Chap. 96.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act approved March 30, 1875,|
- entitled an act to incorporate the town of Falls Church, in the counties;
of Fairfax and Alexandria, as amended by an act approved February 27,
1879, entitled an act to amend and re-enact sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of an.
act entitled an act to incorporate the town of Falls Church in the counties
of Fairfax and Alexandria, approved March 30, 1875, and as further
amended by an act approved March 4, 1890, entitled an act to amend:
section 7 of chapter 316 of the acts of assembly. session of 1874-1875.
entitled an act to incorporate the town of Falls Church, in the counties:
of Fairfax and Alexandria, as further amended by an act approved
March 2, 1892, and ag further amended by an act approved March 10,
1910. (S. B. 332.)
Approved March 138, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
an act approved March thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five
entitled an act to incorporate the town of Falls Church, in the
counties of Fairfax and Alexandria, as amended by an act approved
February twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and seventy-nine
entitled an act to amend and re-enact the third, fourth, fifth, and
sixth sections of an act to incorporate the town of Falls Church, ini
the counties of Fairfax and Alexandria, approved March thirtieth,
eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and as further amended by ai
act to amend section seven, chapter three hundred and sixteen of
the acts of assembly, session of eighteen hundred and seventy-four.

and eighteen hundred and seventy-five, entitled an act to incorpo-

rate the town of Falls Church, in the counties of Fairfax and Alex-

andria, and as further amended by an act approved March second,
eighteen hundred and ninety-four, be, and the same is, amended
and re-enacted so as to read as follows, to-wit:

Sec. 1. So much of the territories in the county of Fairfax and
Alexandria, together with all the improvements and appurtenances
thereunto belonging as is contained in the following boundaries,
to-wit: Beginning at the corner of Alexandria and Fairfax coun-
ties. on J. C. De Putron’s farm; thence to the corner of J. D. Nichol-
son and W. S. Patten, in Mistress Ellen Gordon’s line; thence to
the corner of Sewell and L. S. Abbott on the new cut road: thence
to the corner of A. A. Freeman and Mistress Henry J. England, on

i. the Falls Church and Fairfax courthouse road; then along the
t* center of said road to center of bridge over Holmes run; thence
easterly in a straight line to the northwest corner of the colored

Methodist church, on the road leading to Annandale; thence east-

erly to the crossing of the Alexandria and Georgetown road at

Taylor’s corner; thence along the north line of said Georgetown road

to the corner of T. M. Talbot and Emma Taylor’s estate; thence to
(: a pin oak tree near Doctor L. E. Gott’s spring; thence to a stone on
the property of J. A. and Mistress J. H. C. Brown, formerly the
northeast corner of John Brown’s barn; thence to the crossing of
Tsaac Crossman’s and Bowen’s line on the Chain Bridge road; thence
to the place of beginning, is and shall continue forever to be a body,
politic and corporate, under the name and style of the town of
Falls Church, and shall possess and exercise the rights and powers
conferred on towns by the general law of this State, and shall be
, subject to the restrictions and limitations imposed by said law, in
» so far as the provisicns thereof are not in conflict with the pro-
visions of this act.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, that the government of said town
shall be vested in a mayor and six other electors, who shall consti-
tute the councilmen of said town, except as hereinafter provided.
On the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and ten, and
every two years thereafter, there shall be elected a mayor and three
councilmen. On the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and
eleven, and every two years thereafter, there shall be elected three
ether councilmen. The terms of office of the mayor and councilmen
thus elected shall begin on the first day of September, succeeding
- their election, and shall continue for two years, or until their suc-
cessors are elected and qualified. Any person entitled to vote in
the magisterial districts of Falls Church, or Providence, in Fairfax
county, or in Washington or Arlington magisterial districts, in
: Alexandria county, and residing in said corporation and duly regis-
tered by the town clerk, shall be entitled to vote at all elections for
» councilmen. The town clerk and two members of the council whose
- terms of office do not expire with that year, and in the event there

