Chap. 8.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to amend and
re-enact an act to provide for working the roads, repairing bridges, and
opening new roads in the county of Augusta, and repealing so much of
the acts as effect the county of Augusta, approved February 26, 1884;
February 19, 1886; February 28, 1890; March 3, 1894, and March 2, 1898,
approved February 26, 1900, approved March 14, 1908.

Approved February 9, 1910.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act en-
titled an act to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to provide for
working the roads, repairing bridges and opening new roads in the county
of Augusta, and repealing so much of the acts as affect the county of
Augusta, approved February twenty-sixth, eighteen hundred and eighty-
four; February nineteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-six: February
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety; March third, eighteen hun-
dred and ninety-four, and March second, eightcen hundred and ninety-
eight, approved February twenty-six, nineteen hundred, approved March
fourteenth, nineteen hundred and eight, be amended and re-enacted so as
to read as follows: ©

2. That it shall be lawful for the county of Augusta, after the first
day of July, nineteen hundred, to locate, open, change and repair high-
ways, roads and bridges as follows:

For each road district in the county of Augusta there shall be created
and established a board, consisting of the supervisor, a commissioner of
toads for each district, and the county superintendent of roads, which
board shall have control of the roads and bridges within its limits, subject
however, to the control and direction of the county superintendent of roads
and the board of supervisors of said county; that all taxes levied for road
purposes and for building and repairing bridges shall be expended in each
district, except as hereinafter provided. The commissioner of roads shall
be elected by the qualified voters of the respective road districts for a
term of four years, and shall qualify and take office in the manner pre-
scribed for the election and qualification of other magisterial district off-
cers, and shall at the time of his qualification give bond with good secur-
ity in not less than one thousand dollars nor more than three thousand
dollars. The board hereby created is declared to be a body politic and
corporate and shall be known and designated as the road board for

road district. The road districts named in this act shall be of
the same extent and limits as the magisterial districts as now constituted,
and the qualified voters herein referred to shall be taken to mean such
persons as may be qualified voters of each magisterial district.

3. There shall be appointed annually during the month of February
by the board of supervisors, by a vote of a majority of all the supervisors
of the county, a county superintendent of roads, who shall be a civil
engineer, who, under such regulations as the board of supervisors may
prescribe, shall have charge of all the macadamized roads and general
supervision of all the roads of the county. He shall do all the road sur-
veying and engineering work for the county and the several road districts.
The commissioners of roads for the severa] road districts shall be under
the control and direction of said superintendent in all matters pertaining
to the roads and bridges in their respective road districts. He shall have
the duty of preparing specifications for all new roads and bridges, and
shall supervise and approve the work done thereunder; and shall perform
such other duties in connection with the road and bridge work of the
county and the several road districts as the board of supervisors may from
time to time require. In all things he shall be subject to the direction
and control of the board of supervisors. The term of office of such super-
intendent of roads shall be for one year, commencing on the first of
March next succeeding his appointment. He shall qualify as other county
officers are required by law to qualify, and shall enter into and acknowl-
edge a bond with good security in such penalty as the board of supervisors
may prescribe, not less than one thousand dollars, and failure to qualify
and give bond as aforesaid, prior to the commencement of his term, shall
vacate his office. Such bond shall be payable to the county, and with condi-
tion for the faithful discharge of his duties. A recovery on any such bond
shall be for the benefit of the road fund of said county. A vacancy in the
office of superintendent of roads shall be filled by the board of supervisors.
The board of supervisors shall determine the amount of compensation
which said superintendent shall receive, which compensation shall not be
diminished or increased during his term of office. He shall make
monthly reports to the board of supervisors of the condition of the roads
and bridges in the county and in the several road districts, with such rec-
ommendations in reference thereto as he may desire, and all other mat-
ters required by said board to be reported.

