Chap. 278.—An ACT to amend and re-enact the charter of thetown of Ashland

Approved February 15, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
corporate limits of the town of Ashland be extended from the pres.
ent exterior limits of said town to the following line, to-wit: Be-
ginning at a point on the west line of the Richmond, Fredericks-
burg and Potomac railroad at the south side of an alley dividing the
lands of Holderby from the land of the Ashland land and im-
provement company, and thence running westwardly along the
south side of said alley to west line of Taylor road, and thence
along the west line of Taylor road and James street to Border
street, and thence along Border street to Stony run and corpo-
ration line; thence along corporation line and Stony run and
down the same to the county road near Lankford’s crossing; thence
along the said road, north side, to its intersection with the Rich-
mond, Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad at Lankford’s crossing;
thence along west side of said railroad northwardly to a point oppo-
site the southwest cornerof Mistress F. S. Williams’ lot, and around
said lot to present corporation line; thence northeastwardly along
the present corporation line to the southwestern corner of the Oak-
land tract; thence along the southern line of said tract to the old
telegraph road; thence up said road, on its east line, northwardly to
the line of C. W. Coleman’s (formerly N. R. James’ land); thence
along the north line of a road called Caroline street, along said Cole-
man’s line and the lines of others to the lot of Mistress Caroline A.
Scott; thence north around and along said Caroline A. Scott’s line
to Henry street, and thence along Henry street, east side, as ex-
tended, to the northeastern corner of J. W. Blincoe’s lot (formerly
Stewart Sickler’s lot); thence along the line of said Blincoe’s lot
westwardly to the western side of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and
Potomac railroad at the beginning; and that the same, as it has
been heretofore and may hereafter be laid off into lots, streets and
alleys, be, and the same is hereby, made a town corporate by the
name of the town of Ashland, and by that name shall have and ex-
ercise all the powers conferred by chapter forty-four of the code of
Virginia, and other general statutes of the state, so far as the same
may be applicable to the government of towns of less than five
thousand inhabitants, and not inconsistent with the provisions of
this act.

2. The officers of said town shall consistof seven trustees, who
shall compose the council of said town, and a sergeant, and such
other officers as the council may appoint. Elections for councilmen
and sergeant shall be held biennially on the second Wednesday in
April, and the first election therefor under this act shall be held on
the second Wednesday in April, eighteen hundred and ninety-four,
at which said elections, and at all other elections held in said town,
all resident citizens of said town who are qualified to vote and hold
office under the laws of the state shall be entitled to vote. Any
qualified voter of the said town shall be eligible to the office of
councilman, mayor or sergeant. The councilmen and sergeant elected

under this act shall enter on the discharge of their respective duties
on the first day of July next succeeding their election, and shall
hold office for two years and until their successors are elected or ap-
pointed and qualify. All other officers shall hold office for such
term, not exceeding two years, as the council may prescribe.

3. The council, at its first meeting after election, or as soon there-
after as practicable, shall, by a majority vote of the entire council,
elect from its own members, or from the qualified voters of said
town, a mayor of the town, who shall be the presiding officer of the
council, and who shall, if he be a member of the council, be entitled
to vote, and, in addition to his individual vote, shall give the casting
vote in case of a tie, but if he be not a member of the council he
shall have no vote, except in case of a tie, when he shall give the
casting vote. The council shall appoint from their own number a
president pro tempore, who shall preside at their meetings, and
while so presiding, or during the absence, sickness or other disabil-
ity of the mayor, shall exercise all the powers of the mayor.

4. The council shall appoint a treasurer of said town, a clerk of
the council and such other officers as they may deem necessary ; may
define their duties and powers, and may take from any officer elected
or appointed under this act a bond with surety, to be approved by
the council, in a penalty of not less than fifteen hundred dollars nor
more than three thousand dollars, payable to the said town, in its
corporate name, with the condition for the faithful performance of
his duties. A member of the council may be appointed to the office
of treasurer of the town or clerk of the council, and both offices may
be held by the same person.

5. All town officers, before entering on the discharge of their duties,
shall be sworn in accordance with the laws of the state by any one
duly authorized to administer oaths. If any person elected or ap-
pointed to any office shall fail to take such oath before. his term of
office begins, or for twenty days thereafter shall fail to give the bond
with approved security required of him by the council, his office
shall be declared vacant, and such vacancy shall be filled by election
or appointment, as is prescribed in this act.

