CHAP. 304.—An ACT to amend and re-enact chapter 136 of an act of as-
sembly of° 1904, approved March 12, 1904, entitled “an act to provide
a new charter for the town of Vinton, in the county of Roanoke, Vir-
ginia,”’ and to repeal all acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the

same.
Approved March 14, 1912.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
chapter one hundred and thirty-six of an act of nineteen hun-
dred and four, approved March twelfth, nineteen hundred and
four, entitled ‘‘an act to provide a new charter for the town of
Vinton, in the county of Roanoke, Virginia,” and to repeal all
acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the same, which amend-
ment is re-enacted so as to read as follows: That so much land,
together with improvements thereon, as is included within the
following boundaries:

Beginning at a planted concrete block on the east side of the
county road, at two sassafras trees on the land of I. W. Vin-
yard; thence south fifty-five degrees thirty-five feet west one
thousand four hundred ninety-seven and five-tenths feet to a
monument at the corner of I. W. Vineyard and Midway land
company; thence south forty-one degrees twenty-five feet west
four hundred and four feet to a monument on line of the Mid-
way land company; thence south seventy degrees fifteen feet
west six hundred ninety-six and five-tenths feet to a monument;
thence south sixty-nine degrees twelve feet west seven hundred
and fifty-eight feet to a monument on line of the Roanoke land
company; thence through the lands of the Roanoke land com-
pany, a straight line, south seventy-six degrees west one thou-
sand eight hundred and fifty feet to the center of Tinker creek
(monument planted one hundred feet north seventy-six degrees
east of the center creek); thence thirteen lines down Tinker
creek and center thereof, south ten degrees forty feet west three
hundred and forty-one feet, south eight degrees thirty feet east
one hundred and sixty-one feet to the Norfolk and Western
bridge, south twenty-one degrees thirty feet east two hundred
and ten feet, north sixty-seven degrees forty feet east six hun-
dred and sixty-.ine feet, south fifty-five degrees forty-five
feet east one thousand and sixty-nine feet to the center of
Roanoke electric car line bridge, north seventy-five degrees east
three hundred and seventy-four feet, south seventy-four degrees
east three hundred and seventy-four feet, south sixty-one de-
grees thirty feet east seventy-five feet, south twenty-three degrees
fifteen feet east four hundred and ninety-five feet, crossing Glade
ereek at three hundred and seventy feet, south thirty-five degrees
forty-five feet east five hundred and sixty feet, south twenty-four
degrees fifteen feet east two hundred seventy and five-tenths feet,
south twenty-seven degreés twenty feet east three hundred and
thirty-seven feet, south thirty degrees fifteen feet east four hun-
dred eighty-seven and five-tenths feet, south twenty-nine degrees
fifteen feet east six hundred and twenty-five feet, monument
sixty feet from center of creek; thence up a large branch, north
seventy-seven degrees fifty feet east six hundred and forty-seven
feet to a monument on the north side of branch; thence south
eighty-four degrees fifty feet east two hundred and sixty-four
feet to the corner of Glade land company and Franklin avenue,
on the east side of First street; thence with the north side of
Franklin avenue, south fifty-seven degrees thirty feet east one
thousand two hundred and forty-three feet to the line of N. J.
Vinyard, monument on east side of Fifth street; thence with
said street, north thirty-one degrees east three hundred fifty-six
and five-tenths feet to a monument at the intersection of two
lanes; thence north forty-five degrees fifteen feet east three hun-
dred and forty and five-tenths feet to a monument on south side of
a fence in Gossarda’s field, north forty-five degrees ten feet east
three hundred and sixty-one feet to a monument on line of N. J.
Vinyard and Henry Sheppard, on west side of stone wall; thence
north twenty-three degrees fifty feet east seven hundred and
twenty-nine feet to a monument on line of N. J. Vinyard and
J. L. Harris; thence with Vinvard’s line, south fifty-three de-
grees fifteen feet east four hundred fifteen and four-tenths feet
to a monument; thence south eighty-seven degrees forty feet
east four hundred and five feet to a monument; thence south
eightv-nine degrees thirty feet east nine hundred seventy-nine
and five tenths feet to a monument, on east side of road leading
to N. J. Vinyard’s residence, north eighty-six degrees thirty feet
east one hundred and forty-two feet to monument on south side
of Bedford road; thence crossing said road (and following along
east side of alley, and crossing Cleveland street at six hundred
and thirty feet), north thirty-three degrees fifty feet east seven
hundred -sixty-nine and five-tenths feet to a monument at corner
of Pedigo addition and Preston lands; thence a straight line,
north eleven degrees fifty feet east one thousand eight hundred
and forty-four feet, crossing Washington street at one thousand
one hundred feet and passing northeast corner of Mister Upson’s
residence, to a monument on the south side of Bedford road, at
the mouth of Preston’s lane; thence crossing Bedford road and
through the lands of S. E. McGuire, north forty-one degrees
thirty feet east one thousand and eighteen feet to a monument on
north side of county road; thence with said road, three lines as
follows: north fifty-five degrees west two hundred twenty-two
and five-tenths feet, north seventy-four degrees fifty feet west
seven hundred fifty-one and five tenths feet, north eighty-six
degrees thirty feet west six hundred sixty-one and five-tenths,
north eighty-two degrees forty-five feet west three hundred and
fifty-five feet; thence a straight line, north sixty-eight degrees
forty-five feet west three thousand five hundred and forty-five
feet to the beginning, which said description, by metes and
bounds, embraces the present boundaries of the town of Vinton,
as fixed by a survey and map made in accordance with the general
laws, and which shall constitute the town of Vinton, in the county
of Roanoke, Virginia, and by that name shall have perpetual
succession, may sue and be sued in and by that name, and the
said town and the inhabitants thereof, in addition to the powers
conferred upon towns of less than five thousand inhabitants by
the general laws of the State of Virginia, shall have and exer-
cise the following powers and privileges:

