Chap. 47.—An ACT to authorize and direct the board of supervisors of
Norfolk county, subject to certain specified conditions, to borrow a sum
not exceeding $250,000.00 for the purpose of building, macadamizing or
otherwise permanently improving public roads and bridges, and acquiring
toll roads and toll bridges, in said county, and to issue bonds therefor,
secured by a deed of trust on the interest of said county in the Norfolk
county ferries; and to provide for the expenditure and application of the
proceeds of said bond issue, and for the payment of said bonds.

(H. B. 407.)
Approved March 10, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
in the event the commission of roads and bridges for the county of
Norfolk shall be of opinion that the material interests of said county
will be promoted by building, macadamizing or otherwise perma-
nently improving public roads and bridges now or hereafter exist-
ing in said county, or by acquiring toll roads or toll bridges therein,
by means of the proceeds of bonds to be issued by virtue of this
act, the said commission may file before the board of supervisors
of said county a written petition setting forth (a) a description of
the roads and bridges proposed to be permanently improved or
acquired by such means; (b) the character of the contemplated im-
provement; (c) an estimate of the cost and expense of the proposed
improvement or acquisition; and (d) a recommendation that a sum,
to be named by said commission in its said petition, not in excess
of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, should be borrowed un-
der this act for one or more of the above mentioned purposes. In
the event that such petition is filed as aforesaid, and that the said
recommendation is approved in writing by not less than two hun-
dred resident freeholders of said county, and is further approved
of record by the circuit court of said county, it shall thereupon be
the duty of the said board of supervisors to borrow the sum (not
in excess of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars) named as
aforesaid by said commission, or so much thereof as can be procured,
and to issue the bonds of said county for the amount so borrowed,
and to secure the payment of the said bonds, together with the in-
terest thereon, by a deed of trust (the form of which shall be ap-
proved by the said court), on the interest of said county in the
Norfolk county ferries.

The said bonds shall be known as “road and bridge bonds,” and
may be either registered or coupon; and shall be in denominations
of five hundred dollars each. They shall be payable twenty years
after date, and shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed five per-
centum per annum, payable semi-annually at the office of the treas-
urer of said county; and shall be signed by the chairman of the
board of supervisors and countersigned by the clerk of said board,
and shall be exempt from county taxation. The said bonds shall
be paid for in lawful money, and shall not be sold at less than their
par value, and before making sale of any of said bonds, the said
board of supervisors shall cause the same to be advertised for at
least thirty days in a newspaper published in the city of Norfolk,
and a newspaper published in the city of Portsmouth, which ad-
vertisement shall describe the bonds proposed to be sold (stating
the number and amount, security, rate of interest, and time of
redemption) and ask for bids therefor.

After issuing the said bonds, the said board of supervisors shall
cause to be set aside annually, out of the county’s share of the net
receipts of the Norfolk county ferries, a sum equal to the interest on
said bonds, and five percentum of the principal, to pay the interest
on said bonds so issued, and to create a sinking fund to redeem
the principal thereof at maturity.

2. The said board of supervisors is hereby authorized and em-
powered to apply any part or all of said sinking fund to the payment
or purchase of any of said bonds at any time, and all bonds so paid
off or purchased by said board of supervisors shall be immediately
cancelled and shall not be reissued, and the board of supervisors is
authorized and empowered to lend out upon real estate security
(the loan not to exceed fifty percentum of the assessed value of such
real estate), or to deposit in bank at interest, all accumulations of
money to the credit of said sinking fund provided as aforesaid, and
to collect and reinvest the same and the interest accruing thereon
from time to time, so often as may be necessary or expedient; pro-
vided, that no money to the credit of said sinking fund shall be
loaned out, or deposited or invested by the said board of supervisors,
unless said loan, deposit or investment shall be first approved by the
circuit court of said county, or the judge thereof in vacation, and
the form of the security be examined and approved by the Com-
monwealth’s attorney for said county, which approval shall be en-
tered of record in the order book of the said court.

3. The monev received as the proceeds of said bond issue shall
be paid over to the treasurer of said county, and by him forthwith
deposited, at the best practicable rate of interest, in one or more
solvent banks that will give adequate security therefore; and (sub-
ject to the limitations hereinafter expressed) shall be expended and
disbursed by the said commission of roads and bridges for the county
of Norfolk (by warrants upon the county treasurer, authorized by
said commission, signed by its chairman and countersigned by its
secretary) exclusively for building, macadamizing or otherwise
permanently improving public roads and bridges now or hereafter
existing in said county, and for acquiring toll roads and toll bridges
therein, or for such and so many of said purposes as the said com-
mission may deem expedient; provided, however, that of said pro-
ceeds not more than fifty thousand dollars thereof may be used for
the acquisition, by purchase or condemnation, of toll roads and toll
bridges, and that no such toll road or toll bridges shall be so ac-
quired unless and until the proposed acquisition thereof, and the
amount or amounts to be paid therefor, shall first be approved of
record by the circuit court of said county after said commission
shall have given notice of its intention to apply for such approval
by means of an advertisement. published once a week for four suc-
cessive weeks in a newspaper published in the city of Norfolk, and
a newspaper published in the city of Portsmouth; and provided,
further, that of said proceeds not more than two hundred thousand
dollars thereof may be used for building, macadamizing or other-
wise permanently improving public roads and bridges as aforesaid,
and that such permanent improvements shall be made, by the said
commission, after consultation with the State highway commis-
sioner, in a manner, and between points, that will produce fairly
proportionate road benefits to the several magisterial districts of the
county, and that such permanent improvement shall be made by the
said commission, according to plans, specifications agreed to by the
State highway commissioner, and that no contract shall be let with-
out his approval.