract for work on roads, or in th
sale or furnishing of supplies or materials for.such work.
The amount embraced in any such contract in which any
such trustee or commissioner may be so interested shall not
be paid in whole or,in part, and if paid may be recovered
with interest by the county, in the circuit or county court
of the county, by action or motion, within two years from
the time of payment. ,

15. The board of supervisors of the county shall levy
and appropriate for general road purposes, under this act,
the capitation tax of fifty cents on every male citizen in
the county over twenty-one years of age, as allowed under
the constitution ; and they shall levy along with the county
and in addition to the capitation tax, a tax upon the prop-
erty, real and personal, assessed for taxation in the county,
which shall be applied to the working, keeping in order and
repairing the public roads and bridges and the compensa-
tion of the officers appointed under this act. Such tax
shall not be less than fifteen nor more than twenty cents
upon every hundred dollars in value of such property, and
the same shall be collected, accounted for, and applied as
road funds under this act as if it were a county levy; ex-
cept that the fund collected from each magisterial district
shall be kept separate by the county treasurer. The board
of supervisors shall also appropriate one-half of the
county’s annual income from the Norfolk county ferries
for general road purposes under this act, to be apportioned
among the several magisterial districts as the board of
trustees may, in their discretion, deem best. The board of
supervisors shall have power to make any additional ap-
propriation for general road purposes under this act from
the general county levy not otherwise expended.

16. The board of trustees shall annually, at their meet-
ing in July, make in writing an estimate for the ensuing
year of the funds and levies under this act necessary to be
applied to the working, keeping in order and repairing the
public roads and bridges in the county,for the compensation
of the road officers, and other expenses provided for under
this act, and file a copy of such estimate with the board of
supervisors at their regular meeting in August in each
year; and the board of supervisors shall make such levy
subject to the restrictions contained in section fourteen of
this act as shall be so recommended by the board of trus-
tees.

17. The county treasurer shall annually, on the first
Monday in October, deliver to each road commissioner a
list of all delinquent tax payers in his district. .
18. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent or in conflict
with this act are hereby repealed.

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