$1. The administration and government of said town shall
be vested in one principal officer, to be styled the mayor, and one
board, to be styled the council of the town, and the municipal
officers of said town, whose qualifications shall be the same as the
persons who are entitled to vote and hold offices under the con-
stitution and laws of the State, shall consist of one mayor, six
councilmen, a treasurer and sergeant.

$2. All persons in office at the time of the passage of this
act, shall continue in office until the first day of September
succeeding the first election had under this act, or until their
successors are elected and qualified. The election for mayor
and councilmen shall be held on the second Tuesday in June,
nineteen hundred and twelve, and every second year thereafter.
And the said mavor and councilmen elected under this act
shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices the first
day of September succeeding their election. The council shall
elect the treasurer and sergeant, whose term of office shall be
two vears, or until their successors are elected and qualified.

§3. The mayor and other 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 anyone au-
thorized to administer oaths.

S4. The council shall fix the salary and fees of the mayor,
treasurer and sergeant, which shall not be increased or dim-
inished during their term of office.

§5. The council may, in its discretion, appoint a board of
health for the town and invest it with authority for the prompt
and efficient performance of its duties.

§6. The council shall, by ordinance, fix the time of its meet-
ings. It shall have authority to adopt such rules as it may
deem proper for the regulation of its proceedings and compel
the attendance of its members, and to punish its members for
misconduct, and by a vote of three-fourths of the whole coun-
cil expel a member.

$7. A majority of the council shall constitute a quorum
for the transaction of 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 two-thirds of the
council. The mayor shall preside at all meetings of the council,
and in the absence or inability of the mayor the members of
the council present shall elect one of their body to preside over
said meetings; but the mayor or presiding officer over said
meetings shall not be entitled to vote, except in case of a tie.

§8. 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, by-laws
and regulations as it may deem necessary to carry out the follow-
ing powers, which are hereby conferred upon it:

To close, open or extend, widen, narrow, grade, curb and
pave, and otherwise improve the streets, alleys and sidewalks,
to macadamize its streets, and to have them kept in good order,
and it may prevent and remove any structure, encroachment, or
obstruction in any sidewalk, streets or alleys, and may permit
shade trees to be planted along said streets or alleys in said
town.

