Chap. 682.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Urbanna, in the county of M
dlesex.

Approved April 2, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all the t
ritory in the county of Middlesex contained within the following limits
that is to say: Commencing at the north end of the bridge across Urban
ereek, and known as “Urbanna bridge,” and running thence westwar
and up the middle of the cove back of the Ross house and the lots
C. H. Palmer, R. A. Davis, E. S. Tomlinson, and others to the head
said cove; thence up the ravine leading to said cove, and along the L
of “Garnett Hill” farm, to the public road leading from Urbanna
Churechview at a point known as “Spout bridge’; thence up the mid
of said public road a distance of about one hundred and forty-four yar
to a point opposite a row of cedars; thence at almost right angles north-
wardly along said row of cedars and on the line between the white public
school lot and what is known as the “Segar field” to the head of a branch ;
thence along this branch, still northwardly, following the division line be-
tween W. H. Purkins on the west and L. M. Carlton, Silas Chandler, J. W.
Hurley, and others on the east to the Rappahannock river; thence along
the river shore to the mouth of Urbanna creek; thence along the channel
of said creek a distance of about eight hundred and seventy-five yards ;
thence to the place of beginning at the north end of Urbanna bridge,
shall constitute the town of Urbanna, and the inhabitants within the said
boundaries and their successors shall be a corporation under the name and
style of the town of Urbanna, and the forty-fourth and forty-sixth chap-
ters of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and
amendatory acts thereto, as far as consistent with this act, shall be appli-
cable thereto.

2. The officers of the said town shall consist of a mayor, six council-
men, a sergeant, a treasurer, and such other officers as the council may
appoint, who shall be voters and citizens of the town.

The mayor, councilmen, and sergeant shall have all the power and
authority conferred on such officers by the forty-fourth and one hun-
dred and ninety-first chapters of the Code of Virginia of the edition of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, by all acts amendatory thereof, and
by all laws applicable to towns.

In the event of death, sickness, or absence of mayor, any and all of
his powers, duties, and authority may be exercised by any of the council-
men of the town until a new mayor is elected or appointed under this
charter.

The salary of the mayor shall not exceed one hundred dollars a year,
and the councilmen shall serve without compensation.

3. The election for mayor and councilmen shall occur on the fourth
Thursday in May, nineteen hundred and four, and on the same day every
second year thereafter.

The election shall be had, held, governed, and be conducted as under
and according to the laws applicable to towns as they now are, or as they

may be hereafter, enacted. At the said election all persons may vote who
are entitled to vote for members of the general assembly of the State.
The officers elected shall take the oaths prescribed, and enter upon the
discharge of their respective duties on the first day of July next after
their election.

4. The council shall be the judge of the election, qualification, and
return of its members, and may fine or expel a member as the law directs.

5. Any vacancy occurring in the office of mayor or councilman may be
filled by the council by election from their own body or from the electors
of the town.

6. The jurisdiction of the mayor, councilmen, and sergeant shall be
such as is now conferred upon them by the said ferty-fourth and one hun-
dred and ninety-first chapters of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-seven, by any and all amendments thereof, and by any
other law, act, or acts applicable to towns.

o2
?. The council may adopt rules for the regulation of their proceedings
but no tax shall be levied except by a majority vote of the council. Th
mayor shall preside over the council, and when he is absent, they ma:
appoint a president pro tempore. A journal shall be kept of their pro
ceedings, and at the request of any member present the yeas and nav
shall be recorded on any question. At the next meeting the proceeding
shall be read and signed by the person who was presiding when the pre
vious meeting adjourned, or if he be not then present, by the person pre
siding when they are read.

8. The council may be convened at any time upon the call of the presi
dent or any three of its members.

9. The council shall elect the sergeant of the town from among tl.
electors of the town, and he shall have all the powers and authozity con.
ferred by law upon the sergeants of towns, and shall discharge the same
duties as constables within the corporate limits of the town, and to th
distance of one mile beyond the same, and be entitled to the same fees a:
constables.

