Chap. 234.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Clifton Forge,
in the county of Alleghany.

Approved February 3, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the ter-
ritory in Alleghany county contained within the following boundaries—
to wit: Beginning at the northeast corner of F. B. Westerman’s slaughter-
house; thence with the west line of the county road to a stone on the top
of the hill; thence bv a direct line crossing Jackson river to a point on
the north side of the county road three hundred feet east of Spout
spring; thence westwardly and with the north side of the said county
road to the southwestern corner of A. Jack Acord’s lot; thence by a
direct line recrossing Jackson river to the south line of Ridgeway street,
opposite the west line of Trevillian street; thence by a direct line to the
northwest corner of lot number fifteen, block twenty-one, section one,
of the Clifton Forge company’s land; thence to the northeast corner of
lot eleven, block forty-six, section two of the Clifton Forge company’s
land; thence southeast by a direct line to Hazel run; thence down Hazel
run to the place of beginning; shall constitute the town of Clifton Forge.

2. The municipal officers of said town shall be a mayor, a treasurer,
a commissioner of revenue, a chief of police, a clerk of the council, and
six councilmen, all of whom shall be residents and qualified voters of said
town.

3. The mavor and councilmen of the town of Clifton Forge, as now
constituted and as thev shall be elected and qualified as hereinafter pro-
vided, shall be a body politic and corporate, by the name of the town of
Clifton Forge, and shall have perpetual succession and a common seal,
and by that name may sue and he sued, implead and be impleaded, may
purchase and hold real estate, and sell and convey the same needful for
the public good, and may exercise all the powers of said corporation,
and shall enjoy all the rights and immunities, powers, and privileges, and
subject to all duties and obligations now incumbent upon and pertaining
to said town as a municipal corporation.

4. The mayor and six councilmen shall be elected by the citizens of
said corporation, who are by the laws of this state entitled to vote for
members of the general assembly, and who shall have resided in said
town for three months next preceding the election.

5. The term of office of said mayor and six councilmen shall be for two
years, from the first day of July next succeeding their election (except
when to fill vacancies) and until their successors have been elected and
qualified.

6. The first election under this act shall be held on the fourth Thurs-
day in May, ninetcen hundred and one, in the town of Clifton Forge, at
the town hall in said town, or at such place as shall be designated by the
council of the town; and biennially thereafter there shall be an election
of the officers of the said town, as named in section four of this act. on
the fourth Thursday in May, at such place and under such rules and
regulations and subject to such provisions as the council may prescribe;
and said officers so elected under section four of this act shall qualify
on or before the first day of July next succeeding their election, and
shall enter upon their duties on the first day of July next succeeding
their election. ,

7. All vacancies occurring from any cause in the offices of councilmen
shall be filled by appointment by the council.

§. The council shall appoint three qualified voters of said town, one
of whom shall act as clerk, to hold the elections herein required, said
election to be held between sunrise and sunset of said election day; said
three judges of election shall judge any contest with reference to the
right of any voter to vote, and shall count the ballots, and in case it is
impossible to determine the candidate who has the highest number of
votes by reason of a tie, the said clerk of election shall, by lot, determine
the matter in the presence of his associates, and not more than two
persons selected by each candidate affected by said lot. Said three
judges of election shall determine who have received the greatest number
of votes in such election, and shall certify the same and return the bal-
lots to the clerk of the council, to be by him preserved; and said clerk
of the council shall immediately thereafter make up and return to each
of the persons elected a certificate of his election. The manner of con-
ducting all elections under this act shall, so far as the same is not in
conflict herewith, be the same as prescribed by the general election law of
the state for the election of county officers, where no political nomina-
tions are made.

9. For the transaction of business by the council of the town, five
members of the said council (of whom the mayor may be counted one)
shall constitute a quorum.

10. The mayor and six councilmen shall, after receiving their cer-
tificates of election to their respective offices, each take and prescribe
an oath, before any person authorized by law to administer an oath,
that they will truly, faithfully, and impartially discharge the duties of
their said office so long as they shall continue therein, and said oaths of
office so subscribed shall be returned to the clerk of the council, and by
him inscribed in his minute book. And if any of the officers named in
this section shall fail to qualify on or before the first day of July next
succeeding his election, his office shall be deemed vacant, and whenever
as many as five members of the council (of whom the mayor shall be
counted one) shall have qualified by taking the oath of office as aforesaid,
they shall enter upon the duties of their said offices, and shall supersede
the former council of said town.

11. The mayor shall be elected by the qualified voters of the town of
Clifton Forge for the term of two years from the first day of July next
succeeding his election, and until his succesor shall be elected and quali-
fied, and no person shall be qualified to hold the office of mayor except
such as shall be qualified to hold office under the constitution of this
state. The salary of the mayor of the town as now constituted or here-
after elected, if any be allowed by the town council, shall be fixed by the
council, payable at stated periods, and no regulation increasing or di-
minishing such compensation after it has once been fixed shall be made
to take effect until after the expiration of the term for which the mayor
then in office shall have been elected. The salary of the mayor, when
fixed, shall so continue until changed by the town council; but no salary
allowed the mayor under this section shall be more than three hundred
dollars per year.

12. It shall be the duty of the mayor to communicate to the council
annually, as soon as may be after the fiscal year, and oftener, if he shall
deem it expedient, or be required so to do by said council, a general state-
ment of the situation and condition of the town in relation to its govern-
ment, finances, and improvements, with such recommendations as he may
deem proper.

