Chap. 272.—An ACT to provide a Charter for the Town of Waynes-
boro’ in the County of Augusta.

Approved April 28, 1874.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly, That the town
of Waynesboro’, in the county of Augusta, as the same has
been, or may hereafter be laid off into lots, streets, and alleys,
shall be, and the same is hereby made a town corporate, by
the name of the town of Waynesboro’, anf by that name
shall have and exercise all the powers, rights, privileges, and
immunities conferred upon towns by the fifty-fourth chapter
of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and sixty, as
amended by an act for the government of towns of less than
five thousand inhabitants, approved November fifth, eighteen
hundred and seventy, so far as the provisions of said chapter
are not in conflict with the provisions of this act.

2. That the government of said town shall be vested in a
council of seven, to be chosen annually by ballot, on the
fourth Thursday of May each year, after a notice of ten
days preceding said election shall have been given. Any
person entitled to vote in the township of South River, in
Augusta county, residing within the corporate limits of said
town, shall be entitled to vote at all elections under this act
of incorporation: provided, that no person shall vote at said
election who shall not have resided within the corporate limits
of said town three months next preceding such election. On
the first day of July, after such election, the said council shall
qualify and enter upon the discharge of their duties, and shall
remain in office until their successors are elected and qualified
according to law; a majority of whom shall constitute a quo-
rum to transact business.

3. At their first meeting, the said council shall elect one of
their number, who shall be the mf&yor of said town, and he
shall have all the powers and privileges such office confers in
the general law governing towns within the state of Virginia.
And the said council shall, at the said first meeting, and an-
nually thereafter, elect from their own body a secretary and
treasurer. The said secretary shall keep a full record of the
proceedings of the council, and the said treasurer shall receive
and keep all moneys belonging to the council, and pay out
the same on the order of the council, drawn by the mayor
and attested by the secretary. The said treasurer may be
required to give bond, with approved security, in such penalty
as the council may determine, payable to them and their suc-
cessorg in office, for the safe-keeping of the funds. ~

4. And the said council shall alao at their first meeting, and
annually thereafter, appoint a sergeant, who shall hold his
office for one year, and until his successor is appointed and
qualified. The said sergeant shall be a conservator of the
peace, and be invested with the full powers of constable
within the limits and for one mile beyond the corporate limits
of said town, and shall possess the like rights of distress and
390 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

powers in collecting the said taxes, service of process.
return thereof arising under authority of this act, an
Hisfeesand laws made in pursuance of it, and shall be entitled to
commissions = fees and commissions as are allowed by the law of this «
monwealth to the collectors and constables thereof for =
Bond of ser- lar duties and services. Said sergeant shall execute t
geant with approved security in such penalty as the council s
deem necessary, payable to them and their successors in ci
conditioned on the faithful discharge of his duties, and ;
ment over to them of said taxes and moneys collected :
received by him in virtue of his office. And he and his x
rities and his and their executors, &c., shall be subject tos
proceedings by motion or otherwise before the countr
circuit court of Augusta county, for the enforcement of.
payment of such faxes or other moneys by him collected
received as aforesaid, at the suit or motion of the said may
or other person entitled. as collector of the levies, &c., by th
collected.
Bergeant; how 5. The said council shall, by a two-third vote, remove t
removed from said sergeant from office, for misconduct, at any time dari
his term of service. In which case they are hereby empo
ered to appoint another in his stead.
Sergeanttoper- 6. The sergeant shall perform all the duties of overseer
form duties of roads and streets within the corporation, in accordance w:
roads and the laws of Virginia; and for this purpose the town
Waynesboro a Waynesboro’ is hereby declared to be one of the road
Food Cetrict of tricts of South river township, in Augusta county.
township 7. The said sergeant shall have all the powers, and px
Duties as over- form all the duties, belonging to overseers of roads,” und
sOMmoner or =©6 the - general road law; and the council shall have all t!
roads powers, and perform all the duties, belonging to comm!
sioners of roads, or to the township board, under the gener
road law.
Road tax notto 8. No road tax shall bg assessed upon property within th
tonal eet Ry corporation, except by the council aforesaid, which road ta
couneil shall be laid out on the roads and streets of said town by th
sergeant aforesaid, under the direction of the council; an
Compensation for his services as overseer of roads and streets in said town
of sergeant =» he shall be entitled to the same compensation as is allowe
by law to overseers of roads.
Townexempt 9. That the said town, and taxable persons and preperty
Oe pore tax therein, shall be exempt and free from the payment of an}
county expense poor'rates or road tax, and from contributing to any county
expenses for any year in which it shall appear that said town
shall, at its own expense, provide for its own poor, and keep
its roads and streets in order.
Jurisdiction of 10. That for the purpose of maintaining the police reguls-
reeulationg tions of said town, under the authority of this act, and for
| no other purpose, the jurisdiction of the corporate authori-
ties thereof, shall be and the same is hereby made to extend
one mile beyond the limits of said town. - |

