CHAP. 839.—An ACT to change the name of the town of East Big Stone Gap,
in Wise county, to East Stone Gap, and to amend and re-enact an act ap-
proved March 5, 1890, entitled an act to incorporate the town of East Lig

tone Gap, in Wise county, Virginia.

Approved March 8, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
approved March fifth, eighteen hundred and ninety, to incorporate
the town of East Big Stone Gap, in Wise county, Virginia, be, and
is hereby, amended so as to read as follows:

2. The town known as East Big Stone Gap shall, within the here-
inafter described town limits, be a town corporate by the name of
East Stone Gap, and by that name shall have and exercise all the
powers and rights conferred on towns of less than five thousand in-
habitants by general law, and be subject to all the provisions of the
code of Virginia and to the laws now in force or which may hereafter
be enacted in reference to the government of towns of less than five
thousand inhabitants, so far as the same are not inconsistent with
the provisioris of this act.

3. The limits of said town shall be as follows: Beginning at a
stake in the middle of the south fork of Powell’s river and in the
line of Big Stone Gap corporation, near N. C. Wheeler’s; thence with
a line of said corporation south forty, west seventeen hundred feet
to a stake; thence south twenty-four, east five hundred and thirty:
one feet toa stake; thence south fifty-six and one-half, west fourteer
hundred feet to a stake; thence south sixty-four and one-half, west
nine hundred and twenty feet to the west corner of William H. Wamp.
ler’s land; thence south forty-five, west to the east bank of the Wild.
cat road leading to Big Stone Gap; thence south with the said roac
and its meanders so as not to include said road to the west corner o!
J. M. Gilly’s land; thence, leaving said line and following the Wild
cat road so as not to include said road, to a stake in the J. C. Wells
line where it crosses said road; thence south forty-five, west wit
said J.C. Wells’ line to a corner of the J. A. Jones land; thence
south forty-five, west to the southwest corner of J. M. Gilly, junior’s
land; thence south forty-five, east ten hundred feet to a stake
thence north fifty, east to the south fork of Powell’s river; thence
north twenty, west to Butcher’s fork, and with the said Butcher’
fork and its meanders to the middle of the south fork of Powell’
river to a stake in the Big Stone Gap corporation line, and with said
line to the beginning.

4, The municipal authorities of said town shall consist of a
mayor and four trustees, who together shall compose the town coun-
cil, and all the corporate powers of said town shall be exercised
by, said council or under its authority, except where otherwise pro-
vided.

5. All persons residing within the corporate limits of said town
who are qualified to vote for members of the general assembly, and
whose names are by the proper registrar put on the list of regis-
tered voters, shall be qualified electors of said town. And any quali-
fied elector of said town shall be eligible to hold the office of mayor
or trustee of said town.

6. Members of the council shall be elected on the first Tuesday
after the first Monday in June of each year, to go into office on the
first day of July succeeding, and to hold office for one year there-
after.

7. When from any cause a vacancy shall occur in the office of
mayor or trustees it shall be filled by the council at its next regu-
lar meeting, either from its own body or from the qualified electors
of said town, such appointee to hold office until the first Monday of
July succeeding his appointment.

8. The council shall cause to be kept, in one or more securely
bound volumes, accurate records of all its proceedings, by-laws,
acts and orders, which shall be properly indexed, and which shall be,
subject to reasonable regulations of the council, open for inepection
of all qualified electors of said town.

9. Not later than thirty days previous to the first Tuesday after
the first Monday in June of each year the judge of the Wise county
court, either in term time or vacation, shall appoint one registrar for
each ward of said town, whose duty it shall be, at the times and in
the manner prescribed by law for the registration of voters, to make
and revise lists of all qualified electors residing within the respec-
tive wards of said registrars; and for a willful failure to place on
said list the name of any qualified elector, the registrar so doing
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and may be fined from one to five
hundred dollars.