13. ‘The mayor shall exercise a constant supervision over the conduct
of all subordinate oflicers; have power and authority to investigate their
acts; have access to all books and documents in their office, and may
examine such officers and their subordinates on oath. He shall also have
power to suspend all officers elected or appointed by the council until
the next regular meeting of the council, but such suspension shall in all
cases be for misconduct in oflice or neglect of duty, to be specified in the
order of suspension. In case of the suspension of any such officer, the
mayor shall appoint some other person in his place to hold said office
and perform the duties thereof until the next regular meeting of the
council; and at such meeting the mayor shall report his suspension of
the oflicer suspended, together with his reasons for suspension.

14. In case of the absence or inability of the mayor, the president of
the town council shall possess the same power and discharge the muni-
cipal duties of the mayor during such absence or inability.

15. In case a vacancy shall occur in the oftice of mayor, the council
shall elect a qualified person to fill the vacancy until the first general
election for town olflicers which may be held in the town thereafter, when
the vacancy shall be filled by election.

16. The mayor shall have jurisdiction to try all violations of the
town ordinances and inflict such punishments and impose such
fines as may be prescribed for a violation of the same; and in all
criminal cases occurring in the town or within two miles of the corporate
limits of the town, he shall exercise all the power and authority of a
justice of the peace of the county of Alleghany, and be entitled to the
fees in such cases by law allowed to justices of the peace.

17. In case of any vacancy happening in the town council by death,
resignation, removal, or otherwise, the council shall elect by ballot a
qualified person to fill the vacancy until the next election for town officers
which may be held in the town.

18. At the first regular meeting of the council elected under this act,
or as soon thereafter as practicable, the council shall elect one of their
members as president of the council, who shall preside at all meetings
of the council in the absence of the mayor from town or in case of any
disability, like powers and authority as are vested in the mayor under
this act. The minutes and records of the proceedings of the council
shall be signed by the mayor or president of the council. The mayor,
or, in his absence or inability, the president of the council shall have
power to call a meeting of the council whenever he deems it necessary,
and in case of their absence or inability, or refusal, the council may be
convened by the order of any two members of the council.
19. The council shall by ordinance or resolution fix the time for their
stated regular meetings; and no business shall be transacted at a special
meeting but that for which it shall be called.

2U. ‘The council shall have authority to adopt such rules and appoint
such oflicers or committees as they shall deem proper for the regulation
of their proceedings and for the convenicnt transaction of business; to
compel the attendance of absent members; to punish its members for
disorderly conduct, and by a vote of three-fourths of the whole council
to expel a member for malfeasance in otlice. The clerk of the council
shall record said proceedings at large on a record book and keep the
same properly indexed. ‘lle meetings of the council shall be open, ex-
cept when the public welfare shall require secrecy.

21. Five members of the council (of whom the mayor may be counted
as one) shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business; but no
ordinance shall be passed, nor resolution adopted, having for its object
the appropriation of money, except by the concurrence of a majority
of the whole council, and upon the demand of any member of the council,
on the passage of any ordinance or resolution, the “ yeas” and “ nays”
shall be taken and entered on the record. No vote or question decided
at a stated or regular meeting shall be considered or rescinded at a
special meeting, unless there be at least five councilmen present, and
three of them shall concur.

22. The town council, as now constituted or hereafter elected, shall
have, subject to the provisions of this act, the control and management
of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town, and on all property, real
and personal, belonging to said town, and may make such ordinances,
orders, and by-laws relating to the same as they shall deem proper and
necessary; the said council, as now constituted or hereafter elected, is
empowered to hold such lands as may have already been acquired by the
town of Clifton Forge, to be used as a place for the burial of the dead,
and to acquire, by purchase or otherwise, such additional lands as may be
necessary for that or other municipal purpose. The said council shall
also have power to prescribe and enforce all needful rules and regulations
not inconsistent with the laws of the state for the use, protection, and
preservation of the cemetery or cemeteries; to set aside, in its 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 to
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 or con-
dition of persons shall be admitted for interment into the cemetery or
cemeteries; and when established or enclosed, with the property included
in it, or them, shall be exempt from all state, county, and municipal taxa-
tion, and they shall likewise have power to make such ordinances, orders,
by-laws, and regulations as they may deem necessary and proper to
earry out the following powers which are hereby vested in them:

First. To establish a market or markets in and for said town and
appoint proper officers therefor, prescribe time and places for holding
same, provide suitable buildings and grounds therefor, and to enforce
such regulations as shall be neceessary and proper to prevent huckstering,
forestalling, or regrating in the town.
Second. To erect and provide in or near said town suitable work-
houses, houses of correction and reformation, and houses for the main-
tenance and reception of the poor and destitute: and they shall possess
and exercise authority over all persons within the limits of the town,
receiving or entitled to the benefit of the poor law; appoint necessary
oflicers and other persons proper to be connected with the aforesaid in-
stitutions, and regulate pauperism within the limits of the town; and
the council, through the agency they shall appoint for the direction and
management of the poor of the town, shall exercise in the town all the
powers and perform the duties vested by law in overseers of the poor.

Third. To erect and keep in order all public buildings necessary and
proper for said town; to erect within the town a town prison; and said
prison shall contain such apartments as shall be necessary for the safe-
keeping and employment of all persons confined therein.