6. The council shall by ordinance fix the time of their regular
meetings; may be convened in special meeting on the call of the
president or any three members; may adopt such rules as they may
deem proper for the government of their proceedings and the orderly
and convenient transaction of their business; may compel the at-
tendance of their members; may punish any member by fine or
otherwise for disorderly behavior during any meeting, and with the
concurrence of two-thirds of the entire council may expel a mem-
ber. A journal of their proceedings shall be kept as provided by
section ten hundred and thirty-five of the code of Virginia (eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven ).

7. The council shall judge of the election, qualification and re-
turns of its members, and also of the sergeant. If any person re-
turned as councilman or sergeant be adjudged disqualified or fail to
take the oath of office as prescribed in section five of this act, or if
any councilman be expelled from the council, the vacancy thus
occurring shall be filled by vote of the qualified voters of said town
at an election to be held by order of the council at such time as it
may deem proper, after giving not less than ten days’ notice thereof.

8. The council shall have power to remove from office by a two-
thirds vote any officer of said town, whether elected or appointed, for
misconduct in office or neglect of duty or other good cause, the charge
or allegation to be specified in the order of removal, but no such re-
moval shall be made without reasonable notice to the officer com-
plained of and an opportunity given him to be heard in his defence.
The council shall be authorized to declare at its discretion the office
of any councilman vacant who fails to attend any meeting of the
council for three consecutive months.

9. All vacancies in office not hereinbefore required to be filled by
an election of the qualified voters of said town shall be filled by the
council by the appointment of eligible persons thereto for the un-
expired part of the term.

10. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business, but no ordinance or resolution levying a tax
or contracting a debt shall be valid unless the same be passed by a
two-thirds vote of the entire council, which vote shall be taken by
yeas and nays and recorded in the journal. At the request of any
member the yeas and nays shall be recorded on any question voted
on by the council.

11. The council shall have, subject to the provisions of this act,
the control and management of all the fiscal and municipal affairs
of the town, and of all the property, real and personal, belonging to
said town, and may make such ordinances and by-laws in relation
thereto as it may deem proper; and it shall likewise have power to
make such ordinances, orders, by-laws and regulations as it may
deem necessary to carry out the following powers (and any other
powers granted it by the general laws of the state), which are hereby
conferred upon it:

First. To close or extend, widen or narrow, lay out, graduate, curb,
pave and otherwise improve the streets, alleys and sidewalks in said
town, and have them kept in good order and properly lighted; to pro-
vide for proper and necessary drainage in said town, and for such other
improvements as it may deem necessary or expedient; to prevent or
remove any structure, encroachment or obstruction over, under or in
any sidewalk, street or alley, and to permit shade trees to be planted
along such streets or alleys in said town.

Second. To prevent the cumbering of streets, sidewalks, alleys,
lanes or bridges in the town in any manner whatever. :

Third. To determine and designate the route and grade of any
railroad to be laid in such town, and to restrain and regulate the
speed of locomotive engines and cars on the railroads in said town.

Fourth. To require and compel the abatement of all nuisances
within said town at the expense of the person or persons causing the
same, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon the same shall
be; to prevent and regulate slaughter-houses, soap and candle face
tories, hog-pens, privies, stables or the exercise of any dangerous,
offensive or unhealthy business, trade or employment.
Fifth. To prevent cows, hogs and other animals running at large
in said town, and to subject the same to such regulations and taxa-
tion as it may deem proper.

Sixth. To prevent the riding and driving of horses or other ani-
mals at an improper or dangerons speed, throwing stones or engag-
ing in any employment or sport on the sidewalks, streets and alleys
dangerous or annoying to the citizens or passengers, and to prohibit
and punish the abuse and cruel treatment of horses and other ani-
mals in said town.

Seventh. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street
beggars, and to prevent the coming into town of persons having no
visible means of support, or of persons dangerous to the good order
and peace and quiet of said town.

Eighth. To punish for contempt of court releasing or attempting
to release a prisoner, or interfering in any manner with an officer in
the exercise of his official duties, by a fine of not less than two dol-
lars and fifty cents nor more than twenty dollars.

Ninth. To prescribe penalties for the violation of any ordinance,
order, by-law or regulation not exceeding fifty dollars for any one
offence, and to subject the parent or guardian of any minor to any
such fine or penalty for any such offence committed by such minor.
All such fines and penalties may be prosecuted and recovered, with

costs, in the name of said town.

