Chap. 577.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved Fehruary 23, 1888,
as amended by an act entitled “ an act to amend and re-enact the charter of
the town of Waynesboro,” approved January 26, 1992, and to authorize said
town to issue bonds for water and cemetery purposes.

Approved March 8, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
whole charter of the town of Waynesboro, in the county of Augusta,
approved January the twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety-
two, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

The territory contained within the limits of said town shall be as
follows, to-wit: Beginning at the corner of the corporation line of
Basic City, at the northern boundary line of the right-of-way of the
Chesapeake and Ohio railway, in the middle of South river, near the
railroad bridge; thence in a southerly direction with the corporate
line of Basic City to a point in the middle of South river, near Pat-
terson’s mill-dam; thence along the middle of said river south to
the intersection of Fifth street with said river; thence along Fifth
street to its point of intersection with Locust avenue (as designated
on the map of the Waynesboru company); thence with the line of
said Locust avenue north to Second street; thence north to Syca-
more alley, at its point of intersection with Plumb’s alley; thence
along said alley north across Main street, and out by the Waynes-
boro creamery to the intersection at Hipperts with the New Hope
road; thence northeast across the Albert Bush lot to the northern
boundary line of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway company’s right-
of-way; thence along the line of said right-of-way in an easterly
direction to the place of beginning.

2. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
town of Waynesboro, in the county of Augusta, as the same has
been and may hereafter be laid off into lots, streets and alleys, shall
be, and the same is hereby, made a town corporate by the name of
Waynesboro, and by that name shall have and exercise all the
powers, rights, privileges and immunities conferred upon towns of
less than five thousand inhabitants by the laws of the commonwealth
of Virginia, so far as such laws do not conflict with the provisions
of this act.

3. That the administration and government of said town shall be
vested in a council of seven, who shall be electors of said town, one
of whom shall be designated for mayor, and the remaining six for
councilmen, to be chosen on the fourth Thursday in May, eighteen
hundred and ninety-two, and every two years thereafter, by the
qualified voters of said town, after a notice of fifteen days preceding
said election shall have been given. The registration of voters in
said town, and all elections for whatever purpose, shal] be held as
provided by law, after fifteen days’ notice, by hand-bills or written
notices, to be posted at ten or more places within the corporate
limits; said notices to be posted by the town sergeant. On the first
day of July next succeeding any regular election for mayor and
councilmen the said mayor and councilmen shall qualify and enter
upon the discharge of their duties, and shall remain in office until
their successors are elected and qualified according to law. Three
members of said council and the mayor, or four members, one of
whom shall be elected president pro tempore, shall constitute a quo-
rum for the transaction of business. In case any two or more per-
sons receive the same number of votes at any election for mayor and
councilmen, the succeeding council shal] determine by lot who shall
be declared elected ; and in case of a vacancy in the office of mayor
or councilmen by death, resignation, or otherwise, the said council
may fill said vacancy in the office of councilmen from the qualified
voters of the town, and in the office of mayor from the body of the
council, or the electors of the town. The said council shall appoint
a registrar, who shall register the qualified voters of the town in the
manner prescribed by Jaw; and three judges of election, who shall
also be commissioners of election, who shall discharge their duties
in accordance with the law for the government of judges and com-
missioners of election. One of said judges may also act as the clerk
of election.

4. The mayor, as chief magistrate of the corporation, shall have
all the powers, rights and privileges such office confers in the general
law governing towns of less than five thousand inhabitants; anu in
civil cases that may arise within the corporate limits he shal] have
and exercise all powers vested in justices of the peace by the laws
of the state. The said mayor shall be president of the council, and
as such he shall preside in all their meetings. The mayor or any
three members may call a special session of the council. In case of
a tie upon any question that may be before the council for conside-
ration the mayor shall have the casting vote. Any member of the
council being absent from three regular meetings of the council
may be removed from the same by the vote of four members thereof,
and the place filled according to the provisions of this charter.