10. The sergeant of the town may be appointed by the council to col.
lect the town taxes, levies, and fines, and he may distrain, sell, or ren:
therefor in like manner as is now provided by sections six hundred and
twenty-three and one thousand and forty-four of the Code of Virginia of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and all amendments of the same.
The council may require of him any bond, in any penalty, with such
sureties as it deems propcr, payable to the town of Urbanna, and con-
ditioned according to law, for the faithful performance of his duties as
collector of such taxes, levies, and fines. Before entering upon the dis-
charge of his duties, he shall take the oaths required of district and
county officers before the mayor of said town, or before any officer of th-
county authorized to administer oaths. As such sergeant he may be re-
moved by the council at any time for any default in duty, or any
failure properly and promptly to account for any money that came, or
that ought to have come, to his hands, as the council may order and direct.
Any person failing to pay his taxes and’ levies to the treasurer of the
town by the first day of December, after he shill have received them for
collection, shall incur a penalty thereon of five per centum, which shall
be added to the amount of the taxes and levies due from such tax-
payer, which, when collected by the sergeant, shall be accounted for in
his settlements with the council. The council shall determine his salary
as sergeant, and his commissions as collector.

11. The council may elect from its own body, or from the electors of
the town, a treasurer, who shall have the care and custody of all the taxes
and levies of the town when collected, and may require of him any bond
in any penalty, with such sureties as it deem proper, payable to the town
of Urbanna, and conditioned according to law for the faithful per-
formance of his duties as treasurer of the said town. Before entering
upon the discharge of his duties he shall take the oaths required to be
taken by the treasurer of the county. He may be removed by the council
at any time from the office of treasurer for any default in duty, or any
failure properly and promptly to account for any money in his hands, as
the council may order and direct. He shall receive for his services as
treasurer five per centum on all money coming into his hands as such
treasurer of the town, and for disbursing of the same.

12. In addition to the powers conferred upon the council of the town
of Urbanna by the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and eighty-
seven, and by all amendments of it, and any other law, act, or acts re-
lating to towns as is hereinbefore stated, it shall have the power to prevent
hogs, dogs, cows, horses, and any other animal from running at large in
said town; to prevent riding or driving horses or any other animals in
an improper speed through the streets of the said town; the throwing of
bricks, stones, or other missiles; the engaging in any employment, sport,
conduct, bicycle riding, or any other act or acts on the streets, sidc-
walks, or alleys dangerous or annoying to the passers along the streets,
or the citizens of the town; to restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants,
and street-beggars ; to prevent vice and immorality; to suppress houses of
ill-fame and gambling houses; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances,
and disorderly assemblages, or assemblages likely to become disorderly ;
to prevent lewd, indecent, or disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the said
town; to prevent persons coming into the town having no visible means
of support, and of persons who, singly or in any numbers, may be danger-
ous to the health, peace, and safety of the said town; and if they are
brought to it by any person or company, may compel that person or com-
pany immediately, at his or its expense, to take them away or carry them
back ; to appoint special police; to call out the local military company as
the mayor of a city may do; and to do any and all other thing or things
necessary and proper to protect the health, the lives, the safety of the
town and of its citizens.

13. To carry into effect the enumerated and all other general powers,
the mayor and council shall have power to make all needful and proper
orders, by-laws, and ordinances not inconsistent with the constitution of
the United States and with the constitution und laws of this State; to
prescribe all reasonable punishment and fines, and compel obedience and
compliance with the same by all the remedies and powers granted to
mayors and councilmen of towns by the general laws, and by all the
powers conferred by sections one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two
and one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three of the Code of cighteen
hundred and eighty-seven, by all amendments thereof, and by any other
law whatever relating to mayors and councilmen of towns, and they shall
have all the fees allowed justices of the peace.

