Chap. 262.—-An ACT to authorize and empower the council of the town of Shenan-
doah, Virginia, to borrow money by the issue of bonds for the construction and
establishment of a system of water works in and for the use of said town; to
construct and establish such works, and a sewerage system, if needed.

) Approved March 15, 1904.

Whereas, it is desired that the town of Shenandoah, Virginia, shall
construct and establish a system of water works, and, if found to be neces-
sary, a sewerage system, in and for the use of said town; and,

Whereas, the construction and establishment of the said water works
will necessitate the borrowing of money and the issuance of bonds; and,

Whereas, the great advantage to be obtained by the construction of
said works before the winter season may set in renders it a matter of
emergency that this bill be in force from its passage; therefore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the town
council of the town of Shenandoah, Virginia, be, and is hereby, au-
thorized and empowered to borrow money for the said corporation for the
purpose of constructing and establishing a system of water works in and
for the use of said town, not exceeding the sum of twenty thousand dol-
lars additional to resources under present provisions, by the issue and sale
of bonds of the said corporation as hereinafter provided.

2. Said bonds may be either coupon or registered, in denominations of
one hundred dollars, or multiples thereof, to bear a rate of interest not
exceeding six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually. The prin-
cipal of said bonds shall be payable in thirty years from their date, or
upon call of said corporation at any time after twenty years from their
date. The said bonds shall be signed by the mayor of said town, and shall
have affixed to them the seal of said town, attested by the clerk of said
town, and shall be negotiated or sold in such manner as may be pre-
scribed by the town council: provided, that they shall not be sold for less
than their face value.

3. The council of said town shall annually include in the levy on the
property in the said town, subject to taxation, as a part of the annual
town levy, a tax sufficient to pay the interest on the bonds issued under
this act, and to create a sinking fund for the redemption of said bonds,
which levy shall at all times be subject to such reduction as may be by
reason of any contribution from general revenues toward the payment of
said interest or sinking fund; and it shall be lawful for the said town to
at all times use the sinking funds for the payment and retirement of such
bonds as the holders thereof may be willing to deliver for cancellation
prior to the time of their maturity.

4, The said council of the said town is hereby authorized and empow-
ered to construct, erect, and operate a water-works system, and, when
deemed necessary, a sewerage system, within or without the corporate
limits of the said town, and to do any and all things connected therewith
or necessary thereto; and the said town, by its mayor and council, is
hereby empowered to contract and agree with the owners and tenants of
freeholds through and on whose lands the said works of the said town, or
any part thereof, are located, constructed, or pass for the purchase or use
thereof, whether permanent or temporary; and upon failure to so con-
tract or agree with the owner or tenant of such freehold, to proceed to
condemn same, as prescribed by the charter of said town, if said lands or
freeholds are within the corporate limits of said town, and by proceedings
in the county court of Page county under chapter forty-six of the Code,
and acts amendatory thereof if outside of the said corporate limits.

5. The council of said town are hereby authorized to enact such by-
laws and ordinances, and prescribe such penalties, not in conflict with the
Constitution and laws of this State and the United States, for the pro-
tection of the said pipes, works, and fixtures of the said systems against
wilful or wanton injury, as may be necessary, whether such offences
against same be within or without the said corporate limits, for which
purpose the jurisdiction of the mayor and other corporate authorities of
the said town is hereby extended for one hundred yards on either side
and beyond any and all the various lines and branches of its entire said
works.

6. The foregoing provisions of this act shall not be operative until the
question of the issue of the said bonds shall have been submitted to an
election of such freeholders as are qualified to vote in said town, and
such as may become so qualified before the day of said election; and it
shall appear from the return of the votes cast in said election, as herein-
after provided for, that a majority of the votes so cast were in favor of
the issue of the bonds provided for in this act: provided, that any voter
whose wife is seized of a freehold, whether in fee or in trust for her,
shall be deemed a freeholder under this act, and provided, further, that
the question of issuing bonds may be submitted to the voters in the
manner herein prescribed, if at first unsuccessful, as often as once a year,
but not oftener, under the authority of this act.

7. The said election shall be called by a written order over the sig-
nature of the mayor of the said town, true copies of which shall be posted
at not less than five conspicuous places i in said town not less than twenty
days before the day named in said call by the sergeant of the
said town as a means of advertisement of the time and place of said
election; and the return of said sergeant on the back of the original order
as to the posting of the same shall be conclusive evidence of such post-
ing; and the said original shall be filed with the clerk of said town.

8. The election shall be by ballot, and shall be held by five freeholders
of the town designated and appointed by the mayor of said town, three
of whom shall act as judges, and two of whom shall act as clerks, and
they shall be sworn by the mayor of said town to perform their several
duties fairly and impartially before entering upon the respective duties
of judges and clerks of said election.

9. The judges and clerks of said election shall make a correct count
and return of said election, sealing the ballots after counted and return-
ing them to the clerk of said council to be filed away with the records of
the town by him, to whom said judges and clerks shall also certify the
result of said election over their signature, and such certificate shall be
absolute and conclusive evidence of the verity of such return after five
days from the daite of said election and return.

10. All acts, or parts of acts, in so far as they apply to the town of
Shenandoah, in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
_ 11. This being an emergency act, the same shall be in force from its
passage.