12. For the purpose of paying the necessary expenses of said town,
including the taxes for the schools hereinafter mentioned, the said
council shall have power to levy such a tax on all the taxable prop-
erty in said town as they may deem proper, not exceeding one dol-
lar and twenty-five cents on the hundred dollars in any one year.
The said council shall also have power to require labor from all male
citizens of said town between the ages of sixteen and sixty years,
not exceeding three days in each year, to aid in keeping said streets
in order: provided, however, that the said citizens may pay seventy-
five cents per day for each day they may be so required to labor in
lieu of rendering said service; and said council shall have power to
enforce the performance of such labor by fine. In consideration
whereof the citizens and property of said town are hereby exempted
from the payment of one-half of the county levy and from the pay-
ment of the county poll tax: provided that the county levy of Han-
over county shall be considered to include, as it does now, the road
taxes and poor rates: provided, further, that the said town of Ash-
land shall at its own expense provide for its own poor and keep its
streets and roads in order: provided, further, that the citizens and
property shall be exempted from the payment of any special road
tax which may hereafter be levied by said county. The council
shall, out of its annual revenues, make such appropriations as it
may deem proper to aid in carrying on the public schools of said
town, and the trustees of the public schools in said town shall have
no power to require said council to make any appropriations there-
for. } !

13. The mayor of said town shall be, and he is hereby, invested
with the power and authority of a justice of the peace within the
corporate limits of said town, and to a distance of one and one-fourth
miles beyond; to have and exercise like jurisdiction in all cases ori-
ginating within said limits that a justice of the peace may now or
hereafter have and exercise; and it is hereby made the duty of said
mayor, acting as a justice of the peace as aforesaid, to suppress all
disturbances, riots and disorderly conduct within the bounds of said
town; and the more etfectually to do this, he is hereby clothed with
power to appoint such police force to aid the sergeant of said town
(who shall have control of same under the orders of the mayor)
whenever and as he may deem necessary. He shall have power to
issue process, hear and determine all prosecutions, cases and contro-
versies, civil and criminal, arising within the limits of said town
and one and one-fourth miles beyond the limits of said town, with
like jurisdiction as justices of the peace now have. In all cases
whatsoever wherein the fine or other matter or thing shall exceed in
value or amount the sum of ten dollars, appeals shall be had to the
county court of the county of Hanover, in the same manner and
upon the same terms as appeals are now taken from judgments of a
justice of the peace.

14. The sergeant of said town shall be a conservator of the peace,
and for that purpose shall be vested with all the powers of a consta-
ble within the corporate limits of said town, and to the distance of
one and one-fourth miles beyond, and shall have power to arrest
offenders anywhere within said county for offences committed within
said town, or within one and one-fourth miles of its limits, and con-
vey any person to the county jail who may be ordered by the mayor,
or the president pro tempore of said council, to be committed, charged
with any offence against this commonwealth, there to be dealt with
as if committed by a justice of the peace, and shall be entitled to
the same compensation as a constable would be for like services.
He shall have control of any special police force that the mayor or
president pro tempore may appoint, and of any regular police force
authorized by the council. He shall, unless otherwise provided by
the council, collect the town taxes, and all fines imposed for viola-
tion of the by-laws or ordinances made for the government of said
town, and for this purpose shall be clothed with like powers to en-
force the same as a sheriff or constable now has. He shal] also per-
form such other ministerial duties as may be imposed upon him by
said council, and for his services shall receive a reasonable compen-
sation, to be fixed by the council. The said sergeant shall give
bond, payable to the town of Ashland, or to the council of said town,
and to their successors, with good security, to be approved by said
council, in a penalty of not less than fifteen hundred dollars nor
more than three thousand dollars, and conditioned for the faithful
discharge of the duties of this office. The said council shall have
power to appoint a collector of taxes, if they think proper, who shall
give bond in like manner in such penalty, of not less than fifteen
hundred dollars, as the council may prescribe, and with good se-
curity, to be approved by the council. Such collector of taxes shall
have the powers conferred by section one thousand and forty-four
of the Code of Virginia.
15. Be it further enacted, That any person applying to the county
court of Hanover for license to sell spirituous liquors, wine, beer,
ale, or porter, or any mixture thereof, within the corporate limits of
the town of Ashland, or within one and one-fourth miles of the cor-
porate limits of the said town, shall produce before the court of the
said county a certificate of the council of the said town to the effect
that the applicant is a suitable person, and that no good reason is
known to the council why the license should not be granted; and
the said court shall not grant any license to sell liquors within the
said limits until and unless such certificate be given.