5. The council shall at their first meeting, and every two years
thereafter, elect from their own body, or the qualified voters of the
town, a secretary and a treasurer. It shall be the duty of the secre-
tary to keep a fair and just record of the proceedings of the council,
and to publish in such manner as the council may indicate the ordi-
nances and by-laws that may from time to time, be passed, for which
services he shall have such compensation as the council may deter-
mine to be right and proper. The said treasurer shall receive and
keep all the moneys and other funds belonging to the corporation,
and pay out the same on the order of the council, drawn by the
mayor and attested by the secretary. The said treasurer shall be
required to give bond, with approved security, in such penalty as the
council may determine, payable to them and their successors for the
benefit of the town, and shall publish a statement of all his receipts
and disbursements at the end of. each fiscal year. Said treasurer
shall collect all taxes due the said town

6. The said council shall also at their first meeting, and every two
yoars thereafter, elect a sergeant, who shall hold office two years, or
until his successor is elected and qualified. The said sergeant shall
be a conservator of the peace, and in civil cases that may arise
within the corporate limits he shal] be vested with all the powers
the laws of the state confer upon constables; and his jurisdiction
as a police officer shall extend one mile beyond the corporate limits,
but not within the corporate limits of the town of Basic City. He
shall possess the like rights of distress and powers in collecting
corporation taxes, service of process and return thereof, arising
under authority of this act, and all laws made in pursuance of it,
and shall be entitled to like fees and commissions as are allowed
by the laws of the Commonwealth to the collectors and constables
thereof for similar duties and services. Said sergeant shall execute
bond, with approved security; in such penalty as the council may
deem proper, payable to them and their successors in office, for the
benefit of the town, conditioned for the faithful performance of his
duties and payment over to them and their successors of all moneys
and funds collected and received by him in virtue of his office.
And he and his securities, and his and their executors, and so forth,
shall be subject to such proceedings, by motion or otherwise, before
the county or circuit court of Augusta county, for the enforcement
of the payment of such moneys and funds by him collected, or could
have collected, and received as aforesaid, at the suit or motion of
said mayor or other person entitled so to do; or said motion may be
made to the mayor or council of said town. The said council may,
by a two-thirds vote, remove the said sergeant from office for in-
competency, misconduct, or negligence of duty, and elect another to
fill the unexpired term.

7. That said town, and taxable property and persons therein,
shall be exempt and free from the payment of any county road tax
or poor rates, and from contributing to any county expenses for any
year, in which it shall appear that said town shall, at its own expense,
provide for its own poor, and keep the streets and roads in order.

8. That for the purpose of maintaining the police regulations of
said town, under the authority of this act, the jurisdiction of the
corporate authorities shall be, and the same is hereby, made to ex-
tend one mile in a direct line from the corporation limits, except that
it shall only extend to the corporate lines of Basic City in those
directions.

9. That*the said council shall appoint an assessor, whose duty it
shall be, during the month of February in each year, to assess the
value of all personal estate within the corporate Jimits, which assess-
ment shall form the basis of taxation of said estate. Said assessor
shall also revise and correct the corporation land book of the pre-
vious year, so that it will correspond with the corrected land book
of the commissioner of the revenue of South River district, in
Augusta county. He shall also issue license to all persons engaged
In any pursuit, business, occupation, calling, profession or other
purpose for which the state laws require, or may require, a license;
and also to shows and other public exhibitions within a mile of the
corporate limits; but said power shall not extend within the corpo-
rate limits of the town of Basic City. The said council shall have
power to levy and collect annually on all real and personal property
situated in said town, and on such other subjects as are or may be
taxed by the revenue laws of the commonwealth, and also a poll or
head tax, and a tax on dogs owned or kept in the corporate limits.
The tax on realty and personal property shall not exceed in any one
year seventy-five cents on the one hundred dollars’ value thereof;
and the poll or head tax for each year shall be fifty cents on each
male person over twenty-one years of age. .

10. The tax on dogs shall be fifty cents for each male dog and two
dollars and fifty cents for each female dog, irrespective of size.

