Chap. 329.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Timberville, in Rockingham
county, Virginia.

Approved February 21, 1804.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
town of Timberville, in the county of Rockingham, as the same has
been or may be laid off into lots, streets and alleys, shall be, and the
same is hereby, made atown corporate by the name of Timberville,
and by that name shall have and exercise all the powers, privileges
and immunities, and be subject to all the provisions of the general
laws, so far as the same relate to towns of less than five thousand
inhabitants and are not in conflict with the powers herein conferred,
and that the boundary of said town shall be as follows:

2. Commencing where Fort run empties into the north fork of the
Shenandoah river upon the lands of Daniel Zeigler; thence up said
stream with the courses of the same to the line or corner of C. E.
Fahrney and D. M. Beam, north of and near the said run; thence
with the line of Fahrney and Beam, crossing the Forestville road, to
a point where the lands of Haun and Garber join the lands of D. M.
Beam and P.S. Fahrney; thence following the line between Beam
and Haun and Garber to where the same strikes the corner of Pope,
Haun and Garber; thence with their line to the big road leading to
New Market; thence by a direct line to the northeast corner of the
garden of C.S. Smucher; thence by a direct line to the northeast corner
of Reemer’s and Arehart’s lot ; thence in a southerly direction, by a di-
rect line, to the northeast corner of the lot of the Old Folks’ home;
thence with their line to the Ridge road; thence by a direct line to
the beginning, where the Fort run empties into the north fork of the
Shenandoah.

38. The government of said town shall be vested in a council of
five, to be chosen annually by ballot on the fourth Thursday in May
in each year.
388 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

4. Any person entitled to vote in the county of Rockingham, and
residing in the corporate limits of the town of Timberville ten days
previous to any election, shall be entitled to vote at all elections under
said act of incorporation.

5. The mayor shall appoint two members of the council, who, with
the clerk of the council, shall hold said election between the hours
of one in the afternoon and sunset, and they shall decide any contest
with reference to the right of any individual to vote, and shall count
the ballots. In case it is impossible to decide, the five who have the
highest number of votes, by reason of a tie, the said clerk shall de-
cide in the presence of the two councilmen, aforesaid, by lot. Said
clerk shall immediately thereafter make out and deliver to each one
of the councilmen elected a certificate of his election.

6. Said councilmen shall meet in the first week of June following.
The mayor is to be their president. Said officers shall hold their
respective offices for two years, or until their successors are elected
and qualified. Said officers shall qualify by taking the oath of
office before the clerk or other persons authorized to administer
oaths. They may be removed from office by the unanimous vote of
the council for good cause. All of the officers of the corporation
shall serve without compensation except as hereinafter provided.
Said council shall appoint its own time of meeting: provided that
the mayor may call a meeting of the same at any time when neces-
sary. Three members shall constitute a quorum, and any vacancy
among any of the officers of the corporation shall be filled by said
council. The said council, at its first regular meeting in June, shal]
elect a mayor pro tempore, who shall have all the powers of the
mayor in the absence of the mayor, or when for any cause the mayor
is unable to discharge his duties as such.

7. In addition to the above-named officers there shall be elected
annually by the qualified voters of said town a mayor, a clerk, a town
sergeant and treasurer. The mayor shall be the presiding officer of
the council, but shall have no vote except in case of a tie. The
mayor shall and may exercise all jurisdiction, civil and criminal,
now by law conferred upon justices of the peace; shall preserve
peace and good order in said town, and to this end shall be a con-
servator of the peace, with al] the powers conferred upon conserva-
tors of the peace by law, and shall be entitled to the same fees as a
justice of the peace.

8. Said council and sergeant shall have all the powers and per-
form all the duties belonging to overseers of roads under the general
road law. The sergeant shall, before he enters upon the duties of
his office, execute a bond for the faithful performance of his duties,
which bond shall be approved by the council and filed with the clerk,
and for his services he shall be allowed annually a certain sum to
be named by the council.

9. The treasurer of said town shall pay out the money in his
hands on the warrant of the mayor and clerk, certifying that it is
done by the order of the council. He shall, before entering upon
the duties of his office, execute a bond for the faithful performance
of his duties, which bond ghall be approved by the council and filed
with the clerk, and for his services he shall be allowed acertain sum
to be named by the said council.

10. The council shall have power to make accurate bounds of ex-
isting streets and to compel the removal of obstructions therefrom,
and to lay off and have new streets, alleys and sidewalks, and to
provide and protect shade trees thereon. The council of said town
shal] have the same jurisdiction for condemning lands for streets,
alleys and sidewalks of said town as the county court has for con-
demning land for roads in the county. The council shall further
have power to provide against and prevent accidents by fire; to
establish and regulate markets; to prevent the running at large of
hogs, dogs, horses and other animals; to prevent the cumbering of
streets, sidewalks and alleys in any manner whatsoever; to make
sanitary regulations in reference to contagious and other diseases; to
regulate the building of all houses, stables, privies, hog-pens and
slaughter-houses; to abate nuisances at the expense of those who
cause them; to restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, mendicants
and street-beggars; to appoint police and prescribe their duties and
compensation, and to make, pass and ordain such ordinances, rules,
regulations and by-laws as they may deem necessary and proper for
the internal and general good, safety, health and convenience of said
town and inhabitants thereof, and for enforcing the provisions of
this charter. They shall punish all violators of law by fine or im-
prisonment, or both, at the discretion of the officer or officers trying
the offenders: providing the accused shall have the right to appeal
to the county court in all cases whatsoever, whenever the fine shall
exceed twenty-five dollars, or the imprisonment exceed thirty days.
The said council shall have power and may provide a suitable
caboose for the confinement and imprisonment of the offender or
offenders as aforesaid. Whenever judgment shall be rendered against
any person for fines, and there be no visible effects which the ser-
geant may distrain and sell therefor, the person so in default may
be compelled to work out such fine on the public streets or other
improvements, and to suffer in addition such term of imprisonment
ag may be prescribed by the ordinances of said town. All fines for
violation of ordinances of said town shall be paid into the treasury
of said town, and shall be appropriated as the council may deter-
mine.