16. Beit further enacted, That the said council shall have authority
to acquire by purchase or condemnation all real estate that may be
deemed necessary for the purpose of erecting suitable town build-
ings, market-house, and public squares or streets and alleys, and to
purchase all such apparatus, carts, wagons, fire-engines or other
machines necessary for its purposes; and the council may borrow
money to pay for any such property and execute its notes or bonds
therefor, or may execute any notes or bonds for any deferred pay-
ments upon purchasing said property, and the said council shall
provide how said notes are to be drawn. The council may also sell
any real estate it now owns or may hereafter acquire when no longer
needed for its purposes.

17. Be it further enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That it shall be lawful for the council of the said town of Ashland
to borrow a sum of money not exceeding the sum of ten thousand
dollars, by the issue and sale of bonds bearing interest at a rate not
exceeding six per centum per annum, the said money to be expended
by the said council in improving the streets and drainage of the
said town, and in the payment of expenses already incurred there-
for: provided, however, that the bonds issued for such money shall
not be made payable within less than twenty years after the pas-
sage of this act; and it shall be the duty of the said council to pro-
vide a sinking fund sufficient to pay off said bonds at their matu-
rity.
18. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the council
of said town to borrow for the uses of said town, in addition to the
sum provided for in the preceding section, a sum of money not ex-
ceeding the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, by the issue and sale of
bonds, on the same terms or conditions as to rate of interest, period
of time within which they shall be made payable, and providing a
sinking fund, as are specified in the preceding section: provided,
however, that no such issue of bonds shall be made unless and un-
til, at an election to be ordered to be held for such purpose by the
council, two-thirds of the votes lawfully cast at such election shal]
be in favor of such issue; no such election shall be held until after
fifteen days’ notice thereof shall have been given by publication, or
by posting in not less than three of the most public places in said
town, which notice shall show what amount of bonds is proposed to
be issued, and to what purpose or purposes the funds to be obtained
are to be applied. The council may cause the notice of said elec-
tion, and of all special elections, to be given by the clerk of the
council in such manner as the council may prescribe. The council
may invest the sinking fund provided for in this and the preceding
section in such manner as it may deem proper until the same can
be lawfully applied to the redemption of the bonds.

19. Be it further enacted, That all elections held in said town shall
be held as provided by the constitution and election laws of the state,
except in so far as is otherwise provided in this act. The judge of
the court of the county of Hanover shall, in term or vacation, as soon
as practicable after the passage of this act, and biennially thereafter,
appoint for said town one registrar and three judges of election, who
shall also act as commissioners of election. The registrar of said
town shall, after giving ten days’ notice, proceed on the third Tues-
day in March, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, to register the
names of all the qualified voters of said town entitled to registra-
tion therein, and complete said registration within seven days, ex-
clusive of Sunday. In making such registration, and in all registra-
tions thereafter, the registrars shall be governed by the general regis-
tration laws of the state, and the registration thus made shall be
the registration used in the elections held in said town. The regis-
trar shall have such compensation for his services as is provided
by law.

*00. Be it further enacted, That all ordinances, by-laws and regula-
tions now in force in said town, and not in conflict with the laws of
the state and of the United States, shall remain in force until altered,
amended or repealed by the council.

21. Be it further enacted, That the election of James W. Taylor,
Clifton Lee, E. M. Delarue, C. B. Jones, G. R. Nixon, Charles Steb-
bing, John L. Buchanan, E. L. C. Scott, William A. Shepperd, John
Pollard and Samuel B. Rice, as trustees of the said town of Ashland,
at an election held in the month of April, eighteen hundred and
ninety-two, be, and the same is hereby, validated, and the said
James W. Taylor, Clifton Lee, E. M. Delarue, C. B. Jones, G. R.
Nixon, Charles Stebbins, John L. Buchanan, E. L. C. Scott, William
A. Shepperd, Samuel .B. Rice and T. B. Ellett (the last named hav-
ing been appointed in the place of John Pollard, who has resigned),
shall constitute the council of the said town of Ashland until the
first day of July, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and thereafter
until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified as pro-
vided by law.

22. Be it further enacted, That an act entitled an act to incorpo-
rate the town of Ashland, in the county of Hanover, approved Febru-
ary the nineteenth, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, and all acts
amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, and all acts amenda-
tory of or supplemental to any act amendatory thereof, and all acts
and parts of acts in conflict with this act, be, and the same are here-
by, repealed.

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