Chap. 556.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act spproved March
30, 1871, entitled an act to incorporate the town of Strasburg, in the
county of Shenandoah.

Approved March 19, 1884.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act to incorporate the town of Strasburg, in the county of
Shenandoah, approved March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and
seventy-one, bo amended and re-enacted so as to read as
follows:

§1. The town of Strasburg, in the county of Shenandoah,
as heretofore laid off, and as may bereatter be extended, shall
continue to be a body politic, under the name of the corpora-
tion of Strasburg, and as such, shall have, exercise and enjoy
all the rights, immunities and powers, and be subject to the
same duties as towns incorporated under the general law for
the incorporation of towns of less than five thousand inhab-
itants, except as otherwise provided by this act.

§2. If there be any doubt asto the precise powers of the
municipal authorities under the general law of incorporation,
the enumeration of special powers in this act, shall not be
understood to exclude those not otherwise enumerated.

§3. The government of said town shall be vested in a
mayor and six councilmen, who shall be elected biennially on
the fourth Thursday in May by the .qualified voters of said
town, and any person shall be a qualified voter who is quali-
fied to vote for members of the general assembly, and bas
resided within the corporate limits of said town for three
months next preceding the day of election. The mayor and
councilmen shall hold office for a term of two years, and
until their successors are duly elected and qualified.

§4. The mayor shall appoint three persons electors of said
town, two of whom shall be the judges, and the third the
clerk of all elections to be held within one year from their
appointment. If, in any election, any uncertainty arises as
to who has been elected, in consequence of a tie, or other-
wise, the clerk, in the presence of the judges, shall decide by
lot from those that have received the highest number of votes
cast in such election.

§5. The said council shall judge of the election, qualifica-
tion and return of its own members. Whenever, from any
cause, a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor or council-
man, the same shall be filled by the council at its next regular
mecting. The mayor and councilmen shall compose the
council of said town. They shall meet on the first week day
in July next following their clection, and after having taken
the proper oath of office, (which oath may be administered
to the mayor by any one authorized under the laws of Vir-
ginia to administer oaths, and by said mayor may be admin-
istered to the cquncilmen,) they shall proceed to appoint from
their own body a clerk, and from their own body, or from the
electors of said town, a sergeant, who shall hold their offices
for the same term as the council, unless sooner removed by
said council. Said council shall have power to appoint any
additional officers that in their judgment may be necessary
for the convenient and judicious government of said town.
The said council shall have power to prescribe the duties and
compensation of all officers appointed by them, and to require
of them bond, with approved security, for the faithful per-
formance of the duties of their respective offices, and to fine
or remove them from office for failure to perform the duties
prescribed.

§6. The mayor and councilmen, individually or collective-
ly, shall be invested with all the powers of justices of the
peace within said town and one mile beyond, except in civil
matters. They shall have power to issue process, hear and
determine all prosecutions arising under the by-laws and or-
dinances of said town, and issue executions, saving to parties
the right of appeal to the county court of Shenandoah county,
in all cases where the fine imposed shall exceed ten dollars.
They may commit to the jail of said county any person fined
under the said by-laws, until the fine imposed is paid, or such
person is discharged according to law, or as punishment for
misdemeanor, not exceeding thirty days, or compel such per-
son to work on the streets and public buildings not exceed-
ing thirty days. The sergeant shall have all the powers of a
constable within said corporate limits, and one mile beyond,
and any person violating any ordinance of said town and es-
caping before being arrested and examined, may by said ser-
geant be arrested anywhere in Shenandoah county within
one year from such violation. The collector may distrain for
taxes and fines, and for that purpose shall be invested with
all the powers of a sheriff or constable. Taxes uncollected
by the time prescribed by the council, shall be returned to
said council, and shall be a lien upon real estate, as taxes for
state purposes are under the provisions of the law relating
thereto.

