Chap. 30.—An ACT to authorize the town of Potomac, in the county of
Alexandria, Virginia, to issue bonds not exceeding $60,000.00 for the
purpose of building and maintaining a sewerage system; to allow the
council of said town to issue said bonds if the same shall be authorized
by a majority of the qualified voters, being freeholders thereof; and
to levy and collect a special tax to pay the interest thereon, and to
create a sinking fund for the redemption of the said bonds upon their
maturity. [H B 25]

Approved September 5, 1919.

Whereas, it has been made to appear to the satisfaction of
the mayor and council of the town of Potomac, Alexandria coun-
ty, Virginia, as well as to its citizens, that a complete sanitary
sewerage system can be secured for the use of said town and
its citizens; and

Whereas, by reason of the rapid growth of the population
of the said town and the extensive erection of dwelling-houses
therein, the present severage system will soon be inadequate tc
properly maintain the sanitary condition of the said town; and
Whereas, the board of health of Alexandria county, Virginia,
has recommended to the said council and to the citizens of said
town that a sewerage system be. immediately installed, with an
outlet to tidewater:

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
the mayor and the council of the town of Potomac, Alexandria
county, be, and they are hereby, authorized and empowered to
issue bonds of the said town, and to borrow money, not to exceed
in the aggregate the sum of sixty thousand dollars, as provided
hereinafter, or as much thereof as, added to its present indebted-
ness, shall not exceed the constitutional limitation of eighteen
per centum upon municipal indebtedness; the proceeds from the
sale of said bonds or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be
expended in the building and maintenance of a sewerage sys-
tem for said town, and to meet all expenses connected therewith,
as may be determined by the said council.

2. Said bonds may be either coupon or registered, in de-
nominations of one hundred dollars, or multiples thereof, to bear
a rate of interest not exceeding six per centum per annum, pay-
able semi-annually. The principal of said bonds shall be payable
in thirty years from their date, or upon call of said corporation
at any time after ten years from their date, such call to be ad-
vertised for a period of at least thirty days in some paper pub-
lished in the county of Alexandria, the bonds called to be selected
by lot by the said council. The said bonds shall be signed by
the mayor and the treasurer of said town, and shall have affixed
to. them the seal of the said town, attested by the clerk of the
said town, and shall be negotiated or sold in such manner, and
the proceeds of the sale thereof shall be deposited in such na-
tional bank as may be prescribed by the town council, and shall
be kept separate and distinct from the general funds of said
town, to be paid out only upon the joint warrant of the mayor
and the treasurer of the said town, which said warrant shall
distinctly show that the same is payable from the proceeds of
said bond issue; provided, that they shall not be sold for less than
their face va'ue.

3. The council of said town is hereby authorized to annually
levy on the property in said town subject to taxation, in addition
to the amount authorized under an act of the general assembly
of Virginia, entitled an act to incorporate the town of Potomac,
in the county of Alexandria, approved March thirteenth, nine-
teen hundred and eight, a special tax not to exceed the sum of
one dollar upon the hundred dollars’ valuation for the purpose
of paying the interest on the bonds issued under this act and to
create a sinking fund for the redemption of said bonds; 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 hold-
ers thereof may be willing to deliver for cancellation prior to
the time of their maturity.

4. In the event the income so derived, and the proceeds of
any assessment if and when made in accordance with the pro-
visions of section one thousand and forty-one A of the Code of
Virginia, is insufficient to pay the interest on said bonds and to
create a sinking fund for the retirement thereof at maturity, or
as set forth in section two of this act, then and in that event the
said council of the said town.-shall, at each annual levy after the
issue of said bonds, or any of them, lay aside for the thirty (30)
years that the bonds have to run a sufficient amount to cover the
interest on said bonds, and such further sum as may be deter-
mined upon each year, to be placed to the credit of the said sink-
ing fund; at the maturity of said bonds the council of said town
shall make lawful provision for their payment.

5. No corporation tax shall be levied or assessed upon said
bonds by the town of Potomac.

6. The said council is hereby authorized and empowered to
enter into such contract or contracts as may be necessary for the
acquisition of rights of way, and the operation, equipment, estab-
lishment, installation, construction and maintenance of said sew-
erage system, and all things in connection therewith, and to em-
ploy all necessary engineers and other assistants which may be
necessary. The members of said council are prohibited from
being or becoming interested, directly or indirectly, in any pur-
chase, contract or contracts which may be made with any of the
funds derived from the sale of bonds issued hereunder. The
said town, by its mayor and council, is hereby empowered to con-
tract and agree with the owners and tenants of freeholds through
whose lands the said sewerage system, or any part thereof, is
located, constructed or pass, for the purchase or use thereof;
and upon failure to so contract or agree with the owner or tenant
of such freehold to proceed to condemn same, as provided by the
statutes of this State.

7. The foregoing provisions of this act shall not be oper-
ative until the question of the issue of the said bonds shal] have
been submitted to a special election of such freeholders as are
qualified to vote in said town at the general election to be held
on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, nine-
teen hundred and nineteen; and it shall appear from the return
of the votes cast at the said special election, as hereinafter pro-
vided for, that a majority of the said 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.
The determination of the freehold interest of any person offer-
ing to vote at such special election shall be made by the judges
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. . 88

thereof from the land assessment book of the said town for the
year nineteen hundred-and nineteen, which shall be supplemented
by a list of transfers of real estate in said town to be prepared
and certified to by the clerk of the circuit court of Alexandria
county, covering the period from January first, nineteen hun-
dred and nineteen, to the date of such special election.

8. The said election shall be called by a.written order over
the signature of the mayor of the said town, true copies of which
shall be posted at not less than ten conspicuous places 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 ser-
geant on the back of the original order as to the posting of the
same shall be conclusive evidence of such posting; and the said
original shall be filed with the clerk of said town.

9. 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 be-
fore entering upon the respective duties of judges and clerks of
said election.

10. The judges and clerks of said election shall make a cor-
rect count and return of said election, sealing the ballots after
counted and returning 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
signatures and such certificate shall be absolute and conclusive
evidence of the verity of such return after five days from the
date of said election and return.

11. For the reason of emergency expressed in the preamble,
this act shall be in force from its passage.

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