10. Not less than five days previous to the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in June of each year, the judge of Wise county court
shall, either in term time or vacation, appoint three qualified voters
of said town to act as judges of election and two competent resi-
dents of said town to act as clerks of election for each of as many
polling places as the council shall have certified under the hand of
the mayor to said judge to be necessary, and said judges and clerks
shall be paid the sum of one dollar and fifty cents each for their
services, to be paid by the council out of the town treasury.

11. All elections for mayor and trustees held in said town shall be
held and conducted as other county elections are held and conducted,
with the following exceptions:

(a) It shall be the duty of the town council to provide at least
one polling place for each three hundred qualified electors in said
wn.

(b) At sunrise on the day of election the council shall furnish to
the judges of election a sufficient number of printed tickets, all of
which shall be alike, which shall contain on one side thereof the
names of all persons who are candidates for the position of mayor,
which names shall be printed under acaption “ for mayor” and sepa-
rated from the other names on the ticket. Below the names of can-
didates for mayor and underneath the caption “for trustee” shall
be printed all the names of all candidates for trustee. The names of
all persons shall be placed on said tickets as candidates who shall in
person or by agent, not later than Saturday preceding any election,
announce themselves in writing to the recorder of said town as candi-
dates for that office.

(c) Not later than three days preceding any election, it shall be
the duty of the town council to have posters put up in five or more
suitable places in said corporation, containing the names of all can-
didates, and also the place where the polling is to be held.

(d) The method of keeping tally of the voters, counting the bal.
lots, certifying and returning the result of any election under this
charter shall be the same as is now provided by general law.

(e) The town council shall defray, out of the town treasury, all
expenses incurred in carrying out said provisions as hereinbefore set
forth. Fora failure toenforce any of the duties heretofore men-
tioned, either by the judges of election or by the town council, the
offender shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be fined not less
than ten nor more than one hundred dollars.

(f) If any person be found guilty of willfully delaying or obstruct-
ing any election, or of intimidating any voter, he shall be guilty of
@ misdemeanor, and may be fined not less than ten nor more than
one hundred dollars.

12. All trials for offences against the above provisions shall be
held by some justice of the peace other than a member of the town
council, or by the county court of Wise county, but any fines col-
lected therefor shall be paid into the town treasury, and all costs
attending such trials shall be paid by said town.

13. The oaths of office of all officers of said town, including
mayor and trustees, may be taken and subscribed by a justice of the
peace or a notary public, and if recorded and kept by the recorder of
said town, the same need not be recorded in the county court.

14. The mayor shall appoint the sergeant, who shall give bond, to
be approved by the mayor, and as many associate sergeants as the
whole council shall, by a yea and nay vote, deem advisable, all of
whom shall hold office at the pleasure of the mayor.

15. The council may appoint such other town officials ag it sees
fit, prescribe their duties and fix their compensation as well as the
compensation of the sergeant and his assistants, but until the popu-
lation of said town shall exceed one thousand inhabitants it shall
not be lawful to pay said sergeant a greater salary than twenty-five
dollars por month in addition to the fees allowed by law to such
officers.
16. All taxes, levies, licenses and assessments shall be collected
by an officer, to be designated as city collector, who shall give bond,
to be approved by the council, before commencing his duties. The
collector shall also receive all funds collected by the mayor or other
members of the council as fines and penalties, and shall forthwith
deliver all moneys collected by him to the town treasurer. The office
of collector may be held by the town sergeant.

17. Two or more offices under the town government may be held
by the same person: provided that no member of the council shall
hold any other town office, except as hereinafter provided.

18. The office of treasurer may, if the council see fit, be filled by
some bank or banking company. The duties of the treasurer shall
be simply to receive the town money from the city collector and to
pay out the same on warrants signed by the recorder and counter-
signed by the mayor, and to make monthly statements to the coun-
cil showing amounts secured and paid out.

19. It shall be the duty of one council to fix the compensation of
the succeeding council. But no council shall] ever increase the com-
pensation of its own members, nor shall any compensation be al-
lowed to any council until the population of said town shall exceed
one thousand inhabitants. |

20. The council may, in addition to the powers given by the gene-
ral law, pass ordinances imposing punishments for all offences
against the ordinances of said town, except felonies committed
within said town, and the jurisdiction of the town and state authori-
ties for the trial thereof shall be co-ordinate, and all by-laws and
ordinances and resolutions or acts under authority thereof, hereto-
fore passed or done, are hereby declared legal and binding.