Fourth. To establish, enlarge, or operate a system of sewerage, water-
works, gas-works, telephone- works, and electric light works within or
without the limits of the town; to contract or agree with the owners of
any land for the use and purchase thereof, or to have the same con-
demned according to law, within or without the town, for the location,
extension, and enlargement of their said works, the pipes or wires con-
nected therewith, or any other appurtenances or fixtures thereof; and
shall have power to protect from injury, by ordinances prescribing ade-
quate penalties, the works, pipes, fixtures, and land, or anything con-
nected therewith, whether within or without the limits of said town.

Fifth. To close or extend, widen or narrow, lay out, graduate, curb
and pave, and otherwise improve the streets, sidewalks, and public allevs
in the town, and have them kept in good order and properly lighted;
and over any street or alley in the town, which has been or may be “ceded
to the town or conveyed to the town by proper deed, they shall have hke
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 encroachment over or under or in any
street, sidewalk, or alley in said town; and may permit shade-trees to be
planted along said streets; but no company shall occupy with its works
or appurtenances thereof the streets, sidewalks, or alleys of the town
without the consent of the council duly entered of record; and wherever
in the construction of any sewer or conduit, it is necessary that the same
should pass through or under private property, the said council shall
have authority to contract and ayree with the owners thereof for the use
and purchase of the right of way through or under the same, or have
the same condemned according to law, and in the meantime no order
shall be made and no injunction shall be awarded by any court or judge
to stay proceedings of the town in the prosecution of its work, unless it
be manifest that they, their ollicers, agents, or servants are transcending
the authority given them by this act, and the interposition of the court
is necessary to prevent injury that cannot be adequately compensated for
in damages. The said council shall also have power to authorize the laying
down of railw ay tracks and the running of cars thereon by horse-power,
electricity, or other motive power in the streets of the town under such
regulations as the council may prescribe.
Sixth. To prevent the cumbering of streets, sidewalks, alleys, lanes, or
bridges in the town in any manner whatever, and to have full and com-
plete control of the same.

Seventh. To determine and designate the route and grade of any
railroad to be laid in said town, and to restrain and regulate the speed
of bicycles, traction engines, locomotives, engines, and cars upon the
railroads within said town, and may wholly exclude such engines or
cars if they please: provided, that no contract is thereby violated. |

Fighth. To make provision for and regulate the weighing of hay,
fodder, oats, shucks, or other long forage, and any other thing; they may
also provide for measuring corn, oats, grain, coal, stone, wood, lumber,
boards, potatoes, and other articles for sale or barter. |

Ninth. To require every merchant, retailer, trader, and dealer in
merchandise or property of any description which is sold by measure or
weight to cause their weights and measures to be sealed by the town
sealer and to be subject to his inspection, should such an officer be ap-
pointed by the council, and may impose penalties for any violation of any
such ordinances. .

Tenth. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious, or other
dangerous diseases; to establish, erect, and regulate hospitals; to provide
for and endorse the removal of patients to said hospital; to appoint and
organize a board of health for said town, with the authority necessary
for the prompt and efficient performance of its duties.

Eleventh. To require and compel the abatement and removal of all
nuisances within said town at the expense of the person or persons caus-
ing the same, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon the same
shall be; to require and compel the owner of houses in the town, or if the
owner be unknown or absent, the occupants of such houses, to connect
their water-closets and water-drains with the sewer of the town, and
upon their failure to so do, the same may be done by the town, and the
cost attending the same shall be collected from the owners or occupants
of such houses as taxes are herein in this act allowed to be collected
by the town; to prevent and regulate slaughter-houses and soap and
candle factories and tanneries within said town, or the exercise of any
dangerous, offensive, or unhealthy business, trade, or employment therein,
and to regulate the transportation of coal and other articles through
the streets of said town.

Twelfth. If any ground in said town shall be subject to be covered
with stagnant water, or if the owners or occupiers thereof shall permit
any offensive or unwholesome substance to remain or accumulate therein,
the council may cause such grounds to be filled up, raised, or drained, or
may cause such substance to be covered or to be removed therefrom, and
may collect the expense of so doing from the said owner or owners, oc-
cupier or occupiers, or any of them, by distress and sale, in the same man-
ner in which taxes levied upon real estate for the benefit of said town
are authorized to be collected: provided, that reasonable notice shall
first be given to said owners or their agents. In case of non-resident
owners who have no agents in said town, such notice may be given by
publication for not less than four weeks in any newspaper printed in said
town.
Thirteenth. To direct the location of all buildings for storing gun-
powder, firecrackers, or other fireworks manufactured or prepared. there-
from, kerosene oil, nitroglycerine, camphene, burning fluid, or other
combustible material; to regulate the exhibition of fireworks, the dis-
charve of firearms, the use of candles and lights in barns, stables s, or other
buildings, and to regulate or restrain the making of bonfires in streets
and yards.

Fourteenth. To prevent horses, cattle, hogs, dogs, and all other ani-
mals from running at large in said town, and may subject the same to
such confiscations , regulations, and taxes as they may deem proper; and
the council may prohibit the raising and keeping of hogs in the town,
or any part thereof.

Fifteenth. To prevent the riding or driving of horses or animals at
an improper speed, throwing stones, or engaging in any employment or
sport on the streets, sidew alks, or public alleys dangerous or annoying
to passengers, and to prohibit and punish the abuse or cruel treatment of
horses or other animals in said town.

Sixteenth. ‘To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and street
beggars; to prevent vice and immorality, obscenity, and profanity; to
preserve peace and good order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances,
and disorderly assemblages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling
houses; to prevent lewd, indecent, and disorderly conduct or exhibitions
in said tow n, and to expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct.