To purchase, hold, sell and convey all real and personal prop-
erty necessary for the purposes of the corporation. To contract
loans for corporation purposes, in addition to the purposes in
clause b, chapter one hundred and twenty-seven of the constitu-
tion, for general purposes of the corporation, including con-
struction of streets, walks, alleys, roadways, sewer systems,
school purposes and such other purposes not prohibited by the
general laws, and to issue therefor registered or coupon bonds
or certificates of debt, payable at not more than thirty-two years
after date, and to bear interest at a rate of not greater than six
per centum per annum; provided, that said loan shall be sanc-
tioned by a two-thirds vote of the council, endorsed by the ma-
jority of the freehold voters voting on the question; and pro-
vided further, that in no case shall the aggregate debt of the
town, at any one time, exceed eighteen per centum of the as-
sessed value of the property, real and personal, within the town
limits.

To acquire and compel the abatement of all nuisances within
said town at the expense of the persons causing the same, or
the owner or owners of the ground whereon the same shall be;
to prevent and regulate slaughter houses, hog pens, privies,
stables, or the exercise of any dangerous, offensive or unhealthy
business, trade or employment, and to prohibit the sale and use
of fireworks within said town.

To prevent hogs, dogs and other animals running at large in
said town, and to subject the same to such regulations and taxes
as it may deem proper.

To prevent riding and driving of horses or other animals at
any improper or dangerous speed, throwing stones, or engaging
in any employment or sport on the streets or alleys dangerous
or annoying to the citizens, and to prohibit and punish the abuse
and cruel treatment of horses or other animals in said town,
and to regulate the running of trains, automobiles and motor-
eycles through the corporate limits of said town.

To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street-beg-
gars; to preserve the peace and good order of the town; to pre-
vent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly conduct; to sup-
press gambling-houses; to prevent and punish indecent and lewd
conduct on the streets.

To punish for releasing, or attempting to release, a prisoner,
or interfering in any manner with an officer in the exercise of
his official duties.

$9. To meet the expenditures that may be lawfully charge-
able to the said town, the council may annually levy a town levy
of so much as in its opinion may be necessary upon all taxable
persons and property resident or situate within the said town,
not exempted from taxation by the laws of the State; provided,
that a corporation tax not greater than fifty cents per head on
the male inhabitants of the said town, over twenty-one years of
age, may be levied in any one year; and provided, further, that
the tax so levied on the real and personal property within the
said town does not exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars
on the assessed value thereof for any one year; in the event that
the above rate of taxation is not sufficient to meet the expendi-
tures of the town, the same may be increased not to exceed one
dollar on the one hundred dollars on the assessed value thereof
for any one year, by a vote of a majority of the qualified voters
of said town.

The said council shall have the right to levy a license tax on
wagons, drays, hacks, automobiles and other wheeled vehicles,
and on shooting galleries, theatrical performances, circuses, and
other places of amusement, or performances for amusement.

$10. There shall be a lien on all goods, chattels and real
estate for the taxes assessed thereon, from the beginning of the
year for which they are assessed. The council may require real
estate returned delinquent for the non-payment of taxes and
assessments to be sold for such taxes and assessments, with in-
terest at the rate of six per centum per annum from the time
when such taxes and assessments become due and payable, and
such per centum for charges as it may prescribe, not to exceed
five per centum of such taxes; such sales to be made in accordance
with the State laws.

§11. The sergeant, or anyone selected by council, shall collect
the town taxes, fines and levies for the said town, and in the man-
ner prescribed by the State law. The said sergeant or collector
shall, at such times as the council may fix, pay over to the treas-
urer the taxes, fines and levies collected by him. The treasurer
shall not pay out any money or funds belonging to the said town,
except as he may be ordered to do so by the council. The council
shall require sufficient bonds of the sergeant, collector and treas-
urer for the faithful and proper discharge of their respective
duties, and shall have the power and authority to prescribe the
powers and duties of the sergeant, collector and treasurer, re-
spectively.

