Chap. 189.—An ACT to incorporate the town of La Crosse, Mecklenburg county,
Virginia.

Approved February 15, 1901.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all the
territory embraced within the following limits: commencing at a point
six hundred yards due north of the crossing of the Southern and Sea-
board air line railroads; thence six hundred yards due east to a corner;
thence twelve hundred yards due south to a corner; thence twelve hun-
dred yards due west to a corner; thence twelve hundred yards due north
to a corner; thence six hundred yards due east to the starting point—
making a square twelve hundred by twelve hundred yards, to be herein-
after surveyed—shall be and constitute the town of LaCrosse, in the
county of Mecklenburg, and may sue and be sued in and by that name,
and the inhabitants thereof shall have and exercise the following powers
and privileges:

2. The administration and government of said town shall be vested in
one principal offieer, to be styled the mayor; one board, to to be styled the
council of the town of LaCrosse, and in such other boards and officers
as are hereinafter mentioned or may be provided by the council.

3. The municipal officers of said town shall consist of a mayor, five
councilmen, treasurer, recorder, and a sergeant, who shall be elected by
the qualified voters of said town; and all persons qualified to vote in said
election shall be eligible to any of said offices.

The election for mayor, councilmen, and recorder shall be held on
first Monday in June, nineteen hundred and one, and every second year
thereafter. The sergeant shall select his assistant, subject, however, to
the approval of the council. Said sergeant shall have the same powers
and discharge the same duties as constables of Mecklenburg county,
within the corporate limits of said town, and to the distance of one mile
beyond the same, and shall be entitled, and charge and receive fees for
services rendered as such constables as if he were not paid any salary as
sergeant of said town. The mayor and councilmen elected under this
act shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices first day of
July succeeding the election, and shall hold office for two years, or until
their successors are elected and qualify.

4. The mayor and the municipal officers of said town, before entering
upon the duties of their respective offices, shall be sworn in according
to the laws of the state, by any one authorized to administer oaths. If
any person elected or appointed to any office in said town shall neglect
to take such oath for a period of thirty days after recciving notice of
his election or appointment, or shall, for the like period of time, neglect
to give such bond and security as may be required, he shall be considered
as having declined said office, and the same shall be declared vacant, and
such vacancy shall be filled by election or appointment, as the case may
oe

. The council shall fix the salaries of the mayor, treasurer and ser-
geant, and such other officers appointed or elected under this act, which
shall not be diminished during their term of office.

6. The council shall at its first meeting after election, or as soon there-
after as practicable, elect one of its members to act as president of the
council, who shall, in the absence of the mayor, preside at all meetings
of the council and have and exercise all the powers, authority, and duties
of the mayor. Said council may, in its discretion, employ an attorney
to represent the said town in all suits or legal matters concerning the
same, and fix his fees for any and all services he may be called upon to
perform, define his powers and prescribe his duties and fix his compen-
sation. It may suspend or remove all officers so appointed or elected at
its pleasure. In case of vacancy or vacancies occurring in municipal
offices where it is not herein provided for, the council shall elect a quali-
fied person to fill such vacancy during the unexpired term.

%. The council may, in their discretion, appoint a board of health of
the town and invest it with authority for the prompt and efficient per-
formances of its duty.

8. The council may levy a tax on all license to agents of insurance,
express and other companies doing business in the towmt, whose principal
office is located in or out of the state; upon all license to auctioneers or
criers, public shows, exhibitions, performances, circuses, menageries,
merry-go-rounds in the town or within a mile of same; upon license to
keepers of billiard or pool tables, ten-pin alleys, livery stables, hawkers
and peddlers; to all agents of sale or rental of real estate, and to all per-
sons in said town in any calling, business or profession in the said town
for which a license is required by the laws of the state.

9. The council shall, by ordinance, fix the time of its meetings. It
shall have authority to adopt such rules as it may seem proper for the
regulation of its proceedings and convenient transactions of its business,
and by a vote of three-fifths of the council expel a member.

10. The majority of the council shall constitute a quorum for the
transaction of its business, but no ordinance or resolution shall be
adopted, having for its object the levying of taxes or appropriation of
moneys, except by a vote of three-fifths of the council.

11. The mayor shall, by virtue of his office, possess all the power,
authority and jurisdiction of justices of the peace of Mecklenburg county,
and shall be entitled to charge and receive fees for services rendered as.
such justice of the peace, as if he was not paid any salary as mayor of said
town.

He shall preside at all the meetings of the council, appoint a sergeant
and assistant sergeant. Said sergeant shall have the same powers and
discharge the same duties as constables of Mecklenburg county, within
the corporate limits of said town, and to the distance of one mile beyond
the same, shall be entitled, and charge and receive fees for services ren-
dered as such constable, as if he were not paid any salary as sergeant of
said town; and the mayor shall see that all ordinances of the town are
faithfully enforced. He shall have supervision over the conduct of all
suhordinate officers, have power and authority to investigate their acts,
have access to all books and documents in their offices, and may suspend
or remove such officers for misconduct or neglect of duty; subject, how-
ever, to the approval of a majority of the council. In case a vacancy
shall occur in the oftice of mayor from any cause, the president of the
council shall perform all the duties of the oflice until such vacancy shall
be filled by an election by the council for the unexpired term of such
mayor.