§7. When any business is conducted in said town, for
which the state levies a tax or requires a license, the council
may require a license therefor, and leyy a tax not excecding
that levied by the state; and it shall be lawful for said coun-
cil to levy and collect a tax on all property, of whatever
kind, located within said corporate limits, whether such pro-
perty be owned by private individuals or by corporations,
upon which a tax is collected for county or state purposes.
Said council shall be permitted to send their paupers to Beck-
ford parish, and shall pay for their support there what is as-
certained to be the average cost to the county of supporting
them there, as per the annual report of the superintendent of
said parish.

§ 8. Said council shall have power to prohibit the running
at large of any kind of animals within the corporate limits
of said town, and within the said limits may regulate, by
appropriate legislation, the rate of speed of horses and vehi-
cles and railroad trains, and may enforce the ordinances
adopted in relation thereto by fines, which fines may be col-
lected by summary process issued by the mayor.

§ 9. The said council shall have power and authority to
make all necessary provisions to prevent accidents by fire,
and to purchase engines, hose, fire-hooks, ladders, and other
fixtures useful for preventing accidents by fire, and to organ-
ize fire companies. The councilmen of said town shall also
have power and authority to negotiate any loan or loans for
the purpose of buying necessary real estate, and for the erect-
ing of public buildings, and for the general improvement of
the said town, and shall also have authority to issue regis-
tered or coupon bonds for said loan, payable at not more than
twenty years after date of said bonds, bearing interest at a
rate not greater than six per centum per annum, payable
annually: provided the said loan shall be sanctioned by a
two-thirds vote of the property holders of said town.

§ 10. They shall also have power and authority to con-
demn, sell, and convey property belonging to the corpora-
tion for the purpose of grading and paving, and in any other
manner improving the streets, sidewalks, and alleys of said
town; to prevent and punish, by reasonable fines, the prac-
tice of firing guns or pistols, or in any manner setting fire to
powder, and of all else detrimental to the peace and quiet of
said town; to license and regulate shows and other public
exhibitions within the corporate limits, or within one mile
thereof, and generally to pass all by-laws and ordinances
not contrary to the laws of this state, which the said council
may think necessary and proper for carrying into effect the
foregoing powers, or such as may hereafter be vested in them,
and to enforce such by-laws, under penalties not exceeding
twenty dollars for cach offonce, to be recovered, with costs, in
the name of the corporation, as bereinbetore provided.

§ 11. That the said council shall have power and authority,
whenever they deem it expedient, to have the sidewalks and

utters along any street or alley within said town of such
width as they may prescribe, properly paved or otherwise
suitably improved and repaired, and altered, whenever they
may think fit, at the proper cost and expense of the owners
or occupants of the lands or lots along the front or side of
which such footways, 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
other improvement, which special tax shall be collected by
the sergeant of said town as other taxes on real estate within
the said town are berein directed to be collected: provided
however, that before any owner or occupant of any land or
lot shall be required to make any such pavement or other
improvement at his own proper cost and expense, or a tax
shall be levied upon the same for that purpose, there shall be
on such land or lot fronting the side along which such pave-
ment or improvemont shall be required, a house, or building
at least twenty feet long: provided further, that the tax
levied under this section shall not exceed one per centum of
the assessed value of such property for any one year. In
all cases where a lessee or tenant shall pay the expense of
any such‘ pavement, for which land or lot, by contract with
his lessor or landlord, he shall be bound to pay rent, the
amount of any such expense paid by him, or made out of his
property, shall be a good and valid set-off against so much of
the rent due to his lessor or landlord.

§12. The council of said town may, at any time, lay off and
open new streets and alleys, of such width and extent as
said council may think proper, or alter those already laid off
and opened, or such as may be hereafter laid off and opened.

§ 13. Any person applying to the county court of Shenan-
doah, for licenses to keep a bar-room, or to sell by retail or
wholesale, wine, ardent spirits, or liquors of any kind, within
the corporate limits of Strasburg, or within one mile thereof,
shall present before the court of the said county, a certificate
of the council of said town, to the effect that the applicant is
a suitable person, and that no good reason is known to the
said council, why such license should not be granted; and
the court of said county shall not grant any license to sell
wine, ardent spirits, or liquors of any kind, within the limits
above prescribed, unless such certificate is produced.

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