An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-299, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to devices signalling intention to turn or stop and rules therefor.
Volume 1968 Law 99
Volume | 1897/1898 |
---|---|
Law Number | 599 |
Subjects |
Law Body
Chap. 599.—An ACT to provide for the working and keeping in repair the reads
and bridges of Greene county.
Approved March 1, 1898,
1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the board
of supervisors of Greene county shall take charge of and have worked
and kept in repair all the public roads and bridges heretofore and here-
alter established within the limits of said county, and shall have full
and exclusive power to open new roads, locate and establish new bridges
and change and discontinue existing roads and bridges; and for this
purpose the said board of supervisors are authorized and empowered to
appropriate out of the general county levy whatever amount of money
they may deem necessary, and at their annual meeting, when the levy
for county purposes is laid, they shall provide in said levy for said
amount of money: provided, that the sum to be so provided or expended
under this act in any one year shall not exceed twenty cents on the hun-
dred dollars of taxable value of said county.
2. That the board of supervisors may appoint one or more, but not
more than three, freeholders of said county, who shall be known as road
commissioners, and whose duties shall be such as are hereafter desig-
nated, and such other duties as the board of supervisors shall require of
them; their compensation shall be fixed by said board, but shall not
exceed one dollar and fifty cents per day for the time they are actually
employed in rendering the service required of them. They shall con-
tinue to serve during the pleasure of the board of supervisors.
3. That the several magisterial districts in said county as now laid off
shall constitute the several road districts of the county; but the board
of supervisors may at any time change or subdivide these districts and
subdivide any road into sections. All the works of repair and improve-
ment shall be equitably apportioned to the estimated road mileage in
the several districts so far as may be practicable.
4. That the board of supervisors shall determine in what manner the
roads of the several districts, or several sections of roads or parts
thereof, shall be worked, and the bridges repaired and built. They
may let to contract the work on any or all of said roads and bridges, or
they may employ competent managers and laborers, and purchase or
hire the necessary machines, implements, tools, horses and mules to
work any and all of the roads and repair and build any and ali bridges.
They may, if they deem it practicable, secure and utilize the labor of
penitentiary convicts and prisoners in the county jail in the work of
repairing roads and bridges, or any of them, and they may make all
the provisions necessary to secure and use said convicts and prisoners.
5. That the board of supervisors may, whenever they deem it proper,
cause any or all of said roads and bridges to be inspected by one or
more commissioners to ascertain the condition of the same, the repair
needed, the probable cost of such work, the best method of making sail
repairs, the manner in which the work on said roads or bridges has been
executed and the expediency of changing or discontinuing any of said
roads and bridges, and said board may likewise appoint a committee of
its number to make any such examination.
6. That the board of supervisors, when they shall have determined to
let to contract the work of repairing or keeping in order any road or
bridge, erecting any new bridge, changing any existing road or opening
any new road, shall prepare or cause to be prepared by one of its com-
nussioners full and complete specifications of the work to be let to con-
tract and shall advertise the time and place of letting the same for at
least ten days by publication in a newspaper circulated in the county, or
by hand bills posted in the vicinity of the work to be done and at three
or more public places in the county. All proposals for said work shall
be in writing, and the contract for such work shall be let to the lowest
responsible bidder, but the said board of supervisors may require of anv
bidder a bond with security to be approved by them in a penalty equal
to the amount of his bid, payable to the board of supervisors, conditioned
to secure the prompt and proper performance of his contract, and in all
cases where the contract price of work exceeds two hundred dollars they
Bhall require such bond of the contractor before letting the contract to
him. When a contractor for any such work shall have executed such
bond the board of supervisors may pay for the work as it progresses, but
they shall at no time pay more than seventy-five per centuim of the value
of work actually accomplished by the contractor, and shall reserve the
remaining twenty-five per centum of the value of such work until the
same is completed to the satisfaction of the board. On contracts for
which no sufficient bond has been given by the contractor the buard of
supervisors shall make no payment until the work thereunder has been
properly completed. Before or after bids for any work to be let to con-
tract has been received by the board of supervisors, and before Ictting
said work to contract, they may, if they deem it expedient, cause said
work to be examined by one or more of the commissioners and hear the
testimony of witnesses to ascertain if the acceptance of any of said bids
will be advantageous.