14. The council may, with the consent of the county court of Middle-
sex, use the jail of the said county, and pay the jailer his usual costs and
charges; and the council shall have authority to provide a lock-up for
the detention of criminals pending their removal to the county jail,
which said lock-up shall be under the charge of the sergeant. When, by
the provisions of the law, the council have authority to pass ordinances
on any subject, they may prescribe punishment by fine or imprisonment,
or both, for all violations thereof, and may subject the parent of any
minor for any such offense committed by said minor. Fines may be re-
covered upon warrants issued in the name of the town of Urbanna be-
fore the mayor or any councilman thereof. Whenever judgment is ren-
dered against any person for a fine, the officer trying the offender may re
quire immediate payment of the same, and in cefault of such payment
may commit the party in default to the county jail, or may compel hin
to work out such fines and costs on the strects or other improvemerts v:
said town upon such terms as the council by ordinance may prescrilx.
All fines for the violation of the ordinances of said town shall be paid inte
the treasury thereof, and may be appropriated as the council may de
termine.

15. To meet any expenditures that may be lawfully chargeable to th:
said town for general purposes and for schools, the council may, at such
time as it deem best, levy a town tax of so much as, in its opinion, mi
scem necessary and proper upon all taxable persons and property in the
said town not exempt from taxation by the laws of the State: provided.
that a capitation tax greater than fifty cents per head on the male inhabi-
tants of the said town over the age of twenty-one years shall not be levied
In any one year: provided, further, that the taxes levied for general pur-
poses on the real and personal property of the town shall not exceed
seventy-five cents on the one hundred dollars of its assessed value, and
the tax so levied on the said property for school purposes shall not excecc
twenty cents on the hundred dollars of the assessed value for any one
year.

16. The council of said town may impose, levy, and collect a licens:
tax on all persons doing business in said town; the council shall also have
power to levy and collect a license tax on any show, exhibition, or merrv-
go-rounds within one mile of the limits of said town; to impose a licens:
tax on the owners of dogs not to exceed one dollar for each dog, and to
make provision for the killing of dogs whose owners fail to procure the
said license and pay the said tax, and also to provide for the killing of
such dogs as have no owners.

17. The council may tax all money and credits invested, used. or em-
ployed in any business, whether borrowed or not, as it taxes other per-
sonal property in said town.

18. Full power and authority is hereby given to the mayor and coune!!
of the said town to buy a piece of land for its jail or other public building.
and to take a good and sufficient deed for the same to the said town in
its corporate name, and to build a jail upon it. And they shall have
the power to condemn land for their purposes given by the fortyaixt!
chapter of the Code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and elghty-seven.

19. The said town and all the said taxable persons and property therein
shall be free and exempt from the payment of any poor rates, anv road
or school tax to or by the county of Middlesex: provided, the said town
shall, at its own expense, provide for its poor and keep up its own streets
and schools.

20. Tt shall not be lawful for any person or persons to sell spirituons
liquors, wines, heer, ale. or porter, or any mixture thereof, in the cer-
porate Limits of the fown of Urbanna, or within one mile thereof.

21. The council may, in the name of and for the use of said town, con-
tract loans and issue bonds therefor, bearing interest at the rate of six
per centum or less per annum, payable semi-annually and redeemable in
thirty-four years or less, which bonds shall not be sold at less than their
par value, and said bonds shall be exempt from taxation by said town:
provided, that the council shall not contract any loan or issue bonds
therefor unless the same be authorized by a vote of the freeholders of the
said town, and a majority of the vote be in favor thereof: and provided,
further, that in no case shall the aggregate debt of the said town, at any
one time, excced seven and one-half per centum of the assessed value of
the property, real and personal, within the corporate limits of the said
town. And in any election held under this section the order therefor
shall state the object for which the money is to be used.

22. Be it further enacted, That W. Key Howard shall be mayor of
said town until July first, nineteen hundred and four, at which time his
successor, chosen on the fourth Thursday in May preceding, shall qualify ;
and that F. A. Bristow, G. S. Chowning, and R. A. Davis shall consti-
tute three of the council of said town until July first, nineteen hundred
and four, at which time their successors, chosen on the fourth Thursday in
May, nineteen hundred and four, shall qualify; and R. 8. Bristow, C. A.
Taylor, and J. W. Hurley shall constitute three of said council until
July first, nineteen hundred and six, at which time their successors,
chosen on the fourth Thursday in May, nineteen hundred and six, shall
qualify.

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