$12. In the taxation of real estate provided for by this char-
ter, all lots, tracts or parcels of land, which lie partly within and
partly without the incorporated limits, that part of the same
lying within the incorporated limits shall be properly taxable by
said incorporation.

$13. The sergeant shall have the same powers and discharge
the same duties as constable of Roanoke county, within the cor-
porate limits of said town and to the distance of one mile beyond
the said corporate limits.

§14. Whereas, by the provisions of this act, the council has
the authority to pass ordinances upon any subject, it may pre-
scribe any penalty not exceeding one hundred dollars fine, and
may provide that upon the failure to pay the said fines and costs,
the offender may be imprisoned and worked on the streets and
alleys of the town until such fine and costs are paid, reserving
to the person convicted the right to appeal to the circuit court of
Roanoke county in all cases wherein the fine exceeds the sum of
ten dollars.

§15. The town council may organize and maintain a fire de-
partment for the town, and appoint an engineer, assistants and
other officers, with any and all powers which have been or may
be vested by law in such officers; and they may make rules and
regulations for the government of the officers and men of said
department; may prescribe their respective duties in case of fire
or alarms of fire; may fix their pay, and may impose reasonable
fines for the breach of such regulations and may make such ordi-
nances as they may deem proper to extinguish and prevent fires;
to prevent property from being stolen, and to require citizens to
render assistance to the fire department in case of need.

$16. For the purpose of guarding against the calamities of
fire the town council may, from time to time, designate such por-
tions and parts of the town as they may deem proper within
which buildings of wood may be erected. They may prohibit the
erection of wooden buildings in any portion of the town without
their permission, and shall, on the petition of a majority of the
owners of the ground included in any square of the town, prohibit
their erection on said square of any building, or addition to any
building, unless the outer walls thereof be made of brick and
mortar, or stone and mortar, and may provide for the removal
of any such building or addition which shall be erected contrary
to such prohibitions, at the expense of the builder or owner
thereof; and if any such building shall have been commenced
before said petition can be acted on by the council, or, if any
building in the process of erection appears clearly unsafe, the
council may cause such building to be taken down after reason-
able notice to the owner.

§17. The council shall have the power to establish or enlarge
water works, electrical plants and gas works within or without
the limits of the town; to contract and agree with the owners of
any land for the use and purchase thereof, or have the same con-
demned according to law, for the location, extension or enlarge-
ment of their said works, the pipes connected therewith, or any
of the fixtures or appurtenances thereof, and shall have the
power to protect from injury, by ordinance prescribing adequate
penalties, the said works, pipes, fixtures and land or anything
connected therewith, whether within or without the limits of
said town.

§18. Whenever any sidewalks shall be laid out, graded, paved
or built, alleys improved or sewer system constructed or repaired,
the town council may determine what portion, if any, of the ex-
pense thereof should be paid from corporation funds, and what
portion by the owners of real estate benefited thereby, which in
no event shall exceed one-third of the total costs; but no such
public improvement shall be made to be defrayed, in whole or in
part, by a local assessment until first requested by a petition
signed by at least a majority of the owners of proverty to be as-
sessed for such improvements, or unless two-thirds of all the
council concur in voting any improvement to be expedient, or in
determining to make the same after allegations have been heard;
in which case no petition or request shall be necessary. The
council shall have the same powers to collect such local assess-
ments for improvements as were vested in them for the collection
of other taxes.

§19. All bonds, contracts, deeds and other papers shall be
executed by the mayor, under the direction of the council, and
the seal of the corporation shall be affixed and attested by the
clerk of council.

§20. The general laws for the government of cities and towns
in the State of Virginia shall continue in force in said town of
Vinton, except in so far as the same are modified or repealed by
this act, and all acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are
hereby repealed.

$21. All ordinances now in force in said town not in conflict
with this act shall remain in force until repealed by said council.

$22. Whereas, the election of town officers under this charter
will occur on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
twelve, this is an emergency act, and shall be in force from its
passage.