11. That all persons in pursuit of any trade, calling, occupation
or profession, and residing in the corporate limits on the first day of
May of any year, shall be liable to taxation under this act; and all
persons entering into any trade or profession, and so forth, after the
first day of May in any one year, shall be liable to a pro rata rate of
taxation.

12. The said council shall have power and authority to make all
necessary provisions to prevent accidents by fire, such as the pur-
chase of fire engines, hooks and ladders, and other fixtures useful
for such purpose. They shall have power to provide the town with
water, by means of wells, pumps and water-works, or in any way by
them deemed to be for the best interest, comfort and safety of the
town, and for such purpose may levy and collect a water tax, to be
imposed on each head of the family, or other person using water
from the town wells, springs, hydrants and other water fixtures; said
water tax to be in proportion to the amount of water used by each
family or person using water from the town wells, hydrants, and so
forth; and power to light the town with gas, oil or electricity. They
shall have power to provide for the interment of the dead, and to
regulate the same. They may also establish a market and make ordi-
nances for the management thereof. They shall have power to open
new streets and alleys, and to widen, grade, pave and improve exist-
ing streets, sidewalks, alleys, gutters and bridges, and for such pur-
pose may levy and collect a special road tax not to exceed fifteen
cents on the one hundred dollars value of taxable property. They
shall have power to prevent the obstruction of streets, alleys, side-
walks, gutters, and so forth, by the hitching of horses standing of
wagons, or in any way whatever, by imposing a reasonable fine for
such offences. They may also punish by fine the firing of guns
or pistols, the setting fire to powder and other combustible or explo.
sive material, the running and fast driving of horses and other ani.
mals on the streets and alleys, and all else detrimental to the peace
and good order of the town. They shall have power to prescrib
rules for the orderly building of houses and their proper location
such as stables, water-closets, hog-pens, cattle sheds as well a
dwellings, stores and shops. They shall hava power to prohibit al
animals except milch cows from running at Jarge, and beyond the!
owners’ premises,.and to pass all by-laws and ordinances not cor
trary to the constitution and laws of the commonwealth and of tk
United States, which said council may deem necessary for the ca
rying to effect such powers and privileges as have or may hereaft
be vested in them. They shall also have power before the mayor
acting mayor, to regulate the police, and to enforce all laws, by-laws
and ordinances of the said town by a penalty not exceeding the
penalty fixed by the commonwealth for like offences; said penalty
or fine to be paid into the corporation fund. They shall have power
to amend or repeal any by-law or ordinance, or remit any fine or
taxes that may to them seem proper and just. Any ordinance or by-
laws may be enforced by fine or imrrisonmeat, or both, or in lieu of
fine, by labor in chain-gang, or otherwise, at the discretion of the
mayor.

13. The said council shall have power to regulate the erection and
keeping in proper condition of chimneys, stoves, and stove-pipes,
and to abate and remove all nuisances at the expense of those who
occasion them; and for the violation of any police law, other than
capital crimes and penitentiary offences, and for the violation of any
special law relating to said town and not enumerated in this act,
the said council shall have power to impose fines and collect the
same, not to exceed fines imposed by state law for like misdemeanors,
and may add to said fines imprisonment or hard labor, not to exceed
the punishment imposed by the laws of the commonwealth for like
offences; and all such fines shall constitute a part of the corporation
fund.

14. The said council shall have power, whenever they may deem
it expedient, to have the sidewalks, footways, and gutters along any
street or alleys in said town, of such width as they may prescribe,
properly paved or otherwise suitably improved, altered, or repaired,
as they may think fit, and for that purpose may levy and collect a
special tax from the abutting property owners; provided that an ad
valorem tax be imposed upon abutting vacant lots, and where there
are improvements such as residences or business houses, the town
shall bear one-half of the expense of constructing new sidewalks,
et cetera, and such abutting property owners shall be assessed to pay
the other half, which assessment shall be proportioned to the num-
ber of feet that such property fronts the said sidewalks or footway.
Such special tax shall be collected in the same manner as other
taxes are collected, arid in all cases where a lessee or tenant shall
pay such special tax it shall be an offset or credit against a like
amount of rent then due or that may thereafter accrue.

