Chap. 447.—An ACT to provide for working and keeping in repair the public
roads and bridges, and to regulate the manner of opening new roads in the
county of Montgomery.

Approved February 20, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the board
of supervisors of Montgomery county shall annually levy a tax upon
the property, real and personal, assessed with taxation in the several
inagisterial districts of the county, not to exceed thirty cents on every
yne hundred dollars of such real and personal property, and the same
shall be collected, accounted for, and paid out on the warrant of said
board, as if it were the county levy, by the treasurer of said county,
put tax so levied and collected in each district shall be kept separate
yy the said treasurer, and be used and applied exclusively in that respec-
ive district, except the tax on railroads, telephone, and telegraph com-
yanies shall be divided equally among the four districts.

_ 2. There shall be appointed by the county court, at the March term
hereof, in nineteen hundred, or as soon thereafter as possible, two
-oad commissioners for each district, freeholders and residents of said
istrict, who shall hold their office for two years, unless sooner removed
or malfeasance or neglect of duty, and, together with the supervisor of
aid district, constitute road commission of that district, and said com-
nissioners shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties,
qualify before the county court or judge thereof in vacation, by taking
and subscribing the oath prescribed by law for all officers of this state.
The said road commission shall have general supervision over all the
roads and bridges in their respective districts. They shall appoint as
many road foremen as shall be necessary, but shall assign to any one
road foreman not exceeding twenty-five miles of road.

3. It shall be the duty of said road foreman to oversee and direct his
force of hands in the performance of their duties, and, in addition to
such overseering and direction, shall also perform such manual labor
as he imposes upon his hands, and for all of such service he shall be
entitled to compensation at the rate of one dollar and fifty cents per
day of ten hours each. The road foremen shall employ as many hands
and teams as shall be necessary to keep his roads in such repair as pre-
scribed by the commissioners of roads. The pay of the hands so
employed shall be seventy-five cents per day of ten hours, and for a
two-horse team, with plow or wagon and driver, two dollars and twenty-
five cents per day; but no road commissioner or road foreman shall be
allowed to use his own team. The road foreman shall keep a strict
itemized account on forms provided for that purpose of the time
actually worked by himself and his hands, and render an account of
same to the road commissioners, making affidavit to correctness of said
account before some officer; the road commissioners shall examine
carefully said account, and, if found to be correct, approve the same and
report it to the meeeting of the board of supervisors fixed for auditing
road claims, and when so presented and approved the board shall allow
said claim and order warrants issued to each foreman and each of his
hands entitled to pay for the amounts due them, respectively.

4, The board of supervisors shall, at their first meeting after the
passage of this act, enter an order fixing the dates to commence and
close general road work in the spring and fall of each year. Thev
shall have the power to remove road commissioners for cause. Road
commissioners shall have power to remove road foremen at any time
and appoint others in their places. The road foreman shall have full
control over their hands, and may discharge them at any time and
employ others.

5. The road commissioners shall be allowed two dollars per day for
actual time employed, but compensation of said commissioners shall not
exceed forty dollars in any one year. In addition to duties above
imposed, it shall be the duties of road commissioners to see that the
roads in his respective district are kept cleared, smoothed of rocks and
obstructions, of necessary width, well drained, and rounded up in the
centre, and secure from the falling of dead timber therein, and when
such danger is apparent shall order the trees to be cut and removed,
and when roads are not of lawful width shall order the foremen to
remove fences or other obstructions. He shall cause to be placed and
kept at the fork or crossing of every road a sign-board, on which shall
be stated in plain letters the most noted places to which each road
leads and distance, and across every stream, where it is necessary and
practicable, a sufficient bridge, bench, or log for the accommodation of
foot passengers.
6. -All petitions or motions for the establishment or altering of roads
and the building of bridges shall first be made to the county court, the
petitioner setting out fully and clearly in writing the length of the
road, what road or roads to be altered, or, if new road, to be estab-
lished, between what points, the names of the land-owners, and any
other matters necessary to inform court fully as to such changes or
establishment, and if the court has reason to believe that same are
meritorious, he shall refer the same to the road board of the district
in which same is asked to be established, altered, or built for its ap-
proval or disapproval, who shall act in all respects as viewers, under
sections nine hundred and forty-seven and nine hundred and forty-
eight of code, and after investigating the matter return their report
in writing to court, giving all the information necessary to enable the
court to have an adequate apprehension of the matter, and, when neces-
sary, the board may employ a surveyor at not more than two dollars
and fifty cents per day, time actually employed, and return a diagram
of any proposed alteration or establishment of new road or bridge, to
which report exceptions may be taken, if any, and the court, at its dis-
cretion, may hear evidence, and if the opinion of the court be against
the alteration or establishment of new road or building of the bridge,
the petition or motion shall be dismissed; but if favorable to the estab-
lishment or altering of the road or building of the bridge, then the
land-owners along the route of the proposed road, or, in case of a bridge,
the land-owners along the approaches thereto, shall be duly summoned
to show cause why the report of the board shall not be confirmed, and
the further proceedings, if any, shall be at the costs of the party on
whose motion they are incurred, and shall be taxed in favor of party
prevailing.

%. The board of supervisors of said county shall have power to
adjourn to a certain day in the spring and fall for the sole purpose of
auditing road claims, and for the extra service under this act the board
of supervisors shall, in addition to their pay as now allowed, be entitled
to two dollars per day for services hereby imposed, but in no case to
exceed forty dollars per annum, to be paid out of road fund.

8. When the court decides in favor of opening a new road or altering
a road or building a bridge or makes an order for additional expendi-
ture for material and labor, as provided by section nine hundred and
eighty-seven of code, the board of supervisors, in its discretion, shall
determine whether or not such expense shall be paid, in whole or in
part, by district in which such road is altered or new road established
or bridge built, or by two districts or three districts, or by whole county.

9. All costs attending the petition for the opening or altering of
roads or the building of bridges, including costs of surveyor and chain-
carrier, when they are employed, shall, when the petitioners do not
prevail, be at the costs of the parties petitioning for the same, and
upon the dismissal of the petition the whole of the costs shall be taxed
against the petitioners, and the clerk of the county court shall issue
execution for the same as in other cases when there is a judgment for
costs in favor of the county.

10. The attorney for the commonwealth for the county shall appear
before the board and the court on all petitions for opening new roads,
or altering or changing established roads or building bridges, to repre-
sent the county in all such proceedings.

11. If the road board of any district, or the board of supervisors,
shall neglect to perform any of the duties required of them by this
act, the county court may, upon the application of any citizen and tax-
payer by mandamus, compel said boards, or either of them, to perform
said duties. All officers created by this law shall, for neglect of their
duties, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction
thereof, may be fined not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars.

12. When a road is opened or altered the court shall require the
clerk to record the report in full, together with surveyor’s report, in a
well-bound book kept for that purpose in clerk’s office, and index same.

13. Any citizen or tax-payer shall have the right to examine the
books, reports, and accounts, as indicated in section three of this bill,
and if same is found to be incorrect, erroneous, or improper, the party
or parties at fault shall be proceeded against as provided in section
eleven of this act.

14, The general road law of this state, except so far as it is in conflict
with this act, shall be in full force in the county of Montgomery, and
all special road laws for the said county heretofore enacted are hereby
repealed.

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