7. Every employee of the board of supervisors engaged under this act
to whom is paid any money for disbursement shall, before receiving the
same, enter into bond, with security to be approved by the board of
supervisors, in a penalty at least equal to the largest sum to be received
by him, conditioned to secure the proper application of and accounting
for said money. He shall be required to render account and exhibit
vouchers for all receipts and disbursements at least once a month, or
oftener if required by the board, and no such employee shall be paid
any further or other sum for disbursements until he has so accounted
for the money theretofore received by him. Every such employee to
whom is delivered any implements and tools and other property of the
county shall receipt for the same, and shall be responsible for the value
thereof until and unless he shall return the same.
8. That when board of supervisors deem it proper to inquire into the
expediency of discontinuing any road or portions of a road, or any
bridge now existing or established, they shall give notice of the time
and place of such inquiry by publication in some newspaper circulated
in the county or by hand-bills posted at five or more places on the route
of said road so to be discontinued or on which the bridge tu be so dis-
continued is located, not less than ten days before such inquiry is held.
The board of supervisors shall, in the conduct of such inquiry, hear all
evidence in favor of and against such discontinuance, and make such
order as they may deem proper in the premises. If any person shall
consider himself aggrieved by such order of the board of supervisors he
may appeal to the county court; but in no such case shall a judgment
for cost of appeal or other cost be rendered against said board or any of
the members thereof: provided, however, that any such discontinuance
of any road or bridge shall not be deemed an abandonment or relinquish-
ment by the county of the right of way over the route of said road, or
of any bridge, or of any other right in the premises. Any road or
bridge so discontinued may be re-opened and re-established by the board
of supervisors by a vote of a majority of all its members.
9, All applications to open and establish new roads and bridges and
to change the location of roads and bridges now existing shall be made
to the board of supervisors, whose decision in such matters shall be in
accordance with the law now in force, except in so far as it is amended
by this act, When any such application is made, or when the board
deems it probably expedient to change the location of any existing road
or part thereof or bridge, they shall cause an examination to be made
by one or more of the commissioners of the route of the new road, or
proposed route of the existing road, to ascertain the expediency and
probable cost of and damage to landowners incident to the opening of
such new road or change of existing road. Before said commissioner
shall assess the damages for lands to be taken for any such road, they
shall give to the proprietor or proprietors of such lands not less than five
davs’ notice of the time when they will go upon the premises to make
such assessment of damages. In makinysuch assessment the said com-
missioners shall take into consideration the advantages to accrue to such
proprietor by reason of the opening or changing of such road. If the
proprietor or proprietors of lands so to be taken for such road purposes
refuse to accept as compensation for damages to their lands the sum as-
sessed by the commissioners, the board of supervisors may either decline
to open such new road or change such existing road or bridge, or they
may, through the commonwealth’s attorney, apply to the county court
to have the lands necessary for such road purposes assessed and con-
demried in the manner now provided by law. If the damages for such
lands as ascertained by the county court shall be deemed by the board
of supervisors to be excessive, they may refuse to open such new road
or to change such existing road or bridge, and no damage to a proprie-
tor of such lands shall be due or payable by the board of supervisors
unless and until they shall establish such new road or change such exist-
ing road or bridge.
10. The commonwealth’s attorney of the county shall attend all meet-
ings of the board of supervisors when matters appertaining to the public
roads are acted on; shall prepare all contracts made by or with the board
of supervisors and examine all bonds required or taken by the board
under this act; scrutinize all accounts presented to the board for labor,
services, supplies, and material furnished for the road purposes, and
take all necessary and proper action to protect the interest of the county
in all such matters. IIe shall when required by the board, institute
Jeval proceedings on any and all bonds and contracts on which a liability
has incurred by the obligor and contractor, and shall render to the board
of supervisors all reasonable services and assistance that shall be re-
quired of him by the board.
11. All notices required by this act to be served or posted shall be
served and posted by the sheriff of the county.
12. If the proper discharge of the duties imposed upon them by this
act shall require that the board of supervisors shall meet more than ten
days for which compensation is now provided by law, then for each ad-
ditional mecting the members of said board shall receive the same per
diem compensation and mileage (the word mileage shall be construed to
mean for each day’s meeting), as they are now allowed by law, but no
member of said board of supervisors shall receive such additional com-
pensation and mileage for more than six days In any one year.
15. All acts heretofore passed by the general assembly in reference to
the public roads of Greene county, and all acts or part of acts incon-
sistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.
14, This act shall be in force from its passage.