Seventeenth. To prevent, forbid, and punish the selling or giving of
liquor and intoxicating drinks to be drunk in any place not duly licensed,
and the selling or giving to be drunk any intoxicating liquor to any
child or minor, and the selling or giving of cigarettes to any minor under
sixteen years of age, without ‘the consent in w riting of his or her parents
or guardian; and for any violation of any such ordinance may be imposed
fines in addition to those prescribed by the law of the state.

Kighteenth. To prevent the coming into the town of persons having
no ostensible means of support, and of persons who may be dangerous to
the peace and safety of the town, and for those may require any railroad
company or stage company, or any person or persons bringing such
persons to said town, to enter into bond with satisfactory security, that
said person shall not become chargeable to the town for the period of
one year thereafter, or may require and compel said company or persons
to take them back from whence they brought them, and compel said
persons to leave town: provided, that such order to leave be issued within
thirty days after their arrival.

Nineteenth. In addition to the special powers hereinbefore especially
delegated to the town council all general powers not in conflict with the
laws of this state or the United States ne cessary for the proper govern-
ment of said town, and which are by law allowed to municipal corpora-
tions, are hereby likewise delegated and vested in the said town couneil.

Twentieth. The council of the town may by ordinance grant or refuse
to grant a license to any corporation, firm, or individual for conducting
the hotel or restaurant business within the corporate limits of the town.
and may by ordinance designate the terms and conditions for issuing
said license, and by ordinance regulate the conduct of same.
Twenty-first. The council of the town may by ordinance regulate the
sale of all intoxicating liquors within the corporate limits of the town,
and may by ordinance prescribe the manner in which said business shall
be conducted.

23. Whereby the provisions of this act the council have authority to
pass ordinances on any subject, they may prescribe any penalty, not
exceeding five hundred dollars, for violation thereof, and may provide
that the offender on failing to pay the penalty recovered shall be im-
prisoned in the jail of the town or the jail of Alleghany county for any
term not exceeding ninety days, which penalty may be prosecuted and
recovered with costs in the name of the town of Clifton Forge, and may
further require that the offender failing to pay his fine and cost may be
compelled to work on the chain-gang of the town until his fine and cost
be paid, as provided by the laws of this state; and the town council may
subject the parent or guardian of any minor, or the mistress or master of
any apprentice to pay such penalty for any such offense committed by any
such minor or apprentice.

24. No ordinance hereafter passed by the said council, as now consti-
tuted or hereafter elected, for the violation of which any penalty is
imposed, shall take effect until the same shall have been published in
one or more of the town newspapers or by hand bills, or as the council
may order. Such hand bills shall be posted in at least three public places
in different localities in the said town. A certificate of such posting
shall be filed by the chief of police in the office of said council; and all
laws regulating any ordinances of said council, certified by the clerk,
may be read in evidence in all courts of justice, and all proceedings before
any officer, body, or board, in which it shall be necessary to refer thereto;
but after the expiration of six months from the date of such ordinance its
publication shall not be questioned or its validity affected by any failure
to publish the same; but this section shall not apply to ordinances of
whatever kind now in force in the town of Clifton Forge.

25. The town council shall not take or use any private property for
streets or other public purposes without making to the owner thereof
just compensation for the same; but in cases where the council shall fail,
by agreement, to obtain title to any ground for such purposes, it shall
be lawful for said council to apply to obtain from the circuit or county
court of Alleghany county authority to condemn the same, which shall
be applied for and proceeded with according to law.

26. In every case where a street of said town has been or shall be
encroached upon by any fence, building, or otherwise, the council may
require the owner, if known, or if unknown, the occupant of the premises
encroaching, to remove the same; and if such removal be not made within
the time prescribed by the council, they may impose a penalty of five
dollars for each and every day it is allowed to continue thereafter, and
may cause the encroachment to be removed, and collect from the owner!
all reasonable charges therefor with cost by the same process that they
are hereinafter empowered to collect taxes. No encroachment upon
any streets, however long continued, shall constitute an adverse posses.
sion to or confer any right upon the person claiming thereunder o1
against the said town.

27. Whenever any street, alley, or lane in said town shall be opened tc
and used as such by the public for the period of five years, unless notice
of the contrary intention on the part of the land-owner be given to the
mayor of the town, the same shall hereby become a street, alley, or lane
for public purposes, and the council shall have the same authority and
Jurisdiction over, and rights and interests therein as they have by law
over the other streets, alleys, and lanes laid out by them; and any street
or alley reserved in the divisions or sub-divisions into lots of any portion
of the territory within the corporate limits of said town by a plat or plan
of record shall be deemed and held to he dedicated to public use, unless
it appears by said record that the street or alley so reserved is designated
for private use; but upon a petition of a majority of the persons interested
therein the council shall have the power to open the same for the use of
the public.