are not two councilmen whose terms of office do not expire, the defi-
ciency in the number of aualified councilmen shall be supplied by
appointment from the qualified voters of the town, and who shall
be designated by the mayor, shall conduct such elections between
the hours of one o’clock post meridian and sunset of the day thereof,
and make returns of the result, with the ballots sealed up, to the
council at its first meeting thereafter, said returns to be recorded
in the record book of said council. The ballots shall be preserved
by the clerk for a period of twelve months. Immediately after the
meeting of the council at which such return is made the mayor shall
issue certificates, countersigned by the clerk, to those elected. Tie
votes shall be decided by lot, and contests shall be decided as pro-
vided in section one hundred and sixty of Pollard’s edition, nine-
teen hundred and four, of the Code of Virginia; and

Whereas, the term of office for which six of the present members
of the council were elected does not expire until September first,
nineteen hundred and eleven, it is hereby provided that the number
of councilmen of said town shall remain at nine as at present, until
the expiration of the term of office of said six councilmen, or such
time prior thereto as their places may become vacant by death,
resignation or otherwise.

Sec. 3. The council shall meet annually on the first day of Sep-
tember succeeding their election, and, after qualification of the new
members, shall organize and elect by ballot from the voters of the
corporation a town sergeant and a town clerk. The council may
appoint and fix the compensation of policemen, and such other offi-
cers aS may be necessary to enforce the provisions of this charter.
All officers shall qualify by taking the oath of office before the clerk,
or other officers, authorized to administer oaths, and give such bond
as the council shall require, and shall hold their office until the first
day of September succeeding their election, and until their suc-
cessors are elected and qualified. The council shall serve without
compensation, except for special and unusual services, for which
they may be allowed such pay as the council may deem proper.
Four members of the council shall constitute a quorum, and in the
absence of the mayor may choose one of their number to act in his
place.

The council shall judge of the election and qualification and
returns of its members; may fine them for disorderly behavior, and
with the concurrence of two-thirds expel a member. If any person
returned be adjudged disqualified, or be expelled, a new election to
fill the vacancy shall be held at the same place, on such day as the
council may prescribe. Any vacancy occurring otherwise during
the term for which any of the said persons have been elected may
be filled by the council by the appointment of anyone eligible to the
office. hae

A vacancy in the office of mayor may be filled by the council
from the electors of said town.
Sec. 4. The council shall have power to define and mark the
boundaries of the streets, lay out new streets, alleys and sidewalks;
to provide for the surveying, grading, paving, repairing, drainage,
laying out, extending, widening, opening, closing, straightening or
relocating any street, sidewalk, alleys or sewer in said town, and
may condemn or purchase the right of way for any street, alley or
sewer, which they may determine should be opened for the public
good; to provide for the removal of nuisances; for the removal of
obstructions of streets, lanes and alleys; for the establishment of
building lines and building regulations; to regulate or prohibit
animals from running at large; to license the ownership of dogs:
impose a license tax on the owner of dogs, not to exceed two dollars
for males, and five dollars for females, and to make provision for
the killing of dogs whose owners fail to procure license and pay the
tax; to provide for order and quiet, and the observance of the Sab-
bath; to provide and protect shade trees; to establish and maintain
_ a fire department, with suitable apparatus; to divide the corpora-
tion into wards; to regulate in reference to the public health; to
exercise the powers of road commissioners over the roads and streets
cf the corporation; to have control of all property belonging to the
corporation; to pass ordinances to carry into effect the objects of
this corporation, and punish the violation thereof by fine and impris-
cnment; to whenever they may be satisfied that the public health,
comfort or convenience requires it, construct sidewalks, curbings,
gutters, and sewers along the streets, avenues, roads and alleys of
said town, charging not to exceed one-third the cost of such construc-
tion of sidewalks and sewers upon each tract or piece of abutting
property to be benefited thereby as provided by section ten hundred
and forty-one-a of Pollard’s Code, biennial, nineteen hundred and
eight, and shall enforce the collection of such special assessments as
provided by section ten hundred and forty-one-a of Pollard’s Code,
biennial, nineteen hundred and eight. For the purpoze of con-
demning land for street purposes the council shall have the juris-
diction and authority to exercise it of courts, under chapter forty.
three of the Code of Virginia in the matter of the establishment and
alteration of roads.