11. The council may annually levy a tax for roads, streets, side-
walks and all other purposes by a two-thirds vote, to be approved by
the mayor, which on no property shall exceed fifty cents on the one
hundred dollars’ valuation; except that on a petition of freeholders,
representing two-thirds of the valuation within the corporation, the
council may levy a corporation tax not to exceed the amount named
in the petition. The said council shall have the power, and may
levy a poll-tax not to-exceed fifty cents on each male person in any
one year.

12. That for the purpose of maintaining the police regulations of
said town, under the authority of this act, the jurisdiction of the
corporate authorities thereof shall be, and the same is hereby, made
to extend one mile beyond the limits of said town. Each and every
councilman of said town shall be a conservator of the peace, with
all the power conferred upon conservators of the peace by the law of
Virginia.

13. C. Driver, W. A. Pence, Doctor W. A. Vaughan, D. S. Wampler
and D. M. Beam are hereby declared and appointed councilmen ;
Peter S. Fahrney, as mayor; S. T. Dingledene, as clerk; E. R. Neff,
as sergeant; and D. F. Zigler, as treasurer of said town; and may
qualify before any magistrate or notary public in the county; and
thereupon they shall constitute, until their successors are elected
and qualified as hereinbefore provided, the council, the mayor, the
clerk, the sergeant and the treasurer of said town of Timberville, and
as such they shall perform all the duties of said officers.

14. The clerk shall keep a correct record of all the proceedings of
the council, shall provide the books and stationery therefor, make
out the certificate of election, make out a list of property to be as-
sessed, real and personal, within the limits of the corporation, and
assess the same according to the best information obtained by him;
and shall issue tickets for taxes voted by council, which tickets he
shall deliver to the sergeant when ordered by the council; and shall
have power to administer the oaths of office to any of the town offi-
cers; and for said services he shall be allowed annually a certain
sum to be named by the council.

15. The sergeant of the said town, upon entering into bond in the
county court of Rockingham county, in the manner prescribed by
law for constables, and with such conditions as constables are re-
quired by law to enter into, shall have all the power and authority
of constable in the collection of money by warrant or otherwise, and
to execute any and all processes directed to him or which might have
been so directed, and shall, and may do, and perform all acts, exe-
cute and return such warrants, and be liable in the same manner
and to the same extent as constables are by the laws now in force.

16. The sergeant of said town shall be a conservator of the peace,
and shall have power to arrést in said town, or anywhere within
Rockingham county, upon a warrant issued by the mayor, a justice
of the peace or councilman, any person charged with a violation of
the laws of the commonwealth or ordinances of said town; and
where a violation of the laws or ordinances aforesaid are committed
in his presence, he shall have power and authority, without warrant,
forthwith to arrest the offender and carry him before a justice of the
peace of Rockingham county, or the mayor or some conservator of
the peace of said town, to be dealt with according to law. The ser-
geant shall collect the taxes voted by the council, for which he shall
be allowed a certain per centum for collecting and paying over the
same, the rate to be fixed by the council. He shall have the like
rights of distress and power for collecting taxes and levies made by
said council of said town, as tax collectors in similar cases, and in
the collection of all fines arising under the authority of this act, or
of any by-laws made in pursuance thereof, he shall have and possess
the same rights and powers as aforesaid. He shall pay over the
money in his hands to the treasurer of said town, taking his receipt
for the same. He shall perform all the duties of overseers of roads
and streets in the corporation in accordance with the laws of Vir
ginia. No road tax shall be assessed upon the property within the
corporation, except by the council aforesaid, which road tax shall be
expended upon the roads and streets of said town by the sergean'
aforesaid, under direction of the council.

17. Nothing in this act shall be construed as vesting in the saic
town any authority or control, other than mere police regulations
over the county bridge spanning the north fork of the Shenandoah
river, but the same shall be and remain under the exclusive contro!
and responsibility of, and belong to, the county of Rockingham.
Nor shall anything in this act be construed as imposing upon said
tuwn any obligation to provide or take care of, in any way, the in-
mates of what is known as the Old Folks’ home, situate within the
corporate limits hereinbefore set out. Nor shall anything in this
act be construed as imposing upon said town any liability on account
of, or any control in any manner over, the public free school within
the limits of said town; but the control and responsibility thereof,
in the support and the rights thereto, shall be and remain as they
now exist by law.

18. No license for the manufacture or sale of wine, ardent spirits
or malt liquors within the limits of said town, as prescribed in the
second section of this act, shall be granted to any person unless such
person first obtain from the town council of said town a certificate
of the council of said town of its consent to the granting of such
license, and the party applying for such license shall present such
certificate to the person or court having the authority to grant such
licenge. |

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