28. Whenever any new strect shall be opened or laid out a street
graded and paved, culverts or sewers constructed or any other public im-
provement whatsoever is made within the corporate limits of the town,
the council may determine what portion, if any, of the expense thereof
shall be paid from the treasury of the town, and what portion thereof
shall be assessed upon the real estate which, in the opinion of the council,
shall be benetited thereby; but no such public improvement shall be made
to be defrayed in whole or in part by a local assessment until first re-
quested by a petition from the owners of three-fourths of the real estate
in the block, on the street on which improvements are to be made, or
unless two-thirds of the council shall concur in voting such improvement
to be expedient or in determining to make said improvement, in which
case no petition shall be necessary. If no petition be filed, the council
or committee thereof to whom the matter shall be referred, shall, before
determining that such improvement shall be made, in whole or in part,
at the expense of the persons whose lands or real estate, in its opinion,
will be thereby benefited, have such person or persons summoned, by
at least ten days’ notice, to appear before such council or committee, to
be heard for or against such improvement. After such hearing, if the
council shall determine to have such improvement made, it may order
it to be made, and after the work shall he completed it shall designate
some officer, who shall, upon such principles as may be determined by
ordinance or resolution of the council, apportion the total cost and ex-
pense of said improvement, and report the proportionate amount thereof
it is proposed to assess against each parcel of land benefited thereby and
the time within which the same shall be paid. The report of such appor-
tionment shall lie in the office of such officer, or that of the town treas-
urer, twenty days, open to inspection by any person whose property it is
proposed to charge with any such assessment. Fifteen days’ notice shall
be given to each person interested of the existence of such report in the
manner provided by law for the service of notice, specifying the amount
it is intended shall be borne by a Jocal assessment against the land: of
such person, and said notice shall cite such person to appear at a time
and place designated, before a committee to be appointed for that
purpose, which committee shall consist of three members of the council,
and show cause against the proposed assessment. Such appointment
shall stand as to all persons not appearing and objecting thereto, and
shall be a lien on the land or real estate so charged, enforcible as other
town taxes against real estate therein. Any person objecting thereto
shall appear in person or by attorney at the time and place designated in
said notice, and shall be heard at that meeting or at some subsequent
one. If the committee shall overrule such objection, then the parties
shall have a right to appeal from a decision of the committee, within
fifteen days from the date of such decision, to the county court of Alle-
ghany county. The clerk of the council, when an appeal is taken, shall
immediately deliver to the clerk of the court which has cognizance of the
appeal the orginal notice, with the judgment of the committee endorsed
thereon, and the clerk shall docket the same. Every such appeal shall
be tried by the court, or the judge thereof, in a summary way, without
pleadings in writing and without a jury, in term time or in vacation,
upon reasonable notice to the adverse party and the decision of said
court or judge shall be final. All legal evidence produced by either
party shall be heard, whether the same was produced or not before the
committee from whose decision the appeal is taken. The amount so as-
certained as proper to be borne by the appellant shall be a lien on the
land or real estate of such person, enforcible as other town taxes against
real estate therein.

29. The council shall grant and pay to all town officers elected under
or appointed in pursuance of this act such salaries or compensation as
the said council may from time to time deem just and proper. :

30. If any person, having been an officer of said town, shall not, within
ten days after his term expires, or he shall have vacated or been removed
from office, and upon notification and request of the mayor within such
time thereafter as the council shall allow, deliver over to his successor in
office all property, books, and papers belonging to the town, or apper-
taining to such office, in his possession or under his control, he and his
sureties shall forfeit and pay to the town the sum of five hundred dollars,
to be sued for and recovered with cost; and all books, records, and docu-
ments used in any such office by virtue of any provision of this act, or of
any ordinance or order of the town council, or any superior officer of said
town, shall be deemed the property of said town and appertaining to said
office, and the chief officer thereof shall be responsible therefor.

31. There shall be one town treasurer, one commissioner of revenue,
and one chief of the police for the town.

32. The town council may appoint, in addition to those herein pro-
vided for, such officers and clerks as they may deem proper and necessary,
and define their powers and prescribe their duties, and fix their com-
pensation, and may take from any officer so appointed a bond, with
sureties to be approved by the council in such penalty as they may deem
proper, payable to the town by its corporate name, with condition for
the faithful discharge of the duties of such officer. All officers appointed
by the council may be removed from office at its pleasure.

33. There shall be elected by the council at its first meeting in July
after its election, or as soon thereafter as practicable, one town treasurer,
who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the council. He shall
qualify and give bond before the council with surety approved by it,
in a penalty to be determined by the council. Any vacancy in this office
shall be filled by the council.

34. The said town treasurer shall collect and receive all money be-
longing to the town, and shall keep his office in some convenient place
in town. Ile shall keep his books and accounts in such manner as the
town council may prescribe, and such books and accounts shall alwavs
be subject to the inspection of the mayor and any member of the town
council, or any committee or committees thereof. He shall receive for
his services such compensation as the town council may from time to
time allow.

35, No money shall be paid out by the town treasurer except by order
of the council and upon a warrant of the clerk of the council, counter-
signed by the mavor; and said town treasurer shall keep a separate
account of each fund or appropriation, and the debits and credits be-
longing thereto.

36. The town treasurer shall report to the town council or a com-
mittee thereof, at the end of each month, or oftener if required, a full
and detailed account of all receipts and expenditures during the pre-
ceding month, and the state of the treasury. He shall also keep a regis-
ter of all warrants, their dates, amount, number, and the fund from
which paid, and the person to whom paid, specifying also the time of
payment; and all such warrants shall be examined at the time of making
such report to the town council bv the finance committee thereof, who
shall examine and compare the same with the books of the treasurer,
and report discrepancies, if any, to the town council.

37. The town treasurer shall collect all taxes and assessments which
may be levied by said town council, and for that purpose shall be invested
with power and be subject to the Nabilities and penalties now prescribed
by law in regard to county treasurers.

38. All moneys received on any special assessment shall be held by
the treasurer as a special fund to be applied to purposes for which the
assessment is made, and said money shall be used for no other purpose
whatever.

