Chap. 19.—An ACT to amend and re-enact sections 1, 2, and 7 of an
act approved March 8, 1884, entitled an act to amend and re-enact an
act to incorporate the town of Bridgewater, approved February 7,
1835, and all acts amendatory thereof.

Approved August 26, 1884.

1. Be it enacted by tho general assembly of Virginia, That
sections one, two, and seven of an act approved March third,
one thousand eight hundred and eighty-four, entitled an act
to amend and re-enact an act to incorporate the town of
Bridgewater, approved February the seventh, one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-five, and all acts amendatory thereof,
be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 1. Be it enacted by the general assem oly of Virginia, That
the municipal authorities of the town of Bridgewater, in the
county of Rockingham, shall have power and authority to
extend the corporate limits of said town from the present
exterior boundaries thereof so as to embrace territory on the
southeast side of said town as follows: commencing at a
point in the present boundary designated in the charter as
parallel with Liberty street, at or near the Mount Crawford
road, opposite to and in a line with the northeast boundary
line of said town; thence in a straight line running parallel
with the Warm Springs turnpike road to a point on the land
of S. T. Fishback, opposite to the intersection of the Dry
river road at the Warm Springs turnpike; thence northwest,
crossing the Warm Springs turnpike and running with the
line of 5. H. Lindsey, as bounded by the Dry river road, to a
point on the Washington, Cincinnati and St. Louis railroad ;
thence in a straight line intersecting the northwest boundary
line on the land of John Carpenter, embracing an area added
of not exceeding one hundred acres of land on the northeast-
ern extension of said town; and the said town, as it has been
or may be hereafter laid off into lots, streets, and alleys, be
and the same is hereby made a town corporate by the name
of Bridgewater, and by that name shall have and exercise all
the powers conferred by the fifty-fourth chapter of the Code
of Virginia, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the laws
of this state so far as the same may be applicable to the gov-
ernment of towns of less than five thousand inhabitants, and
not inconsistent with the provisions of this act.

§ 2. The government of said town shall be vested in a mayor
and six councilmen, who shall be residents in and qualified
voters of said town, who shall be elected annually by ballot
on the first Thursday of November of each year. Any person
entitled to vote for state officers, and who has been resident
in the corporate limits of said town for six months previous
to the election, shall be entitled to vote at any election held
under the provisions of this act. There shall be ten days’
notice given of all elections, by posting notices at three or
more public places in said corporation. The mayor shall
appoint three qualified voters who shall preside as judges at
corporation elections, and who shall have the right to appoint
two clerks of election, as well as to decide the right of any
individual to vote, and shall hold said elections between the
hours of one o’clock, post meridian, and sunset. Incase where
it cannot be decided who has the largest number of votes by
reason of a tie, one of the said clerks shall decide by lot, in
the presence of the three judges aforesaid. Immediately after
each election, the recorder shall make out and deliver to the
mayor and council certificates of their election. The officers
so elected shall enter upon the duties of their offices on the
first day of January following, and hold office until their suc-
cessors are duly elected and qualified, unless sooner removed
from office. In case a vacancy shall occur in any municipal
office, the council shall elect a qualified person to fill the office
for the unexpired term. The mayor and councilmen of said
town, before entering upon the duties of their respective
offices, shall be sworn in accordance with the laws of the state.
‘The mayor and a majority of the council shall constitute a
quorum to do business. They shall appoint their time of
meeting, which shall be at least once in every month, and
when necessary the mayor, or any three councilmen, may call
a meeting. In the absence of the mayor one of the councilmen
shall preside as mayor pro tempore. And the present mayor
and council of said town shall have and exercise all the rights
and powers conferred upon said officers by this act until their
successors in office are elected and duly qualified under -the
provisions of this act. |

§7. The corporate limits of said town are hereby created
and declared to be a separate and distinct road district of
Rockingham county, and no road tax shall be levied on any
property within said limits except by the council of Bridge-
water, which tax shall be expended within the limits of the
corporation on the streets and roads therein, under the super-
vision and direction of the town council. For his services,
any overseer of roads and streets appointed by the council of
the town, shall be entitled to such compensation as the council
may agree to pay. The council shall have control of all
streets and roads within the corporate limits of the said town.