4. The commissioner of roads, as the executive officer of the road
board, shall, under and subject to the control and direction of the county
superintendent of roads, have charge of all the roads of his district. His
duty shall be to see that all the roads of his district are of proper width,
and in places where they are not, to give notice in writing to the person
obstructing the roads, requiring him to remove the obstruction, and if the
obstructions are not removed within thirty days after the giving of such
notice, he shall cause the same to be removed, and may recover the ex-
penses incident thereto with costs from the person or persons so obstruct-
ing the roads by judgment of a justice of the peace in a proceeding insti-
tuted in the name of the road board of the district: provided, however,
that the road board of any district may, in its discretion, retain any
existing road at its present width. He shall examine all the roads in his
district at least twice in each year in the months of May and October, and
at such other times as the county superintendent of roads may require,
and shall see that the roads are drained on the sides, and all standing
pools of water well removed from the roads, and that the middle of the
roads are sufficiently raised to shed the water immediately into the side
ditches, and that the bridges are kept in good repair. In all things he
shall be subject to the direction and control of the county superintendent
of roads. The compensation of the commissioner of roads shall be two
dollars per day for each day in which he has been or may be actually em-
ployed in discharging his duties under the provisions of this act, but in
no case shall the pay of the commissioner of roads exceed one hundred
and fifty dollars per annum, said compensation to be paid by the road
boards of the respective road districts upon the approval of the other two
members thereof, or, if they should disagree, upon the approval of the
judge of the circuit court, who may determine the matter without formal
pleading: provided, however, that persons applying for a new road or
bridge, or to lay out, open, alter-or change a public road, shall, when the
game is rejected, be charged with the per diem compensation of the com-
missioner of roads.

5. The road boards of the several road districts shall build, maintain,
work and repair the roads and bridges, under the direction and control
of the county superintendent of roads, and in accordance with such rules
and regulations as the board of supervisors may from time to time pre-
scribe and publish. And such rules and regulations, or any change or
amendments thereto, shall be sufficiently published, within the meaning
of this act, when a copy thereof shall be posted at the courthouse and a
copy thereof furnished by the clerk of the board to each member of the
several road boards (except the supervisor).

6. For the purpose of providing a fund for working the roads, repair-
ing the bridges and opening new roads, it shall be the duty of the board
of supervisors of said county on the first Monday in July in each year, or
as soon thereafter as practicable, to levy a tax upon all real and personal
property in said county, not exempted by law, not exceeding twenty cents
upon each hundred dollars of the assessed value thereof.

7. The road board of each district shall certify to the board of super-
visors, before the meeting at which said tax is to be levied is held, the
amount of money that, in its opinion, will be proper or necessary to be
spent in its district for the ensuing year, and the rate of tax that should
be levied upon the real and personal property in said district, and such
certificate shall be binding upon the board of supervisors, who shall lev y
the tax thus certified upon each district, respectively, and shall certify
the amount necessary to be raised to the commissioner of revenue, and he
shall extend the taxes against the property and persons in the district
levied for road purposes.

8. The county treasurer shall collect the road tax of the county and
pay the same out upon the order of the commissioner of roads, certified
by the supervisor of the district; he shall be charged with the full amount
of the road taxes levied for the year, and credited by all sums paid over in
money or otherwise as herein provided. The treasurer shall receive as
equivalent to money all accounts of labor, teams, wagons, plows and ma-
terials furnished or for services rendered in any way when properly certi-
fied by the commissioner of roads and the supervisor of the district, and
the same shall be receipted for by the commissioner as if paid in money:
provided, however that the treasurer shall in all cases pay out money on
the order of the commissioner and the supervisor of the district, who or-
dered the work done or materials furnished or services rendered, whether
said commissioner’s successor shall have qualified or not. Each commis-
sioner of roads acting under the provisions of this act shall settle with the
county superintendent of roads quarterly during each year in the months
of January, April, July and October, and make an itemized statement in
writing of all receipts and disbursements received and made by him dur-
ing the quarter next preceding, and when, to whom and for what purpose
disbursements have been made, and shall likewise report along with said
settlement the condition of the roads in his district, the amount of work
done thereon, the amount necessary for work to be done, the condition of
all tools, machinery, teams, etcetera, and all other matters required to be
reported, which said settlements and reports shall be transmitted by the
county superintendent of roads to the board of supervisors for their ap-
Yroval, and for failure to make such settlements and reports in writing
the said commissioners shall be liable to removal from office by order of
the circuit court, as provided by section eight hundred and twenty-one of
the Code of Virginia, and the amendments thereto. It shall be the duty
of the board of supervisors to report to the circuit court the names of all
commissioners of roads who fail to make such settlements and reports.
The taxes levied under this act shall be subject to the laws regulating
the collection of all other taxes.

9. The road board shall annually, on the first Monday in July, audit,
adjust and settle their accounts with the treasurer for the preceding year,
but if their business be not completed on that day they may adjourn from
day to day until it is completed. They shall charge the treasurer with the
full amount of the road tax levied in the district, and shall credit him by
his commissions, delinquent taxes, and all payments made by him (by
order of the road board) for which he has proper vouchers. He shall re-
ceive the same per centum for collecting road taxes as is allowed for col-
lecting State taxes.