39. The treasurer shall be required to keep all moneys in his hands
Lelonging to the town in such place or places of deposit as the town council
may by ordinance provide or direct; such moneys shall be kept separate
and distinet from all other moneys, and he is hereby expressly prohibited
from using, either directly or indirectly, the corporation money or war-
rants in his custody, or keeping for his own use or benefit, or that of any
person or persons whomsoever.

40. There shall be elected bv the council at its first meeting in July
after its election, or as soon thereafter as practicable, one clerk of the
council, who shall hold his oflice during the pleasure of the council,
who shall attend the meetings of the town council and keep a record of
its proceedings. He shall have the custody of the corporate seal. He
shall keep all papers that by the provisions of this act or the direction of
the town council, are required to be filed with or kept by them. He
shall give notice to all parties presenting communications or petitions to
the town council of the final action of the council on such communi-
cation or petition. We shall publish such reports and ordinances as
the town council is required by this act to publish, and such other reports
and ordinances as it may direct, and shall in general, perform such
other acts and duties as the town council mav from time to time require
of him. <Any vacancy in this office shall be filled by the council.
41. There shall be elected by the council at its first meeting in July
after its election or as soon thereafter as practicable, one commissioner
of the revenue, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the coun-
cil. He shall qualify and give bond before the town council, with suretv
in such amount as the council may determine; said surety to be approved
by the council. Any vacancy in the office of commissioner of revenue
shall be filled by the council.

42. The said commissioner of the revenue shall perform all the duties
in relation to the assessment of property for the purpose of levying the
town taxes and licenses that may be ordered by the town council. He
shall keep his office in some convenient place in said town and shall keep
therein such books, schedules, records, and other papers and in such man-
ner as the mayor and town council may direct and prescribe; which
books, schedules, records, and other papers shall be subject to the in-
spection and examination of the mayor, the members of the town council,
or any committee or committees thereof, and of the treasurer. His
compensation shall be such as the council shall from time to time allow.

43. There shall be appointed by the council of the town of Clifton
Forge, at the first meeting in July succeeding their election and quali-
fication, or as soon thereafter as possible, one chief of police. He shall
qualify and give bond before the council in its corporate capacity of the
town of Clifton Forge, for such an amount and with such surety as the
council may approve, and shall hold his office during the will and
pleasure of the town council. Any vacancy occurring in the office of
chief of police from any cause, shall be filled by the council of the town
bv appointment by that body of some person qualified to fill said office.
The chief of police shal] receive such compensation and perform such
duties as the council shall prescribe.

4+, All municipal officers, the councilmen or other officers of the town
of Clifton Forge heretofore elected or appointed shall hold their respec-
tive offices for the term for which they were elected or appointed and
until the officers provided for hereby shall have been elected or appointed
and qualified, and all officers to be elected or appointed under the pro-
visions of this charter shall hold over after the expiration of the term
of office of the council which appointed them, until their successors shall
have been appointed and qualified, and the mayor and councilmen to be
elected biennially under the provisions of this charter shall hold over
after the expiration of their term until their successors shall have been
elected and qualified.

45. The council for the town of Clifton Forge, whenever in the opinion
of two-thirds of its members, it is to the interest of the town so to do,
may borrow money for the uses and purposes of the town; and to that
end, said council, by a recorded vote, showing that two-thirds of the
members of the council are of opinion that it is to the interest of the
town so to do, may from time to time issue and sell bonds of said town,
which bonds may be either registered or coupon, and shall be issued
in such denomination and bear such rate of interest, not exceeding six
per centum per annum, as may be determined by the council. Such
bonds shall be made payable in gold or currency, not exceeding thirty
years from their date, and may at the option of the council be made
redeemable after such time as the council may prescribe; the interest
shall be payable annually or semi-annually as the council may determine;
and the council may exempt any or all of such bonds from town taxes;
in which case a clause to that effect shall be inserted in each bond. No
bond so issued shall be sold by the town at less than par. The treasurer
shall endorse on each bond issued and sold, a certificate to the effect that
the town of Clifton Forge has received the amount of said bond from
the holder; and when such certificate is so endorsed upon said bond, and
signed by the treasurer, the title of the purchaser shall in no case be
questioned nor shal] the purchaser or any subsequent holder be required
to see to the proper application of the money by the town,and the validity
of such bonds shall never thereafter be questioned.

All bonds issued by virtue of this charter, shall be signed by the mayor,
and countersigned by the clerk of the council, and shall have the seal
of the town affixed thereto, and said bonds shall be issued and sold and
the proceeds used under the orders of the council. Every bond issued
br the council shall state on its face for what purpose it was issued, and
the proceeds of such bonds shall be applied exclusively to the purpose for
which said bonds were issued; but the bonded debt of the town shal] at
no time excecd in the aggregate, ten per centum of the assessed value
of the real and personal property in the town. And provided always,
that no bonds shall be issued or sold for the purpose of subscribing to the
stock of any company incorporated for internal improvement or other
purpose; and nothing contained in the charter shall be held to authorize
the council to indorse or guarantee the bonds of any person or corporation
whatever.

