CHAP. 594.—An ACT toamend the charter of the city of Radford,
approved January 22, 1892.

Approved March 2, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That sections one and two of chapter one; section three of
chapter two; sections fifteen and sixteen and subdivisions
four, five and ten of section seventeen of chapter four, and
sections twenty-one and twenty-five of chapter four; sec-
tions forty-three, forty-five, forty-six of chapter five; and
sections fifty, fifty-one, fifty-five, fifty-six, fifty-seven and
sixty-two of chapter six, of an act entitled an act to incor-
porate the city of Radford, approved January twenty-
second, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

CHAPTER I.

§ 1. Elections.—That the territory contained within¢the
limits prescribed and herein designated as follows, viz.:
Beginning at a point where Plumb creek empties into New
river, thence southwardly to intersection of Auburn ave-
nue and Commerce avenue on the lands of South Radford
development company; thence passing west of dwelling
of M. Gibson due south to the south side of the old Na-
tional turnpike, and with the south side of the same to a
point opposite the western boundary line of the Radford
west end land company’s property ; thence with said boun-
dary line to New river, and with New river to the begin-
ning, be deemed and taken as the city of Radford, and the
inhabitants of the city of Radford, for all purposes for which
towns and cities are incorporated in this commonwealth,
shall continue to be one body politic in fact and in name,
under the style and denomination of the city of Radford,
and as such shall have, exercise and enjoy all the rights,
powers and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and
obligations now incumbent and pertaining to said city as
a@ municipal corporation, it having been ascertained that
there now exists over five thousand population within the
said limits.

§ 2. There shall be established for the said city of Rad-
ford a court of record, which shall be called the corpora-
tion or hustings court of Radford, and shall be held by the
judge thereof, with such powers and at such times as the
constitution and laws of the state now in force for the gov-
ernment of corporation courts may provide. The judge of
said court shall reside in said city or within the jurisdic-
tion of his said court: provided, however, that the said
city of Radford shall pay to the county of Montgomery, in
ten equal annual instalments (the first payment to be
made the first day of January, eighteen hundred and
ninety-three), that proportion of —————— thousand dol-
lars which the value of the real estate taken in by reason
of the extension of the corporate limits of the said city
under this act sustains to the value of the whole of the
real estate so taken in and that of Montgomery county, as
ascertained by the assessment of eighteen hundred and
ninety-one, the amount to be determined by a committee
appointed on behalf of the county and a like committee
on behalf of the city.

CHAPTER II.

8 8. The city shall be divided into two wards, as followe—
viz: The territory east of Connelly’s run shall be known as
east ward, and the territory west of Connelly’s run shall be
known as west ward. Each ward shall be entitled to six
councilmen, who shall be as follows: For the east ward—
J. P. Kelly, E. F. Gill, G. W. Tyler, H. P. Briggs, D. V.
Sturdevan, and G. T. Kearsley; for the west ward—W. J.
Kenderdine, J. D. Moffett, W. R. Wharton, J. H. Washing-
ton, H. H. Powers, C. A. Beinkampen, and who shall hold
office until their successors shall be elected thereafter in
the manner herein provided; and as justice for east ward,
J. D. Peters, and for west ward, W. W. Boswell, and as
constable for said city, R. T. Smith.

CHapTerR IV.

§ 15. City council.—The city council shall have au-
thority to adopt such rules and appoint such officers, com-
mittees, or clerks as they may deem proper for the regu-
lation of their proceedings and for the convenience of
business; to compel the attendance of absent members;
to punish its members for disorderly behavior, and by a
vote of three-fourths of the whole council to expel a mem-
ber for misfeasance of or malfeasance in office. They
shall keep a minute-book in which their clerk shall note
the proceedings of the council, and shall record said pro-
ceedings at large on the record-book, and keep the same
properly indexed. The meetings of the council shall be
open to the public, except when the public welfare shall
require secrecy.

