Chap. 265.—An ACT providing for the appointment of a commission of three per-
sons by the circuit court of Spotsylvania county, to be known as the board of
public roads for Spotsylvania county, and for holding an election to take the
sense of the qualified voters of said county upon the question of bonding same
for an amount not exceeding $100, 000 for the purpose of permanently improving
the public roads thereof.

Approved May 16, 1903.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That a commis-
sion of three persons, who shall each be freeholders of the county of
Spotsylvania, and who shall be residents of said county, shall be appointed
by the circuit court for Spotsylvania county, by an order entered of record
in the said circuit court by the judge thereof, either in term time or in
vacation, which said commission of three persons shall be known as the
board of public roads for Spotsylvania county.

2. But before appointing such commission as aforesaid, an election
shall be held in Spotsylvania county, under the laws of Virginia govern-
ing the holding of special elections, and the vote of the qualified voters of
the county of Spotsylvania shall be taken upon the question of bonding
the said county for an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dol-
lars for the purpose of permanently improving the public roads of the
county. And if the result of such election shall be in favor of bonding
the said county, the board of supervisors of the said county shall issue the
bonds of the county, under the seal of the said board of supervisors, and
said bonds shall be signed by the chairman of the board of supervisors of
Spotsylvania county, and by the clerk of the said board. Said bonds shall
be issued of the par value of either five hundred dollars per bond or one
thousand dollars per bond, and shall bear interest from date at a rate not
exceeding five per centum per annum, payable semi-annually, and cou-
pons shall be attached to the said bonds covering the interest payments
provided for. The said bonds shall be payable at the option of the board
of public roads which is provided for by this act, at the expiration of five
years from their date, or any portion of the said bonds may be retired at
the expiration of the said five years. And the bonds shall be issued to run
for thirty years, if not retired at the expiration of five years, as aforesaid.

3. The board of supervisors, after executing the bond issue pro-
vided for by this act, shall, as soon as the commission, to be known as
the board of public roads of Spotsylvania county, shall have been ap-
pointed by the circuit court as provided for, and the members of the
said board shall have qualified by taking, before the clerk of the circuit
court of Spotsylvania county, an oath according to law to faithfully
perform the duties devolving upon them under this act, and by rea-
son of their office, and by entering into and acknowledging bond in a
penalty of not less than the amount of the bond issue, with good se-
curity, conditioned for the faithful discharge by them of the duties
of their office, deliver to the said board of public roads the bonds duly
executed as provided for in this act.

4. It shall be the duty of the board of supervisors of Spotsylvania
county to lay an annual levy at such rate upon all the property and real
estate taxable in Spotsylvania county as to raise an amount of money
sufficient to pay the annual interest upon the bond issue aforesaid, and
out of the fund created thereby they shall pay the interest coupons upon
all bonds that have been sold; and any surplus remaining in hand by
reason of the fact that some of the said bonds have not been sold’ shall
be paid into the sinking fund hereinafter provided for and created.
And in laying the levy to raise the fund necessary to pay the interest
on the said bond issue, the said board of supervisors shall so apportion
the said levy as to raise an additional sum equal to two per centum an-
nually of the face of the said bond issue, which sum shall be paid into
the sinking fund hereinafter provided for.

5. It shall be the duty of the board of public roads, as soon as they
shall have been appointed and shall have qualified as aforesaid, to pro-
ceed to sell the bonds provided for by this act; and they shall endeavor
to sell the said bonds to the best advantage for the county, and at the
best price obtainable; and they shall not dispose of any of the said
bonds without first laying the offer they propose to accept for any or all
of the bonds before the judge of the circuit court of Spotsylvania county ;
and the said judge shall, if in his discretion he shall decide that the
proposed sale will be for the best interests of the county, enter an order
in his court directing the said board of public roads to make the sale
of the said bonds, at the price mentioned in the said order, and the
order shall show that it is entered upon the recommendation, and with
the approval of a majority of the members of the said board of public
roads. And the said board of public roads may sell all or any portion
of the said bond issue at any time they decide to do so, and at the
best price obtainable, either at or above par: provided, the circuit court
enters the order approving the sale as hereinbefore provided for. And
upon the back of the said bonds shall be a blank prepared when the
said bonds are prepared for use, in which blank the chairman of the
board of public roads shall endorse upon each bond sold the date of
the order entered by the circuit court approving the sale, and the
price fixed, and shall sign the said statement as chairman of the board
of public roads, and no bond shall constitute a valid claim against the
county which shall not be countersigned on the back, below the endorse-
ment aforesaid, by the chairman, or acting chairman, of the board of
public roads who is performing the duties of chairman of said board
at the time.