21. The council may fix fire limits as prescribed by the code of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, section ten hundred and thirty-
eight, and the said council shall at all times have control over all
combustible materials used in said town limits.

22. It shall not be lawful for the council to impose or collect any
taxes, levies or assessments on any tract of land within the town
limits which is not platted and laid off in streets which have been
dedicated to public use and into blocks and squares, and which
tract is lying unueed or is used only for farm or garden purposes:
provided that for the purpose of making roads or preparing same
through such land the same may be taxed or assessed: and pro-
vided, further, that until the population of said town shall exceed
one thousand inhabitants it shall not be lawful for said council to
lay a greater rate of taxation than twenty-five cents on the one hun-
dred dollars’ worth of property.

23. In order to open, grade, macadamize or otherwise improve any
street, sidewalk or alley, the council 1s authorized to make an assess-
ment of such sum as may be necessary to complete such work, to be
charged on the property abutting on such street, sidewalk or alley,
and to be apportioned according to the number of feet abutting
thereon. And to effectually carry out the powers thus conferred,
the council may make and enforce all needful and proper by-laws
and ordinances: provided that until the population of said town shal!
exceed one thousand inhabitants no such tax or assessment shall be
levied or collected, unless and until the owners of two-thirds of
the real property in any district or portion of said town proposed
to be affected by said tax or assessment shall consent in writing
thereto. °

24. Licenses to sell vinous, spirituous or malt liquors shall be
granted only by the town council, and only when the applicant shall
have been first licensed by the county court of Wise county, or by
the circuit court on appeal therefrom, as provided by law; but the
fact of his being licensed by the said court shall not make it incum-
bent on the council to grant him a license. No license shall be
granted by the council unless it is made to appear to the satisfac-
tion of the council that the applicant is a fit and proper person, of
good moral character, and also that the situation in which he is to
conduct the business of selling liquor is a fit and proper place, and
until the applicant shall have furnished a bond, payable to the town,
with security to be approved by the council, conditioned upon the
observance by said applicant, his partners, agents or employees, of
all the ordinances or by-laws of said town now in force or which
may be passed hereafter: provided that until the population of said
town shall exceed one thousand inhabitants, it shall not be lawful
for said council to grant license to any person to sell liquor until
and except the applicant therefor shall present a petition asking for
the same, signed by at least three-fifths of the registered voters of
said town.

25. It shall be lawful for the council at any time to pass such
reasonable ordinances as it sees fit to regulate the place where liquor
is sold, and no license shall be valid unless it be accepted by the
licensee, and subject to the following conditions: First, that the
council may at any time fix or alter the time of opening or closing
all saloons and bar-rooms; second, that the mayor may at any time
by proclamation forbid the sale or giving away of liquors by said
licensee, or his agents or employees, to any one: provided that in each
such proclamation the period within which the selling or giving away
of liquor is forbidden shall not exceed twenty-four hours.

26. It shall not be lawful for the mayor to issue any proclamation
forbidding the selling or giving away of liquors, except on special
occasions, when he is of opinion that the safety or good order of the
town is imperiled, and not more than fifty such proclamations shall
be issued in one year.

27. It shall be lawful for the council of said town to make by-laws
requiring that when any judgment shall be rendered against any per-
son for any fine or penalty, under any ordinance or resolution of
said council, and the same be not immediately paid, the person or
persons so in default may be required, by the order of the court
passing sentence, to work out such fines or penalties on the public
streets, or elsewhere, at the rate of fifty cents per diem, under the
direction of the sergeant or his assistants, and under such rules and
regulations as may be prescribed by the council.

28. The power to change county roads within the corporation limits
of said town, so that they shall conform to the streets of said town
as they are now or shall be laid ‘out, is hereby vested in the town
council.

29. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of
this act are hereby repealed.

30. This act shall be in force-from its passage.