§ 16. A majority of the members of the council shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but
no ordinance shall be passed or resolution adopted having
for its object the appropriation of money except by the
concurrence of at least eight members. No vote or ques-
tion decided at a atated meeting shall be reconsid-
ered at a special meeting unless there be at least ten
members present and seven of them concur. All contracts
relating to city affairs shall be in writing, signed and
executed in the name of the city by the officer authorized
by resolution or ordinance to make the same, and in cases
not otherwise directed shall be executed by the mayor.
Every contract involving an appropriation of money shall
only be payable out of the fund provided for the purpose,
and shall not be in excess of the appropriation properly
applicable thereto, and no debt or contract shall be bind-
ing upon the city unless authorized by law or by ordi-
nance and an appropriation sufficient to pay the same be
previously enacted and made by councils: provided that
persons claiming unauthorized debts or contracts may re-
cover against the person illegally making the same.

§ 17. Fourth. To establish or enlarge works within or
without the limits of the city for furnishing water and
light, or either, to the inhabitants of the said city, or to
persons, firms, or other municipalities in the vicinity
thereof; to contract and agree with the owners of any land
for the use and purchase thereof, or have the same condemn-
ed according to law, for the location, extension, or enlarge-
ment of their said works, the pipes connected therewith,
or any of the fixtures or appurtenances thereof, and shall
have the power to protect from injury, by ordinance pre-
scribing adequate penalties, the said works, pipes, fixtures
and land, or anything connected therewith, whether within
or without the limits of said city.

Fifth. To close or extend, widen or narrow, lay out,
graduate, curb and pave, and otherwise improve streets,
sidewalks, and public alleys in said city, and have them
kept in good order and properly lighted; and over any
street or alley in the city which has been or may be ceded
or conveyed to the city by proper deed they shall have like
power and authority as over other streets and alleys; they
may build bridges in and culverts under said streets, and
may prevent or remove any structure, obstruction, or en-
croachment over or under, or in any street, sidewalk, or
alley in said city,and may permit shade trees to be planted
along said streets; but no company shall occupy with its
works, or any appurtenances thereof, the streets, sidewalks,
or alleys of the city without the consent of the council
duly entered upon its record. In the meantime no order
shall be made and no injunction shall be awarded by any
court or judge to stay the proceedings of the city in the
prosecution of their works, unless it be manifest that they,
their officers, agents, or servants, are transcending the
authority given them by this act, and that the interposi-
tion of the court is necessary to prevent injury that can-
not be adequately compensated in damages.

Tenth. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infec-
tious, or other dangerous diseases; and to prevent by ap-
propriate legal remedy all nuisances affecting or likely to
affect the city or the inhabitants thereof, where the same
may originate outside the limits of said city; to establish,
erect, and regulate hospitals; to provide for and enforce
the removal of patients to said hospitals; to appoint and
organize a board of health for said city, with the authority
necessary for the prompt and efficient performance of its
duties.
§ 21. The said council shall also have power to prescribe
and enforce all needful rules and regulations not inconsis-
tent with the laws of the state for the use, protection, pre-
servation, and ornamentation of the cemetery ; to set aside,
in their discretion, by metes and bounds, a portion thereof
for the interment of strangers and the indigent poor; to
divide the remainder into burial lots, and sell or lease the
same, and to execute all proper deeds or other writings in
evidence of such sale or lease, and to prescribe what class
and condition of persons shall be admitted to interment in
the cemetery. The money from such sale or lease of burial
lots shall be invested, used, and employed for the use, pro-
tection, preservation, and ornamentation of said cemetery.
The cemetery, when established and inclosed, with the
property included in it, shall be exempt from al] state,
county, and municipal taxation, and the council shall
hold all property, franchises, and choses in action, of
whatsoever nature, heretofore acquired by the town of Rad-
ord. ,

§ 25. Whenever any street, alley or lane in said city
shall have been opened to and used as such by the public
for the period of five years, the same shall thereby become
a street, alley or Jane for public purposes, and the counc}l
shall have the same authority and jurisdiction over, and
right and interest therein, as they have by law over the
streets, alleys and lanes laid out by them; and any street
or alley reserved in the division or subdivision into lots of
any portion of the territory within the corporate limits of
said city, by a plan or plat of record, shall be deemed and
held to be dedicated to public use, unless it appears by
said record that the street or alley so reserved is designed
for private use. But upon a petition of a majority of the
persons interested therein, the council shall have power to
open the same for the use of the public. |

CHAPTER V.