Sec. 5. The council shall annually, levy, assess and collect nec-
essary taxes for roads, streets, school and corporation purposes, on
all property within the corporation, which tax for all purposes,
including ¢chools, on any property, shall not exceed sixty cents on
one hundred dollars, except that on a petition of two-thirds of the
resident tax payers within the corporation the council may levy a
corporation tax not to exceed the amount named in the petition.
And except further, that the town council, whenever requested by
the board of school trustees of the town, shall annually levy an
additional tax of ten cents on the.one hundred dollars, to enabie the
said board to establish and maintain a high school course in the
public school of said town, which school is now called “Jefferson
Institute.” No debt whatscever shall be created except upon a pre-
liminary vote of the resident freeholders of the corporation of
twenty-one years of age and over. and in order to create such indebt-
edness two-thirds of such resident freeholders so voting shall vete
favoring such indebtedness, and at least twenty-five per cent. of
all such resident freeholders shall vote in the affirmative at such
preliminary, and if at such preliminary election twenty-five per
cent. of all such resident frecholders shall vote in the affirmative.
and such vote shall be two-thirds majority in favor of such indebt-
edness, then the town council shall, within thirty days. order an
election by the qualified voters of the town on the question of such
indebtedness. Such election to be held as provided for by the stat-
ute of the State of Virginia. And the council shall, upon petition
of one-fourth of the resident freeholders, order a special election
to be held to determine whether the debt petitioned for shall be
created, and said election shall be ordered by the council to be held
within thirty days after the receipt of said petiticn, at least ten
day’s notice of such election being given by the council. No district
school or road tax shall be assessed upon the property within the
corporation, except by the council thereof.

And section five shall not be operative until after the same is
ratified by the vote of the qualified voters of the town at an election
which shall be called by the town council within thirty days after
the passage of this act, at which election a majority of the qualified
voters voting shall vote for the acceptance of the same.

Sec. 6. The mayor shall preside over the council, but shall have
no vote except in case of a tie. He shall be the chief of police. He
shall have the authority and jurisdiction, both civil and criminal,
within and in criminal matters one mile beyond the corporate limits,
and receive the same fees as a justice of the peace of Fairfax and
Alexandria counties. In default of payment of any fine imposed
by him, he may commit the offender to the lockup or to the county
jail until said fine shall be paid with costs.

Sec. 7. The town clerk shall be the custodian of the books and
records of the corporation, and shall record in a book to be kept for
that purpose a correct report of all proceedings of the council. He
shall be the registrar of all veters of the corporation, but shall
register only such persons as are registered in the county of Fairfax
or the county of Alexandria. He shall be clerk of all elections held
under this charter. He shall, unless otherwise provided by the
council, be the assessor of the corporation, and shall annually, prior
to the first day of October of each year, assess all lands, lots and
personal property which has not been assessed by the county as-
sessor of lands, or by the ccmmissioner of revenue as to personal
property. As such assessor, he shall deduct for all property de-
stroyed or removed from the town under the same restrictions and
in the same manner as is prescribed in the duties of county assessor.
But the assessment cr appraisement of all real estate and personal
property shall be the same as the last county and State assessment
or appraisement on all property, either real or personal, which has
been assessed or appraised by the said State or county assessor. Any
improvements made on any lands or lots since the last assessment
made by the State or county assessor adding thereto shall be assessed
by the said town clerk upon a fair cash valuation. All returns of
assessment of personal property to the town clerk shall be made
under oath; the said officer is authorized to administer the required
oath. He shall, unless otherwise provided by the council, prescribe
the form of blank to be used for said purpose, and when such as-
sessments of real and personal property are completed, he shall
give notice in such manner as the council shall prescribe that the
same is in his office for public inspection, and that the council will
examine, revise and correct the same, and that any tax payer ag-
grieved will be heard; the sessions for such purpose to terminate on
October thirtieth. Prior to the first day of November of each year
the town clerk shall make from his revised assessment tax bills
against all persons and corporations charged thereon, and on or
before the tenth day of November place them in the hands of the
town sergeant for collection. For his services as clerk he shall re-
ceive such compensation as may be determined by the council.