15. All taxes, whether general or special, assessed upon any pro-
perty in said town, under the provisions of this act, are hereby de-
clared to constitute a lien on such property; and if the sergeant or
other legally authorized collector has not been able, with due dili-
gence, to sollect the said taxes by the first day of June of the suc-
ceeding year next after same were assessed, he shall at the first meet-
ing of the council] thereafter make return upon oath of the taxes he
has 80 failed to collect, and the property upon which said uncollected
taxes were assessed, and thereupon the council shall have the right
to proceed in the same manner against the property so returned de-
linqeot as the commonwealth of Virginia has in similar cases; and
the clerk of the council and the treasurer of the town shall be clothed
-with the same powers and be subject to the same provisions of law
as are given to and govern clerks of the county courts and treasurers
of the counties in like cases; and in the sale of such delinquent
property the clerk of the council and treasurer of the town shall
conform to the state law in such cases made and provided in all par-
ticulars, except that the sale of such delinquent property shall take
place in front of the treasurer’s office in Waynesboro on the fourth
Wednesday in December next after the property is returned delin-
quent as aforesaid. The clerk of the council shall be empowered to
execute deeds for property sold under the provisions of this section.

16. The said council may at any time extend the limits of said
town by ordering an election to be held for such purpose in such
manner as elections are usually held according to law, except a special
registration shall be had, which said registration shall be closed
five days before the day of election; and only owners of real
estate of the assessed value (for taxation) of five hundred dollars or
more within said town and within the limits of the proposed exten-
sion shall be registered. The owner of the life estate shall be pre-
ferred to the remainderman. All persons of twenty-one years of
age and over, male and female, may be electors; and if it appears
that two-thirds of the registered voters under this section in the said
town, and also two-thirds in the said proposed extension, have voted
for such extension, then, and not otherwise, said council shall de-
clare the corporation limits extended, and accordingly proceed to
make an order, to be recorded on the records of said town and in the
clerk’s office of Augusta county, establishing such extended limits,
and accurately describing the same; but neither the town of Waynes-
boro nor the town of Basic City shall have the right to extend their
corporate limits into the corporate limits of the other.

17. The said council shall have power to provide for the order and
quiet of the Sabbath, to punish drunkenness, swearing, boisterous
conduct; any interference with religious worship, and any other
offence against decency and good morals, by proper penalties; and to
prohibit the sale of intoxicating drinks within the corporate limits
and one mile thereof; provided that any fine imposed on a minor shall
be paid by his parent or guardian, and provided, further, that the
prohibition of the sale of intoxicating drinks shall not apply to the
town of Basic City.

18. The said council shall have power to take private property
for public use, provided they shall pay a proper compensation for
the same. If, however, the owner or owners of such property object,
or will not agree to receive a proper price, the said council may proceed
tocondemn such property in the manner prescribed by the laws of the
commonwealth for condemnation of private property for public use;
and for this purpose the mayor’s court of said town shall have the
game jurisdiction as the county court has for condemning land for
road purposes within the county.

19. The said council shall have power to regulate and provide for
weighing and measuring hay, wood, coal and other articles sold or
for sale in said town.

20. All fines, penalties and amercements, and other moneys, raised
and received by virtue of this act and not otherwise directed to be
applied, shall be at the disposal of the said council for the benefit
of the town. . All officers now holding office under this charter shall
continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices until their
successors are elected and qualified.

21. The said council shall have power to fix and regulate the com-
pensation and salaries of officers, and the wages paid for hire of
teams, labor and so forth.

22. All acts and parts of sections of any charter for said town
heretofore approved, except special laws relating to said town and
not enumerated in any charter act, are hereby repealed.