Assessors; how 11. That the said council sball appoint, annually, two as-
appointed sessors, who shall choose a third, all of whom shall be cit-
zens of said town, and owners of real estate; and the three
shall, between the first and the fifteenth day of April, in each

ear, assess the value of the real property in the corporate

imits of said town, and one of whont may, by direction of
said council, also assess the value of the personal property of
said town, which assessment shall form the basis ef taxation
within the said town; and the said council shall also have
power to levy and collect, annually, a tax on all the real and
personal property so assessed in said town, and on such other
subjects within said town as are or may be taxed by the reve-
nue laws of this state, and on dogs belonging to persons resid-
ing in the said town, and for the privilege of carrying on any
regular business in the said town, by persons who do not re-
side within the corporate limits of said town: provided, that
the tax on real estate shall not exceed, in any one year, fift
cents on one hundred dollars value thereof, and that the poll
or head tax shall not exceed one dollar on each male person
in any one year; and for the purpose of doing a regular bu-
siness, or following any trade, profession, occupation or call-
ing, within the said town, by person or persons who do not
reside within said town, not exceeding the sum of ten dol-
jars, for any one year: and provided further, that the tax to
be imposed on all other property shall not exceed the taxes
on like subjects by the revenue laws of this state for the
same year.

12. That, in order the better to determine who shall be lia-
ble.to taxation in the said town, under this act, it is hereby de-
clared, that all persons liable to taxation as hereinbefore pro-
vided, and residing in, or in pursuit of any business, trade,
calling or profession, in’ said town, and all male persons twen-
ty-one years of age, as aforesaid, annually, on the first day
of February, shall be subject to taxation the current year.
The mayor, or any three of the council, shall have power to
call a meeting of said council as often as occasion may re-
quire. In case any two or more persons voted for for coun-
cilmen in any election, having an equal number of votes, 4
majority of the preceding council shall decide which of the
persons aforesaid shall be elected.

13. The said council shall have and exercise all the powers
hereinafter granted to said officers. They shall keep or cause
the secretary and treasurer to keep all the proceedings and
accounts in suitable books, and shall deliver such to their
successors in office. And the same shall be at all times open
to the inspection of persons qualified to vote. The said coun-
eil shall have power and authority to make all necessary
provisions to prevent accidents by fire; to supply the town
with water for all necessary purposes; to purchase engines,
hose, hooks and ladders, and other fixtures useful to prevent
accidents by fire, and to organize a fire company. They shall
have power and authority to establish a market and regulate
the same. The said council shall also have power to grade
and pave the streets, sidewalks, and alleys of said town, and
to prevent and punish by reasonable fines the obstruction of
the same in any way. They shall also have power to
vent by fines the hitching or riding of horses on the paw
ments and sidewalks; the practice of firing guns, or Setting
usti- Hre to powder or other combustibles, and the running
horses in the streets and alleys, and all else detrimental 2
S the peace and good order of said town. The said coun
rant shall also have power to license shows and other public a
hibitions, and to impose a reasonable tax on the same;
cal prescribe rules for the regular and orderly building of hota
and chimneys; to regulate blacksmith shops, and other she
likely to occasion accidents by fire, and the erection of stove
and stove pipes; to regulate the erection of privies, stabl«.
&c.; and prescribe their location, and to remove or abate &
nuisances within said town at the expense of those who msi
occasion them; to prohibit dogs, hogs, and other animals (e
cept milch cows) from running at large beyond their owne:
premises, and generally to pass all by-laws and ordinance
not contrary to the constitution and laws of this state or ti:
United States, which the said council may think neceasarn
and proper for carrying into effect the foregoing powers, <
such other powers as may hereafter be vested in them; an:
for regulating the police and preserving the peace and goa
order and government of said town, and toamend and repes
the same at their pleasure, and to enforce the observance ¢
such by-laws and ordinances under penalty not exceedinz
. fifty dollars for one offence, to be recovered with costs in th:
name of said corporation, before any justice of the peace «
said town or county, and applied in aid of the taxes of said
town.
ave 14. Thesaid council shall have power and authority, when
‘al- ever they may deem it expedient to have the side-walks, foot-
1 waysand gutters along any street or alley within said town, ct
such width as they may prescribe, properly paved and other-
wise suitably improved, repaired or altered as they may think
paid fit, at the proper cost and expense of the owners or occupants
of the said lands or lots along the front side of which sueb
foot-ways, sidewalks, or other improvements extend ; and to
levy and collect for that purpose a special tax on each of such
lots or pieces of land, proportioned to the number of feet of
the same fronting on such pavement or improvement; which
3 special tax shall be collected by the sergeant of said town as
ed other taxes on real estate within the said town are herein
oi directed to be collected: provided however, that before any
ott owner or occupant of any land or lot within said town, shall
»&0 be required to make such pavement at his own proper coast
and expense, or a tax be levied on the same for that purpose,
there shall be on such land or lots fronting the side along
which pavement or other improvement shall be required, a
house or building not less than twenty feet square. In all
spaid Cases where the lessee or tenant shall pay the expense for
"% any such pavement or improvement along the side of the
lands or lots by him occupied, for which land or lots, by con-
tract with his lessor or landlord he shall be bound to pay