46. The town council may levy a tax on water and gas, on license of
insurance companies whose principal office is or is not located in said
town, if said insurance companies write any insurance in said town;
on telephone and electric-light works, to auctioneers, to public the-
atricals, 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 merchants, and any other business for which
a license would be required by the state within the limits of the consti-
tution: provided, however, that said town council shall have the right
to impose a license tax of not less than two hundred dollars nor more
than one thousand dollars on all dealers and all handlers of liquor within
the corporate limits of the town of Clifton Forge, and upon all auction-
eers who shall bring into said town merchandise to be sold at auction.
And said town council shall have the right to impose a license tax of not
less than one hundred dollars nor more than two hundred dollars upon
any person, firm, or corporation, who, not being engaged regularly in
business in said town, shall consign their goods to others to be sold or
shall come into said town themselves at various times and intervals to
offer their goods, wares, and merchandise for sale, by auction or other-
wise, without the intention of continuing their business permanently
or regularly in said town; but no license shall be granted to any person
or persons, club or corporation, to sell wine, ardent spirits, malt liquors,
or any mixture thereof, alcoholic bitters, or fruits preserved in ardent
spirits, either by wholesale or retail, or to be drunk at the place where
sold, or in any other way, within the corporate limits of said town, or
within one mile thereof, without, unless, and until the applicant shall
have produced to the court or officer authorized to grant such license
the written consent of the town council of the town of Clifton Forge.

47%. The council may grant licenses to owners or keepers of wagons,
drays, carts, hacks, and other wheel carriages kept or employed in the
town for hire; and may require the owners or keepers of wagons, drays,
or carts, using them in the town, to take out a license therefor, and may
assess and require taxes to be paid thereon and subject the same to such
regulation as they may deem proper, and may prescribe the fees and
compensations.

48. The council shall not give its consent to the granting of licenses
for the sale of liquor at any place except south of Jackson street and
east of Smith’s creek.

49. All goods and chattels wheresoever found may be distrained and
sold for taxes and licenses assessed and due thereon; and no deed of
trust or mortgage upon goods and chattels shall prevent the same from
being distrained and sold for taxes and licenses assessed against the
grantor in such deed while such goods and chattels remain in the
grantor’s possession.

50. There shall be a lien on real estate for the town taxes as assessed
thereon from the commencement of the year for which they were as-
cessed, and there shall also be a lien on real and personal estate on which
local and special assessments may be made, for the amount of such assess-
ments from the time the same is levied by the council. The council may
require real estate in the town delinquent for the non-payment of taxes
or assessments to be sold for said taxes or assessments, with interest
thereon from the time the same is delinquent at the rate of six per centum
per annum, and ten per centum of the amount of the tax to cover costs
and charges, exclusive of costs attending the redemption thereof as here-
inafter provided, and may cause a good and sufficient deed to be made
to the purchaser.

51. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the town to make out and
deliver to the council at their regular meeting in July in each year fol-
lowing the passage of this act, a list of all real estate whereupon delin-
quent taxes or assessments are due and unpaid for the previous year; and
thereupon the treasurer of the town, under the direction of the town
council, and when so ordered by it, shall sell said real estate and shall
cause a notice of the time and place of such sale to be published in one
or more of the newspapers published in said town or in Alleghany county,
for at least thirty days, or four successive issues of said paper or papers
previous to the day of sale; and he shall cause to be published at the
same time and for the same length of time a list of the several parcels of
real estate delinquent for the non-payment of the assessments due
thereon and the name of the person against whom the tax is assessed
and the amount of the tax or assessment due on each parcel.

52. If such tax or assessment and the six per centum interest and the
ten per centum cost and charges aforesaid be not paid previous to the
day for which said sale is advertised, or on some day immediately there-
after to which said sale may be adjourned, the treasurer shall proceed
to make sale accordingly of said parcels of real estate, or 80 much thereof
as shall be necessary to satisfy the taxes, interest and charges aforesaid.
to the highest bidder, and the sale may be adjourned from day to day
until it shall be completed. On such sale the treasurer shall execute
to the purchaser a certificate of sale, in which the property purchased
shall be described and the aggregate amount of taxes or assessments, with
the interest and cost specified; but the treasurer shall not for himeelf,
either directly or indirectly, purchase any real estate so sold.

53. If at any sale no bids shall be made by any person for any such
parcel of land, or such bids shall not be equal to the tax or assessments,
with interest and costs thereon, then the same may be bid in and pur-
chased by the treasurer for the town. On such sale, the treasurer shal}
execute to the town a certificate of sale, in which the property purchased
shall be described and the aggregate amount of tax or assessments, with
interest and cost specified, and shall deposit such certificates with the
clerk of the council of the town.

54. The treasurer shall within thirty days after the sales are com-
pleted, make a report of said sales showing each parcel of land sold, the
date of sale, the name of the purchaser, and the amount of the purchase
money for each lot; this report shall within the time aforesaid be filed
with the clerk of the council and be by him recorded in a book for the
purpose.

55. The owner of any real estate so sold, his heirs or assigns, or any
person having the right to charge such real estate for a debt, or other-
wise interested therein, may redeem the same by paying to the purchaser,
his heirs or assigns, within two years from the sale thereof, the whole
amount paid by such purchaser, and such additional taxes thereon as may
have been paid by the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, with interest
thereon at the rate of twenty per centum per annum; or, if purchased
by the town, with such additional sum as will have accrued for taxes
thereon, if the same had not been purchased by the town, with interest
on the said purchase money, and taxes at the rate of ten per centum per
annum from the time that the same may have been so paid, or the same
may be paid within the said two years to the said town treasurer in any
case in which the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, may refuse to receive
the same, or may not reside or cannot be found in the town of Clifton
Forge.

