Chap. 757.—An ACT to lease for a term of years ten acres of land lying
under the waters of the York river, below low-water mark, in the county
of Gloucester, including an artesian well thereon, and to provide for a
survey of same and for fixing the price to be paid therefor per annum;
and to permit said company to erect buildings and make improvements
thereon, and to provide for the determination of all proper questions which
may arise between the parties to any suit brought under this act.

Approved March 6, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That it shall
be lawful, and authority is hereby given, for the commonwealth of Vir-
ginia to lease for a term of thirty years to the colonial water company,
a corporation chartered under the laws of Virginia, ten acres of land lying
under the waters of the York river, below low-water mark, in the county
of Gloucester, near Clay bank wharf, in said county, including an
artesian well, now occupied and operated by said company, and which
was sunk by George E. Brown, and which is known as “ colonial well,”
if it shall be determiried as hereinafter provided that the commonwealth
is the owner of said land: provided, however, that no natural oyster bed,
rock, or shoal shall be included in said ten acres of land, that the private
rights of no person shall be infringed upon, and that navigation in the
York river shall in no manner be obstructed or impeded: and provided
further, that no costs shall be incurred by the state of Virginia in con-
nection with the leasing of said land.

2. The colonial water company shall, within two months after the
passage of this act, at its own expense, have a survey and plat of said
land (including the well) made by the county surveyor of Gloucester
county. After the survey and plat has been made by said surveyor, he
shall return the same to the clerk’s office of Gloucester county to be
filed, and shall also post a notice that said survey and plat has been so
made and filed at the front door of the courthouse on the first day of
the county court next thereafter.

3. Any person claiming title to, or any interest in said ten acres of
land covered by water may, within three months after said notice is
posted end plat and survey so filed, file a petition or bill in the circuit
court of the city of Richmond, Virginia, making parties defendant
thereto the colonial water company, the commonwealth of Virginia,
and any person who has any claim to or interest in said land; and said
circuit court shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine all questions
affecting such claim and interest, and to pass upon all questions or claims
affecting said land, or the well thereon, whether said claim shall be as-
sertcd by said company, or any party to said proceeding, or any person who
may come into said proceeding by petition. The attorney-general shall
be served with process and shall appear on behalf of the state. Proceed-
ings under this section shall be instituted and conducted, and process
shall be served as in chancery causes, and any person not a party claiming
any interest, may become a party to said proceedings by petition, or the
court may make new parties as provided by law. The court shall, in
said proceedings, if the decision be in favor of the colonial water com-
pany, fix the annual rental value of said ten acres of land, including
the well thereon. Any party may appeal upon any question decided
by said court.

4. If no person institutes proceedings under the third section of this
act, at the expiration of three months after posting notice provided in
section two, the colonial water company may file a petition in the circuit
court of the city of Richmond, praying said court to fix the annual rental
value of said land; and notice of the filing of said petition shall be served
on the attorney-gencral of the state of Virginia, who shall appear on be-
half of, and represent the interest of the state, and upon the hearing of
said petition, the said court may hear evidence orally introduced by the
company or the state, or may call witnesses of its own motion, and fix the
price to be paid per annum for said land.

5. If the proceedings be under the third section of this act and the
decision be for the colonial water company, or if no person institute
proceedings under section three of this act,and the company file a petition
and proceed under section four of this act, in either case the court shall
order the plat of survey, together with a copy of the order of the court.
to be recorded in the clerk's office of Gloucester county in the book
in which deeds are recorded, and the clerk shall index the same as a
deed from the commonwealth of Vir ginia to the colonial water company
would be indexed. And the same shall be construed as a lease for said
property to said company for a term of thirty years at the annual rental
fixed by said court.

When said survey and court order is so recorded, the said company
shall pay to the treasurer of the state of Vi irginia the proportion of the
rental for the first vear up to the first day of January next thereafter,
and shall each year thereafter, on the first day of January pay said treas.
urer the annual rental for said land in advance. And the failure on the
part of said company to pay said rental shall forfeit this lease.

%. When said survey is recorded and the price paid to the treasurer
aforesaid, the company shall have the right to occupy said land and
use the well thereon, to erect a hotel and other buildings thereon, which
shall be assessed for taxes in Gloucester county as personal property, and
the company shall have the right to remove same at the end of the lease.

8. At the expiration of the term of years herein provided for, the
general assembly of Virginia shall have the right to provide for fixing
another rental value on said Jand and well, and the said company shall
have the right to renew the lease at the price so fixed.

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