rent, the amount of any such expense paid by him or col-
lected from him or made out of his property shall be a good
and valid set-off against so much of the rent due or accruing
to his lessor or landlord.

15. All taxes, whether general or special, assessed upon
any land or lot in said town, under this act, are hereby de-
clared to constitute a lien on such land or lot; and if the ser-
geant shall not have been able, with due diligence, to collect
the same by the first day of November, of the year in which
the same were assessed, he shall, at the first meeting of the
council thereafter, make return, upon oath, of the taxes so
uncollected, and the lands and lots whereupon such uncol-
lected taxes were levied; and thereupon, the said council
shall have the same remedy against the said delinquent lands
and lots, as this commonwealth now has in similar cases.

16. The council of said town may, as soon as practicable
after the passage of this act, proceed to extend the corporate
limits of said town, unless otherwise ordered by a two-third
majority vote of the citizens of said town, voting on such
proposition, to extend the corporate limits of said town, and
make an order, to be recorded on the records of said town,
establishing such extended limits, and practically describe
the same; and also at any time after the passage of this act,
to lay off and open new streets, cross streets, and alleys, of
such width and extent as said council may think fit and con-
venient, or alter those already laid off and opened, whether
within the original or extended limits of said town.

17. That the council shall have power to mark accurately
the bounds of existing streets and alleys and side-walks, to
regulate the width sid grade of the same, to direct the ser-
geant in regard to the same, and to prohibit the obstruction
of streets, alleys, side-walks, and bridges in any manner; to
provide tor the order and quiet, and the observance of the
Sabbath within the corporate limits; to regulate the sale of
intoxicating drinks, and by fine, the violation of said ordi-
nances: provided, that any fine imposed on a minor shall be

aid by his parent or guardian: provided further, that should
it be found necessary to take private property for public use,
and the owner or owners are not willing thereto, the said

roperty can be taken in the manner now prescribed by law
or the condemnation of private property for public use; and
for this purpose the mayor’s court of said town shall have
the same jurisdiction for the condemning of land for streets
and alleys of said town as the county court has for condemn-
ing lands for road purposes within the county.

18. All property within the corporate limits shall be liable
to a road tax, not greater than that allowed by the general
road law. The council shall appoint and publish the place of
holding elections; and shall regulate and provide for the
weighing and measuring of ‘hay, wood, coal, and other arti-
cles sold or for sale in said town. All fines, penalties and
amercements, and other moneys received and raised by vir-
tue of this act, and not otherwise directed to be applied,
shall be at the disposal of the council, for the benefit = w
town. William Withoro, Junior,T. H. Antrim, J. S. M
G. W. Greiner, Doctor J. S. P. Gibson, E. G. Fishbare
H. H. Shackelford, or a majority of them, are hereby
powered to qualify before any magistrate, and the
they shall constitute, until the first day of July next, :
council of the said town of Waynesboro’, and as such
organize and perform all the duties of said council.

9. That the said council shall have power, whenever
any cause a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor or x
derman, to fill the same at the next regular meeting the=
after.

20. All other acts, and so fourth, are hereby repealed.
21. This act shall be in force from its passage.