23. The council may, in the name of and for the use of the town,
contract loans, or cause to be issued certificates of debt or bonds:
provided no such certificate of debt or bonds shall be issued except
by a majority vote of the council, endorsed by a two-third vote of
the freehold voters voting on the question, at an election which shall
be held for the purpose. The manner of holding such election shall
conform to the state law governing elections at the time such elec-
tion is held. Any person, male or female, twenty-one years of age,
and owning real estate in the town, shall have the right to vote in
such election: provided that no freeholder shall have the right to
vote in such election until bis or her name shall have been duly
registered in a special registration book at least ten days prior to
such election. Such special registration book shall be furnished by
the council, and they shall also appoint, at least thirty days previous
to the date of such election, a suitable person as registrar, for the
purpose of registering the qualified freeholders of the town. He
shall advertise, by posting notices at not less than ten conspicuous
places within the town, appointing a day for such registration, which
day 80 appointed shall be at least twelve days prior to the date of
such special election. Such loans, certificates or bonds, made or
issued under the foregoing provisions, shal! not be irredeemable for
a period greater than thirty-five years; and provided, further, that
any or all of any designated series of such loans, certificates or
bonds may be redeemable at the option of the town council after ten
years from the date of issue. The council shall provide for a sink-
ing fund such proportion of the revenue of the town as shall be
equal in cash value to one-thirtieth of any loan, certificates or bonds
so made or issued. All bonds issued under the provisions of this
section shall be regularly numbered and signed by the mayor, clerk
and treasurer, and recorded in a book to be kept for that purpose.
Said council shall not contract such loans or issue such certificates
of debt or bonds for the purpose of subscribing to the stock of any
company incorporated for a work of internal improvement or other
purposes, without first being authorized so to do by three-fourths of
the freehold voters of the town voting on the question; provided,
further, that in no case shall the aggregate debt of the town at any
one time exceed ten per centum of the assessed value of the pro-
perty, real and personal, within the town limits; and provided, fur-
ther, that the said council shall not endorse the bonds of any com-
pany whatsoever without the same authority. This section shall
not be so construed as to prevent the council of said town from
issuing certificates of debt for necessary current expenses or for
sums of money provided for by annual taxation.

24. All contracts for the erection of public improvements within
the jurisdiction of the town 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 advertisements in a newspaper published
in the town or county; and the party to whom said contract shall
be let shall give such bond as the council may require; but in no
event shall any contract be let to any member of the town council,
nor shall any member have any personal interest in such contract.
The council of said town may, in their discretion, contract with any
person or corporation to exempt the property and capital invested or
to be invested for manufacturing purposes within the corporate
limits of Waynesboro from all corporation taxes for a period of not
more than ten years.

25. It shall not be lawful to sell, barter, or in any way dispose of
intoxicating liquors of any kind within the corporate limits of
Waynesboro, or within one mile thereof, except that this clause shall
not affect in any way the charter granted to Basic City, the one-mile
limit being construed to mean in all directions other than that incor-
porated as the town of Basic City; nor shall it be lawful to solicit
orders, or to receive orders, or to take orders unsolicited, for the sale
of liquors of any kind within the corporate limits of Waynesboro ;
nor shall any seller of liquor receive money or any other commodity
in payment for any intoxicating liquors within said corporate limits ;
nor shall it be lawful for any one to keep liquor deposited in any
place in said corporation, for sale, barter, or exchange, either directly
or indirectly. Any violation of this section shall be deemed a mis-
demeanor, for which a fine may be imposed of not less than twenty
nor more than five hundred dollars, and in the discretion of the
mayor may be confined in the county jail for not less than ten days
nor more than six months. This section, or any other section in
this charter, shall not have the effect to repeal chapter seventy-four
of the acts of eighteen hundred and eighty-one and eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-two, entitled “An act to authorize the voters of
Waynesboro and vicinity to decide by popular vote on the propriety
of selling intoxicating liquors in certain limits,” approved Febru-
ary the ninth, eighteen hundred and eighty-two.

26. The council of the town of Waynesboro may provide, by its
ordinances, such rate of speed for railroad trains running through
its corporate limits as may be deemed proper for the safety of citi-
zens and property.

27. This act shall not be construed to repeal or in anywise effect
the act of the general assembly of Virginia, approved February first,
eighteen hundred and ninety-four, entitled ‘An act to enlarge the

wers of the corporation of Waynesboro, Virginia, in regard to the
interment of the dead.”

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