Chap. 353.—An ACT to amend sections 13, 17, and 18 of the charter of the
town of Suffolk.

Approved February 15, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section
thirteen of the charter of Suffolk, in force March the nineteenth, eigh-
teen hundred and seventy-two, as amended by acts approved respectively,
February the sixth, eighteen hundred and ninety, February the eighth,
eighteen hundred and ninety-eight; section seventeen of said charter as
amended by acts approved respectively, March the first, eighteen hun-
dred and seventy-five, February the twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and
eighty-six,and February the sixteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two;
and section eighteen of said charter as amended by an act approved
February the eighth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six, be amended and
re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 13. The council, so constituted, shall have power within said town
to lay out, open, curb, and pave streets, alleys, walks, and gutters for
the public use, and to alter or improve the same and have them kept in

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good order and free from obstructions on or over them; to regulate the
width of the sidewalks on the streets, and to order the sidewalks, foot-
ways, and gutters to be curbed, paved, and kept in good order, free and
clean, by the owners and occupants of the adjacent lots; to provide
lights for the town and such electric or other works as may be necessary
for that purpose; to establish and maintain a system of sewers and reg-
ulate and control the sewerage in said town; to lay off public grounds,
and to provide, contract for, and take care of all buildings necessary
for the use of the town; to provide a prison house; to establish and
regulate markets; to prescribe the time for holding the same and what
articles shall be sold in such markets; to prevent injury or annoyance to
the public or individuals from anything dangerous, offensive, unhealthy,
or unwholesome; to protect places of divine worship and in or about the
premises where held; to abate or cause to be abated any nuisance; to
regulate the keeping of gunpowder and other combustibles; to regulate
or prohibit the blowing or sounding of whistles on steam engines; to
provide in or near the town water-works, and places for the burial of
the dead; to prevent the pollution of the water and injuries to the water-
works, for which purpose their jurisdiction shall extend over such
works and to the source of the water supply; to regulate interments in
or near the town; to provide for the building of houses and other struc-
tures and for the making of division fences, and for the drainage of lots
by proper drains and ditches; to make regulations for guarding against
danger or damage by fire; to prescribe and regulate the time and manner
of the sale of spirituous, intoxicating, or malt liquors; to appoint and
publish the places for holding town elections; to provide a revenue for
the town, and to appropriate the same for its expenses, and to provide
for the assessment of property in the town for town taxation: provided,
such assessment shall in no case exceed the value at which such property
is assessed for the purpose of state taxation; to establish rules for the
transaction of its business and for the government and regulations of its
own body; to promote the general welfare of the town and to protect the
property of persons therein, and to preserve peace and good order therein
for said town; to appoint policemen or a special police force, and to
define their powers and prescribe their duties and compensation; to re-
quire and take from the sergeant, treasurer, and clerk of the market,
bonds with such security and in such penalty as the council may sce
fit, conditioned for the faithful discharge of their duties, which bonds
shall be made payable to the town by its corporate name; to regulate
and provide for the weighing and measuring of hay, coal, wood, or other
articles sold or for sale in said town, and to regulate the transportation
thereof through the streets; to adopt and enforce such quarantine regu-
lations as may be necessary to prevent vessels, or boats, or persons in-
fected with contagious or infectious diseases from entering any part of
said town; to secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious, or
other dangerous diseases; to establish, erect, and regulate hospitals or
pest houses in or near said town; to provide for and force the removal
of patients to said hospitals or pest houses; to compel vaccination under
such regulations as may be prescribed by the council; to appoint and
organize a board of health for said town with the authority necessary
374 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

for the prompt and efficient performance of its duties. And to enable
the authorities of said town more effectually to enforce the provisions of
this section, their jurisdiction is hereby declared to extend one mile
beyond the corporate limits: provided, such jurisdiction may extend as
far as necessary to prevent the pollution of water and injuries to water-
works, as aforesaid.

And whenever any new street shall be opened or laid out, a street
graded or paved, culverts or sewers constructed, or any other public im-
provement whatsoever made in said town, the council of the town may
determine what portion, if any, of the expenses 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
benefited thereby; but no such public improvement shall be made to be
defrayed in whole or in part by a local assessment until first requested
by a petition from the owners of the real estate to be affected thereby,
or unless three-fourths of the council shall concur in voting such im-
provement to be expedient or in determining to make such improvement,
in which case no petition shall be necessary. If no petition be filed,
the council, or a 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, in its opinion, will
be thereby benefited, have such 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 be completed it shall designate some officer,
who shall, upon such prineiples as may be determined by ordinance or
resolution of the council, apportion the total cost and expense of im-
provement and report the proportionate amount thereof it is proposed
to assess against each parcel of land benefited thereby. The report of
such apportionment shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the council
twenty days, opened to inspection by any person whose property it 1s
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 local assessment against the
Jand of such person, and said notice shall cite such person to appear,
ata time and place designated, before a committee, to be appointed for
that purpose, which committee shall consist of not less than three
members of said council, and show cause against the proposed assess-
ment. Such apportionment shall stand as to all persons not appearing
and objecting thereto, and shall be a lien on the land so charged, en-
forceable as are 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 party shall have the right to appeal from the
decision to the circuit court for the county of Nansemond. The clerk
of the council, when an appeal is taken, shall immediately deliver to
the clerk of the said court the original notice, with the judgment of the

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-ommittee endorsed thereon, to be docketed by the said clerk. Every
such appeal shall be tried by said circuit court, or the judge thereof
m vacation, in a summary way, without pleadings in writing and with-
out a jury upon reasonable notice to the adverse party. All legal evi-
dence produced by either party shall be heard, whether the same was
or not before the committee from whose decision the appeal is taken;
the amount so ascertained as proper to be borne by the appellant shall
be a lien on the land of such person, enforceable as other town taxes
against real estate therein.

§ 1%. The council may, in the name and for the use of the said cor-
poration of Sutfolk, borrow money and contract loans, and cause certi-
ticates of debt or other bonds to be issued therefor; but the amount of
such certificates or bonds, including the bonds already issued by law,
shall not at any time exceed in the agvregate the sum of seventy-five
thousand dollars. The council shall provide for the payment of the
interest on all of such bonds and certificates out of the annual revenues
of the said corporation, and may provide a sinking fund for the redemp-
tion of the principal of such bonds and certilicates.

5 18. Whenever any business, trade, occupation, calling, or any other
thing is to be done within the town of Suifolk for which a state license
is or may, under the constitution of this state or the constitution and
laws of the United States be required, the council may require a town
license to be had for doing the same, and may impose a tax thereupon
for the use of the town, before any person, firm, or corporation shall be
permitted to pursue such business, trade, occupation, calling, or any
other thing within the corporate limits of said town, and to impose a
license on all drays, carts, and wagons used in hauling goods, wares or
merchandise, for hire within the limits of said town, to be delivered
to any resident of said town. Said council may also grant or refuse
licenses to owners or keepers of wagons, drays, carts, hacks, and other
wheeled vehicles kept or employed in said town for hire, or as carriers
for the public, and may require the owners of such wagons, drays, carts,
and so forth, using them in the town to take out a lcense therefor,
and may require taxes to be paid thereon, and subject the same to such
regulations as they may deem proper.