6. It shall be the duty of the board of public roads to carefully con-
sider the roads of the county, and apportion among the various roads
of the said county such proportion of the funds available from the sale
of county bonds as provided for in this act, and to expend such money
as may be apportioned to each road, and to each magisterial district of
said county, upon the roads; and no money shall be spent by the said
board except for the permanent betterment and permanent improve-
ment of the said roads, and no bridges other than culverts shall be un-
dertaken or built by the said board of public roads, but all county
bridges shall be constructed and kept in repair by the board of super-
visors of the county as heretofore, and out of the general levy as here-
tofore.

%. The board of public roads shall have the power to change the lo-
cation of any of the roads in the said county before undertaking to
permanently improve them, or may build a permanent road over a dif-
ferent route from that followed in whole or in part by any section of
any present public road which they are charged with improving. And
in event a majority of the said board decide to change the location of
any section of road, the said board shall appraise the value of the
land to be taken for the new location, and the amount of damage that
will be caused thereby to the owner of the land, deducting from such
damage the value of the benefit that will accrue to such land owner
by reason of the building of a permanent and improved road upon his
land (but in no case shall the benefit in such case to the land owner
be estimated to be more than the amount of damage he will suffer),
and shall tender such an amount of money to the land owner out of the
road fund in their hands. And in no case the land owner shall de-
cline to accept such amount of money, the board of public roads shall
at once proceed to condemn the said land according to law. And. it
shall also be the duty of the board of public roads to arrange for and
provide land for a supply of rock and other road materials for building
the said roads, and their powers in this connection shall be the same
as in the case of acquiring a new site for any section of road they may
decide to change the location of.

8. In laying out their work for improving the roads, the board of
public roads shall undertake no work which does not contemplate the
rocking, metaling, or macadamizing of the said roads, not less than nine,
nor more than sixteen feet in width, and in a manner to make the im-
provement, with reasonable repairs from time to time, permanent, and
impervious to the action of water in so far as the support given by the
said roads to the wheels of vehicles in wet weather is concerned. And no
road shall be metaled or macadamized on a steeper grade than four per
centum, nor on a curve so sharp that a four-horse team cannot be con-
veniently handled with a load.

9. The said board of public roads shall be the financial agents of
the county of Spotsylvania in regard to the road fund and the bonds
entrusted to them; they shall have the power to make contracts in fur-
therance of the objects for which the said board is created, and may
sue and be sued, as a body corporate; and any judgment recovered
against them in any suit or action shall be first binding upon the road
fund and bonds mentioned in this act, and if not then satisfied, upon
Spotsylvania county. The said board may let any portion of any road,
or all portions of said roads, to contract, but no gencral contractor shall
be permitted to contract for the work as a whole (though as many con-
tracts may be let to one party or contractor as the board may deter-
mine), in order that there may be adequate competition for doing the
work upon the roads. And the said board may employ an engineer, or
surveyor, and such other servants and agents as they may see fit, and
may employ foremen for any part of the work which they cannot let to
contract on satisfactory terms, and employ labor and provide tools and
machinery for carrying on such work, or such portions of the work,
as they deem advisable.

10. The said board of public roads shall have the power to lend out,
upon approved real estate security, any money in their hands belong-
ing to the road funds and which will not be needed immediately for
paying the expense of the work under their charge. It shall be the
duty of the board of public roads to create a sinking fund, and to pay
into the sinking fund such moneys as may come to their hands from
time to time from the surplus of the levy which the board of super-
visors of the county is required to make to pay the interest coupons
on the bonds. The sinking fund, and all interest accruing from lend-
ing out any of the money in their hands, shall remain and pass into the
sinking fund. And no part of such sinking fund shall be expended
for any purpose whatever except for the purchase, payment, and retire-
ment of the bond issue provided for by this act: provided, that when the
sinking fund shall amount to such sum as will, when compounded at
five per centum per annum for the balance of the time -the bonds have
to run, equals the amount of the bond issue. No further addition shall
be made to the sinking fund, but the money shall be turned into the
general road fund.

11. The members of the board of public roads shall be entitled to a
salary for their services, the amount of which shall not exceed two hun-
dred dollars per annum to the chairman and one hundred dollars per
annum to each of the other members of the said board, and the amount
of compensation shall be fixed by an order entered by the circuit court
at the time the said members,. respectively, are appointed, and the
rate may not be changed without the consent of a member during
his term of office. And the term of members of the said board shall
be three years from the date of the original appointment, whether all
of the members then appointed shall afterwards qualify or not: pro-
vided, there is any qualification under the said order; and a majority of
the board shall control in all cases in which there shall arise a diversity
of opinion among the members. And no vacancy in the membership
of the said board shall interfere with the authority or power of the re-
maining members or member to act until the circuit court shall have
filled the vacancies by appointment. And the circuit court shall ap-
point a new commission at the expiration of each period of three years
from the date of the original order, and may reappoint any or all of
the former members in its discretion.

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