§ 43. City Officers.—There shall be elected by the qual-
ified voters of the city of Radford, on the fourth Thursday
in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and on the
fourth Thursday in May in every second year thereafter,
one commissioner of the revenue, who shall hold his office
for the period of two years, and until his successor shall
be elected and qualified, unless sooner removed from office.
He shall give bond with sureties in such amount as the
council may determine, said bond to be approved by the
city council, entered on their record, and filed in the office
of the city clerk. In case a vacancy shall occur in the
office of commissioner of the revenue, the city council shall
elect a qualified person to fill said office until the next
general election, which may be held in the city, when the
vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term.
§ 45. To aid the commissioner of the revenue in his du-
ties, the clerk of the court of hustings for the city of Rad-
ford, as required, shall deliver to him such lists as are
mentioned in section four hundred and thirty-nine of
chapter twenty-three of the code of Virginia of eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven, as far as may relate to lands in
said city. He shall receive for his services the fees
allowed by law, and such other compensation as the city
council may from time to time direct. The said commis-
sioner of the revenue, in ascertaining the value of the real
property taxable in said city, shall fix the same at the
actual cash value of said property at the time of assess-
ment, irrespective of the value assessed for the purposes of
state taxation, until the next general assessment, and the
first assessment not later than July first, eighteen hundred
and ninety-two: provided also, that a board, consisting of
the commissioner of revenue and two freeholders, to be
appointed by the corporation court, whose duty it shall be
to assess the real estate of the city.

§ 46. There shall be elected by the qualified voters of
the city of Radford on the fourth Thursday in May,
eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and on the fourth
Thursday in May in every second year thereafter, one city
sergeant, who shall attend the terms of the court of hust-
ings for said city and act as the officer thereof, and shall
perform such other duties as may be prescribed and or-
dained by the city council, and shall receive such com-
pensation therefor as the council shall determine. He
shall be collector of delinquent city taxes placed in his
hands by the city treasurer, and for that purpose shall
have all the powers and authority and be subject to the
same liability and penalties as are prescribed for county
treasurers in the collection of state taxes and county levies,
and may be proceeded against in the same manner, so far
as applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of
this act. He shall pay over to the treasurer (or in the
treasury of the city, as may be prescribed by ordinance)
weekly, or oftener if he thinks proper, all moneys which
came into his hands for taxes or otherwise belonging to
the said city. He shall report to the council in writing,
at each stated meeting, the amount of all moneys collected
by him for the city, from whom collected and when col-
lected, and paid over as herein directed. Before entering
upon the duties of his office as collector of the delinquent
taxes of the city, he shall enter into bond, with sureties
to be approved by the council, in such sum as the council
may direct; said bond to be payable to the city of Rad-
ford, and conditioned for the faithful discharge of the
duties of said office, and shall be entered on the records
of the council, and the original shall be filed in the office
of the clerk of the council.
§ 50. Finance.—For the execution of its powers and
duties the city council may, in the name of and for the
use of the city, contract loans, or cause to be issued cer-
tificates of debt or bonds: provided no such certificates of
debt or bonds shall be issued except by a two-thirds vote
of the council, endorsed by a majority of the freehold
voters of each ward voting on the question and by the
standing committee of each ward; but such loans, certi-
ficates, or bonds shall not be irredeemable for a period
greater than thirty-four years: provided further, that said
council shall not contract said loans or issue such certifi-
cates of debt or bonds for the purpose of subscribing to
the stock of any company incorporated for a work of in-
ternal improvement, or other purpose, without being first
authorized so to do by three-fourths of the freehold voters
of each ward voting on the question: provided further,
that in no case shall the aggregate debt of the city of
either ward at any one time exceed fifteen per centum of
the assessed value of the taxable property, real and per-
sonal, within its limits: provided further, that the council
shall determine, whenever a loan is deemed necessary for
either ward for benefit of said ward, the amount of loan
that the fifteen per centum limit will justify, as deter-
mined by the assessed valuation of the taxable property
of said ward, and when so determined the council may
issue bonds or certificates of debt in the name of the city
for the amount so determined: provided further, that the
said council shall not endorse the bonds of any company
whatsoever without the same authority. All contracts for
the erection of public improvements within the jurisdic-
tion of the city council shall be let to the lowest respon-
sible bidder, and notice shall be given at least thirty days
before the work is finally let, by advertisement: in one or
more newspapers published in the city, and the party to
whom said contract shall be let shall give such bond as
the council and the standing committee of the proper
ward may require and approve; but in no event shall any
contract be let to any member of the city council, nor
shall any member have any interest in such contract.