Sec. 8. The town sergeant shall be the executive officer of the
council, and shall have the authority, jurisdiction and fees of a con-
stable of Fairfax or Alexandria counties within the corporate limits
“in civil matters, and in criminal matters one mile beyond the cor-
porate limits. He shall, unless otherwise provided, be the town
treasurer, and as such shall collect all taxes, fines and licenses and
disburse the same upon the warrants of the council, signed by the
mayor and clerk, and for this purpose shall have the power and
authority of the county treasurer, and shall receive for his compen-
sation five percentum upon all sums collected by him. Upon all
tuxes not collected prior to January first of each year he shall add
u penalty of five percentum, to he turned into the town treasury.
On the first day of August annually he shall return to the council,
under oath, a list of all delinquent tax payers, and the council shall
have full power to make provision and arrange all details for the
sale of land for delinquent taxes, and also the reoffering of land
when not sold when offered, and also power to reissue, and sergeant
to levy for any old unpaid delinquent tax bills. The sergeant shall
also, unless otherwise provided by the council, be the overseer of
roads and streets, and have the same powers as overseers of roads
under the special road laws of Fairfax and Alexandria counties.
For his services as overseer of roads, and for any other services not
herein defined, he shall receive such compensation as the council shall
allow.

Sec. 9. The corporation shall constitute a separate road district
and a separate school district. The school district shall be known
as the town of Falls Church school district. The council shall
appoint school trustees for the corporation in the manner provided
by section fourteen hundred and sixty-nine of the Code of Vir-
ginia, edition of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven. No district
school tax and no district road tax shall be assessed and collected
except by the council on any property within the corporate limits.
The roads within the corporate limits shall be under the general
control of the council. The corporation, in so far as the said terri-
tory is located in Fairfax county, shall be entitled to all the benefits
accruing to a road district and a school district under the laws
in force in that county; and in so far as the said territory is located
in Alexandria county, it shall he entitled to all the benefits accruing
to a road district, or a school district under the laws in force in that
county.

Sec. 10. The fiscal year of the town shall begin on the first day
of September of each year, and end with the thirty-first day of the
following August. The town clerk, as town assessor, is authorized
to assess and tax for town purposes any and all property, real or
personal, which was within the town on or before the first day of
September of the then fiscal year.

Sec. 11. That any person applying to the county of Fairfax, or
the county of Alexandria, for a license to sell liquors of any kind,
either as the keeping of an ordinary or eatinghouse, or as a mer-
chant, within the corporate limits of the town of Falls Church, in
the said counties, or within one mile beyond the limits of the said
corporation, shall produce before the courts or boards having con-
trol of the issuance of licenses for the sale of liquor of said counties
a certificate of said council of said town to the effect that the ap-
plicant is a suitable person, and that no good reason is known to
said council why said license should not be granted. And the courts
of said counties, or boards, having authority shall not grant the
said license to sell liquor within the limits above prescribed until
and unless such a certificate be given. And under no circumstances
and in no event whatever shall the sale of liquors be licensed in any
part of the corporation where license for the sale thereof has been
prohibited under the provisions of chapter twenty-five of the Code
of Virginia, known as the local option law.

Sec. 12. This act shall not operate to repeal any of the ordi-
nances or regulations in force in the corporation at the date of its
passage, except in so far as they may conflict with this act.

Sec. 18. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with the provisions
of this act are hereby repealed; provided, however, that the present
members of the council and officers of the corporation shall con-
tinue in office in accordance with the provisions of the act hereby
amended, until officers are chosen and have qualified under the pro-
visions of this act.

Sec. 14. In view of the fact that the first election to be held
under this act is liable to take place before this act can become a
law in regular course, an emergency exists, and this act shall be in
force from its passage.