10. The road board of each district shall convene at stated times and
places in its district, at which persons having business with the board may
attend. Meeting for special purposes may be held at Staunton, or in the
district, upon the request of any member of the board. The supervisor
shall be ex-officio president of the board, and the commissioner of roads
shall be clerk. The board shall be a deliberative body to consider the
subjects committed to it in this act and determine the ways and means by
which to most fully accomplish its designs, but it shall in all matters be
subject to the superior direction and control of the board of supervisors.
The commissioner of roads shall be its executive officer, subject to the
control of the county superintendent of roads as herein provided. The
said board shall keep a record of its proceedings, and preserve all its
vouchers, and prescribe regulations for the purchase, care, preservation
and transfer of implements and other property from the outgoing officer
to the incoming one, requiring proper vouchers. The compensation of
the members of the road board (except the county superintendent of
roads) shall be two dollars per day for each day that they shall be in at-
tendance upon the meetings of the board, to be paid, with cost of neces-
sary stationery and printing, out of the fund appropriated for the road
district. *

11. The county superintendent of roads shall cause to be erected at all
points where roads cross or intersect or diverge-from each other suitable
indicators showing the next most prominent place on the road and the dis-
tance. Any person who defaces, removes, or in any manner injures such
indicators shall pay a fine of five dollars, to be recovered by the commis-
sioner of roads upon the judgment of a justice of the peace by proceed-
ings instituted in the name of the road board of the district. Any road
official shall have power to enter upon any lands adjoining a public road
to make necessary repairs, drains, or ditches, taking due precaution not to
injure such land or lands by such repairs. Any person who shall ob-
struct the ditches or impair the drainage of the roads shall pay a fine of
one dollar for each day it continues, the cost of the removal thereof, the
damage done to the road, and the costs of the proceedings, to be recovered
by the commissioner of roads before a justice of the peace upon proceed-
ings in the name of the road board. The commissioner of roads shall be
empowered to administer oaths and affirmations.

12. In order to properly maintain the macadamized roads of the
county the board of supervisors shall have the power to erect and main-
tain toll gates, and to demand and collect tolls on said roads, the rates
of toll to be fixed by the board of supervisors: provided, however, that
said rates shall not exceed those fited by the general law for turnpike
companies. The county superintendent of roads shall have exclusive
charge and control of all the macadamized roads, and shall be charged
with the duty of collecting and disbursing all tolls: and provided further,
that the board of supervisors of Augusta county shall have the power, if
in their discretion they deem it wise and proper to, exercise the same, to
give a rebate in tolls to those who have made or shall hereafter make pri-
vate subscriptions to the building of permanent macadam roads in said
county on any road where toll gates shall be established, said rebates to
be in such amounts as the board of supervisors shall determine, but not to
exceed in any case the amount of said private subscription.

13. Every public road or bridge hereafter established or altered in
the county of Augusta shall be established or altered in accordance with
the provisions of the general road law of the State of Virginia, as set
forth and provided in an act entitled an act to provide the establishment,
proper construction and permanent improvement of the public roads and
landings, for building and keeping in good order and repair of all public
roads, bridges, causeways and wharves in the several counties of this State
and to repeal chapter forty-three of the Code of Virginia approved
March twelfth, nineteen hundred and four, except that all the duties im-
posed under and by virtue of said act upon viewers, as therein set forth,
shall be imposed upon, performed and discharged by the road board of the
road district wherein the proposed bridge or road or the greater part
thereof is proposed to be located or established.

14. If in the discretion of the board of supervisors of Augusta county
they deem it wise and judicious to let to contract the building, maintain-
ing and repairing of the roads in said county, or any part or parts thereof,
authority is hereby granted them to do so, but it is understood that the
powers granted under this section are entirely optional with said board.
Said contracts, if any be made, to be made by the superintendent of roads,
and the work to be performed under his supervision and direction as pro-
vided in section three of this act. Said superintendent of roads shall in
each and every case where work is to be done by contract prepare full
and complete specifications for the building, maintaining or repairing of
said roads and shall take from each contractor a good and sufficient
bond in such sum as the board of supervisors shall determine for the
faithful performance of his contract.

15. All petitions for the establishment of new roads or bridges which
may be pending in the circuit court of said county on the day this act
becomes effective shall be heard and disposed of by said court as if this
act had not been amended.

16. There being an emergency by reason of the need of properly
working the roads of said county, this act shall be in force from its pas-
sage.