56. Any infant, insane person, or persons in prison, whose real estate
may have been so sold, or his heirs. mav redeem the same by paying to the
purchaser, his heirs or assigns, within two years from the removal of their
disability the amount for which the same was so sold, with the interest
and cost as aforesaid, and such additional taxes on the real estate as
may have been paid by the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, and the ap-
praised value of any improvement that may have been made thereon,
with interest on the said items at the rate of six per centum per annum
from the time they may have been made. Upon such payment and the
payment of such additional sum as may have been incurred by the pur-
chaser in obtaining a deed within two years after the removal of such
disability, the purchaser, his heirs or assigns, shall, at the cost of the
original owner, his heirs or assigns, convey to him or them by deed with
special warranty the real estate so sold.

57. If any real estate so sold be not redeemed within the time allowed
for redemption, the purchaser of such real estate, or his assigns, may
thereupon petition the mayor and council that the property shall be con-
veyed to him; and thereupon, after due notice to the party or parties,
for whose delinquent taxes said real estate was sold, and similar notice
to the owner as shown by the records of the clerk’s office of Alleghany
county court, either by personal service, or in the event personal service
cannot be had by reason of non-residence, or disability of any kind, by
publication for four successive weeks in some newspaper published in the
town of Clifton Forge or Alleghany county, at the expense of the appli-
cant, the said council shall determine whether or not the requirement as
to the assessment, the sale, the purchase, and the period of redemption
shall have been complied with; and if upon such inquiry it be ascertained
that the same has been regularly complied with, and that the purchaser
or his assigns is entitled to a conveyance of said real estate, the council
shall direct the same to be conveyed by the clerk of the council of the
town. Where the purchaser has assigned the benefit of his purchase the
deed may be with his consent evidenced by his joining therein, or by
writing annexed thereto be executed to his assignee. And if the pur-
chaser shall have died, his heirs or assigns may move the council to order
the clerk of the council of the town to execute a deed conveying the
property to such heirs or assigns; such inquiry shall be deemed conclu-
sive as to regularity of all proceedings connected therewith, but nothing
contained in this section shall apply to the real estate purchased by the
town at delinquent tax sales.

58. Any real estate purchased by the town at the delinquent tax sales
provided for in this charter, if not redeemed in accordance with the pro-
visions of sections fifty-five and fifty-six of this charter, shall be disposed
of by the town in such mode as the council may prescribe.

59. When the purchaser of any real estate sold for taxes, his heirs,
or assigns, shall have obtained a deed therefor, and within sixty days
from the date of such deed shall have caused same to be recorded, such
estate shall stand vested in the grantee in such deed, and his title shall
not be subject to defeat, except by showing that the real estate was not
subject to the taxes for which it was sold, or that the taxes for the year
for which it was sold had been paid.

60. The council may organize and maintain a fire department for the
town, and appoint a chief engineer, assistant, and other officers with any
and all power which may have been or may be vested by law in such
offices; and may make rules and regulations for the government of the
officers and men of said department, and may prescribe their respective
duties in case of fire or alarms of fire, may fix their pay, if any be allowed,
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 fires; to prevent property from being stolen, and to requirc
citizens to render assistance to the fire department in case of need.

61. The council shall annually, at its regular meeting in May, or as
soon thereafter as practicable, order a levy upon all male persons within
said town over twenty-one years of age, and on all real estate within said
town not exempt from state taxation, and on all such personal property
and other subjects as may at the time be subject to taxation by the state:
provided, however, that tax on persons shall be fifty cents, and the tax
levied for general purposes shall in no year be less than one dollar on
every hundred dollars of the assessed value of real and personal property.
except that an additional sum or sums mav be annually levied to meet
the interest on the bonded debt of the town (as now existing or which
may be hereafter issued), and to create a sinking fund for the ‘retirement
of such bonds: and to provide for making extraordinary improvements,
such as sewers, bridges, parks, and such other improvements as the
council may deem it necessary to make, and for keeping the same in
repair.

62. The council, whenever in its judgment it is proper so to do, may
appropriate out of the moneys of the town, and if necessary provide by
a special levy for its payment, a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars
in any one year, to be used in extending the sessions of the publie schools
of the town, as they now exist or may be hereafter established. Any sum
so appropriated shall be disbursed under the immediate supervision of the
council, or by school commissioners appointed by the council. The
powers and duties of such school commissioners, if any shall be appointed,
shall be prescribed and defined by the council, and they shall hold their
ollice during the pleasure of the council, and receive such compensation
as the council may prescribe.

63. Por the purpose of guarding against the calamities of fire, the
town council may from time to time designate such portions and. parts
of the town as they may deem proper within which no buildings of
wood shall be erected; they may prohibit the erection of wooden build-
ings in any portion of the town without their permission, and shall on
the petition of the owners of at least one-fourth of the ground included
In any square of said town, prohibt their erection on such square of any
building. or addition to anv building, unless the outer walls thereof be
made of brick and mortar, or stone and mortar, and may provide for the
removal of any such building, or addition, which shall be erected con-
trary to such prohibition, at the expense of the builder or owner thereof;
and if any such building shall have been commenced before said petition

ean be acted upon by the council.or if anv building in progress of erection
appears clearly to be unsafe, the council may cause such building to be
taken down.

. All bonds of all officers elected by the people or appointed hv the
couneil under this charter, shall be filed with and kept by the clerk of
the council.

All ordinances now in foree in the town of Clifton Forge not in-
consistent with this charter, the laws of this state, and of the United
States, shall be and remain in force until amended or repealed by the
tewn council.

66. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby
repealed.

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