§ 51. Whenever hereafter there shall be contracted by
the council any debt not payable within one year there-
after, there shall be set apart annually for thirty-four
years, or until the debt is paid, a sum not Jess than one
per centum of the amount of any debt, in addition to the
annual interest agreed to be paid thereon, which sum shall
be applied and invested towards the payment of such

ebts.
§ 55. All taxes required for the purpose of paying the
salaries of the municipal officers and other current ex-
penses of maintaining the municipal organization, such
as printing, stationery, and other office expenses and sup-
plies, or the expenses for salaries of policemen and fire-
men, and all other expenses of maintaining the police and
fire services, including fuel, apparatus, rent, and the ex-
pense of maintaining the hustings court, and repairs,
shall be assessed, levied, or collected from either ward and
applied generally without regard to the amount thereof;
but al] taxes or assessments for the purpose of opening,
grading, paving, macadamizing, curbing, or improving
streets or other highways, erecting or maintaining bridges,
schools, or buildings or other permanent improvements
intended for public use or purposes, shall be assessed,
levied, and collected only upon the persons and property
within the ward where such expenditures are to be made,
and shall only be assessed, levied, and collected on the re-
commendation or report of the standing committee of such
ward to councils to that effect, and the treasurer shall
keep separate accounts of such taxes collected in each
ward, and after deducting his fees shall pay the same over
to the treasurer of the city, to be set and kept apart as
special funds to be applied to the special purposes within
the particular ward where such taxes were assessed, levied,
and collected: provided that the property in one ward
shall not be liable for the sinking fund herein provided
for the other ward.

§ 56. There shall be at all times two standing commit-
tees—one composed of four of the members for the east
ward, and the other composed of four of the members for
the west ward ;.and each committee shall have the power
and duty of considering and acting upon all matters
within its respective ward relating to the opening, grading,
paving, macadamizing, curbing or improving streets or
highways, erecting or maintaining bridges, schools or
other buildings, or improvements intended for public use
or purposes within such ward, and other matters involving
the special liability of such ward for assessments or taxes;
and no liability shall be authorized or incurred by coun-
cils on account of the purposes for which such ward is alone
taxable; and no tax to provide money for the said pur-
poses shall be imposed by councils, assessed, levied or col-
lected until the said committee shall have recommended
to councils to impose, authorize or incur the said liability
or to assess, levy and collect the said taxes, and shall have
fixed the rate thereof.

§ 57. The city council may levy a tax on licenses to
agents of insurance companies whose principal office is
not located in said city; to auctioneers; to public theatri-
cal or other performances or shows; to keepers of billiard-
tables and ten-pin alleys; to hawkers and peddlers; to
agents for the renting of real estate; to commission mer-
chants, and any other business, whether a license may be
required therefor by the state or not; and to lawyers and
doctors for the privilege of practicing in the corporation,
the amount of the license in case of lawyers and doctors
not to exceed that imposed by the state. For water or
light supplied by the city from its works councils shall fix
the rates therefor, the time when such rates shall! be paid,
and the penalties for the non-payment thereof.
_ § 62. The city council may organize and maintain a fire
department for the city, and appoint an engineer, assist-
ants and other officers, with any or all the powers which
have been or may be vested by law in such officers; and
they may make rules and regulations for the government
of the officers and men of said department; may prescribe
their respective duties in case of fire or alarms of fire;
may fix their pay, and may impose reasonable fines for the
breach of such regulations, and may make such ordinances
as they may deem proper to extinguish and prevent fire, to
prevent property from being stolen, and to require citizens
to render assistance to the fire department in case of need.

2. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.

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