12. When an officer to whom an execution, or a fine and costs, or
either, shall be directed, cannot find goods and chattels belonging to the
defendant, sufficient to satisfy such execution, he shall make return
thereof to the clerk of the council, who shall thereupon issue a capias
profine against the said defendant for the amount of such fine and costs,
or so much thereof as may then be unpaid. The clerk shall have the
same fees as clerks of courts for similar services.

13.- The council shall have, subject to the provisions of this act, the
control and management of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town;
of all property, real and personal, belonging to said town; and may make
such ordinances, orders, and by-laws and regulations as it may deem
necessary to carry out the following powers, which are hereby conferred
upon it; to establish and erect and provide, in or near said town, a
suitable building for the confinement of prisoners, and to purchase and
hold lands necessary upon which to erect such a building; and it may
prevent or remove any structure, encroachment, or obstruction over,
under, upon, or in any sidewalk, street or alley; and may permit shade
trees to be planted along said strects or alleys in said town, and order the
removal of any building or buildings, fence or other obstructions con-
demned in any way by the committee of safety, saving to any person the
right of appeal to the council of said town: provided, that such appeal
shall be taken within fifteen days from date of report of such condemna-
tion; and to restrain and regulate the rate of speed of locomotives.
engines and cars, or either, upon the railroads within said town, and
may prescribe and enforce by fine not exceeding twenty dollars for each
offense the erection of such cattle guards, or other means of protecting
stock within the corporate limits of said town; to require and compel the
abatement of any and all nuisances within said town at the expense of
the persons cansing them, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon
the same shall be; to prevent and regulate hog-pens, privies, stables, or
the exercise of dangerous, offensive or unhealthy business, trade or em-
ployment; to regulate or prevent the storing of gunpowder, coal oil, cam-
phine, nitro-glycerine, or other combustibles, and to prohibit the sale
and use of fireworks in said town; to prevent hogs, dogs, or other ani-
mals running at large in said town, subject the same to such regulations
and taxation as it may deem proper; to prevent riding and driving of
horses or other animals at an improper or dangerous speed; throwing
stones, or engaging in anv employment or sport on the streets or alleys
dangerous and annoying to the citizens; and to prohibit and punish the
abuse and cruel treatment of horses or other animals in said town; to
restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and street begears; to preserve
the peace and good order of the town; prevent and quell riots, disturb-
ances, disorderly conduct and assemblages; to suppress houses of ill-fame
and gambling houses; to prevent and punish indecent and lewd conduct
on the streets, and may require such persons to give bond, with approved
security, in the penalty not exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars, for
their good behavior during the term of twelve months, and upon failure
to give such bond may commit such person to prison not exceeding twelve
months; to punish for contempt of court, releasing or attempting to re-
lease a prisoner, or interfering in any manner with an officer in the exer-
cising of his official duties, by a fine not less than two dollars and fifty
cents nor more than twenty dollars; io prevent the carrying of concealed
weapons, and to punish any person for the violation of such ordinance
by a fine in accordance with the statute law of the state of Virginia;

to prevent the carrying into town of persons having no visible means of
support; to prevent, forbid, and punish illegal selling of spirituous or
malt liquors, wines, or any mixture thereof, by a fine not exceeding twenty
dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding ninety days for each offense.
Procuring or soliciting orders for liquors for another shall be deemed a
sale under this section.

14. There shall be a lien on all goods and chattels and real estate for
taxes, assessed thereon from the beginning of the year, for which they
are hereby assessed. The council may require real estate returned de-
linquent for the non-payment of taxes and assessments, to be sold for
such taxes and assessments, with interest at the rate of six per cent. per
annum, from the time when such taxes become due and payable, and
such per centum for charges as it may prescribe, not to exceed five per
centum of such taxes; such sale to be made in accordance with state law.

15. The assessed valuation of property, both real and personal, being
and lying in the corporate limits of said town, and subject to taxation,
shall be valued at an amount not exceeding the valuation placed upon it
by the county commissioners for the purpose of state and county taxa-
tion, and the rate of taxation shall not exceed twenty-five cents for
every hundred dollars valuation of property.

16. The council has authority to pass ordinance upon any subject; it
may prescribe any penalty not exceeding twenty dollars fine, and may
provide that upon failure to pay fine and costs any offender may be im-
prisoned and worked upon the streets of the town, until such fine and
costs are paid, reserving to the person convicted the right of appeal to
the county court of Mecklenburg county in all cases wherein the fine
excceds the sum of ten dollars.

1%. The treasurer of said town shall be elected to that office by a
majority of the votes of the council at its first meeting after the election,
or as soon thereafter as practicable; and said treasurer of the town shal!
have right to appoint an assistant, both of which shall have the same
power and authority as a county and deputy county treasurer.

18. The sergeant of said town shall have power to arrest, without
warrant, and carry before the mayor, to be dealt with according to law,
any and all persons who shall violate an ordinance of the town in his
presence.

19. The general law for the government of cities and towns in the
commonwealth shall continue in force in the town of LaCrosse, excepting
so far as the same are modified and replaced by this charter. All acts
and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
20. This act shall be in force from its passage.