Chap. 364.—An ACT to create “the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Norfolk county bridge
authority,” and to define the powers and duties of such authority. [II B 327]

Approved March 22, 1928

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That there
is hereby created the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Norfolk county bridge
authority (for brevity hereinafter referred to as bridge authority),
which shall be a body corporate and politic, and as such may sue and
be sued, having the powers and jurisdiction hereinafter enumerated,
and such other and additional powers as shall be conferred upon it
by law.

2. The bridge authority shall consist of the members of the board
of supervisors of Norfolk county and the members of the councils of
the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and the successors in office of
such persons. The members composing each of the said three bodies
constituting the bridge authority shall have the power to designate on
behalf of their respective communities two persons, who need not be
members of the bridge authority, and the six persons so designated
shall constitute a committee of such bridge authority, which commit-
tee shall be vested with such of the powers of the bridge authority as
may be conferred upon it by the bridge authority. “The members of
the committee appointed by each group may be changed from time to
time by the group appointing the respective members.

3. The members of the bridge authority shall, for the purpose of
doing business, constitute a board and shall elect a chairman and secre-
tary and such officers as they may deem best, and may adopt suitable
by-laws for its management.

4. The bridge authority shall have full power and authority to
purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire, and the city of Portsmouth and
the county of Norfolk shall each with the consent of the other have
the right to sell, lease or otherwise dispose of to said bridge authority
or to the city of Norfolk, in such manner and on such terms and con-
ditions as the majority of the council of the city of Portsmouth and
a majority of the board of supervisors of Norfolk county may approve,
their respective interests in any existing ferry or ferries, or any part
thereof. The bridge authority shall have full power and authority to
purchase, lease, or otherwise acquire any bridge or bridges, tunnel or
tunnels, whether now or to be hereafter constructed, to construct or
cause to be constructed a bridge or bridges, and/or a tunnel or tun-
nels, within or connecting the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, or
within or connecting either of said cities and Norfolk county; to
operate or cause to be operated, such ferries, bridges or tunnels; to
make charges for the use thereof, subject to the limitations hereinafter
provided; and for any of such purposes to acquire, own, hold, lease
and/or operate real or personal property, riparian and other rights,
to borrow money and issue bonds and/or other obligations and secure
the same by deed or deeds of trust or by mortgages upon any property
held or to be held by it; to enter into contracts and agreements with
individuals, corporations, the State of Virginia and political subdivisions
thereof, or with the United States of America; and to do any and all
other lawful acts necessary or convenient in furtherance of the powers
herein granted, except as herein specifically limited; provided, however,
that before the said bridge authority shall be permitted to use, pass
over or under the streets, alleys, or public grounds of either of said
cities, the previous consent of the corporate authority of such city
shall be obtained, and before said bridge authority shall use, pass over
or under any public road in Norfolk county, the previous consent of
the board of supervisors of Norfolk county shall be obtained.

The bridge authority shall have such additional powers and duties
as may hereafter be delegated to or imposed upon it from time to
time by the action of the general assembly. Unless and until other-
wise provided, it shall make an annual report to councils of the said
cities and the board of supervisors of Norfolk county, setting forth
in detail the operations and transactions had and conducted by it pur-
suant to this act, and any amendment thereof.

5. The bridge authority shall not pledge the credit of-either city
or county, or of the State, except by and with the authority of such
city or county or of the eeneral assembly of the State.
6. The bridge authoritv is hereby vested with the power of eminent
domain, insofar as may be necessary for the acquisition, construction
or maintenance of any bridge or tunnel within or connecting the cities
of Norfolk and Portsmouth, or either of said cities and Norfolk
county, and for those purposes and all purposes incidental thereto may
condemn such bridges, structures, lands, riparian and other rights,
with the buildings and improvements thereon, as the bridge authority
may deem necessary or requisite and suitable for such bridge, or
tunnels, their abutments, piers, approaches, stations, and appurtenances
thereto, and the maintenance thereof.

Proceedings for condemnation hereunder shall be instituted and
conducted in the name of “the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Norfolk county
bridge authority,” and the procedure shall, except insofar as altered
hereby, be mutatis mutandis, the same as is prescribed by law for rail-
road corporations, and the rights of all persons affected, including
the payment of compensation thereto, shall be subject to the general
laws of this State, insofar as the same may be applicable under the
general purposes of this act, and except as hereby altered or repealed ;
except that no property now or hereafter vested in or held by the city
of Norfolk, or the city of Portsmouth, or the county of Norfolk, shall
be taken by the bridge authority, without the authority or consent of
such city or county. Provided, however, that the power of eminent
domain hereby conferred shall not authorize the condemnation of any
bridges, structures, lands, riparian or other rights, buildings, improve-
ments or other property of any description belonging to or used by
any other corporation in connection with any existing bridge or any
bridge under construction at the time of the passing of this act.

7. Unless and until otherwise provided, all laws now or hereafter
vesting jurisdiction or control in the State corporation commission, or
in the councils of said cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, shall apply
to railroad, street cars, motor buses, and other common carriers,
owned, operated, leased or constructed, over or through any bridge
or tunnel under jurisdiction of the bridge authority, with the same
force as 1f such railroad, street car, motor bus and other common
carriers were owned, leased, operated or constructed by a private
corporation.

8. The bridge authority shall have full power and authority to
charge and collect such rates of toll as it may prescribe from time to
time from pedestrians, railways, street car companies, motor buses
and other vehicles and persons crossing over, or through, or other-
wise using, the bridges, ferries, and tunnels and their approaches and
entrances, subject to its control, and to vary the same from time to
time, to make all needful rules and regulations for the handling of
traffic thereon and therein, and any other rules and regulations neces-
sary or desirable for the safe operation and management of such
bridges or tunnels. Such rules and regulations may be changed from
time to time, and after publication in the manner prescribed by law
for ordinances of either city, they shall have the force and effect of
city ordinances, and violations thereof, upon conviction in a police
court of the city of Norfolk or Portsmouth, which are hereby vested
with concurrent jurisdiction to try such violations, may be punished
by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not
exceeding one year, or by both, but the right of appeal to the corpora-
tion court of the city of Norfolk or the court of hustings of the city
of Portsmouth is hereby specifically reserved to all persons so con-
victed.

9. Nothing contained in this act shall impair the powers of the
city of Norfolk, or the city of Portsmouth, or the county of Norfolk,
to construct, operate or maintain any other bridge or tunnel not sub-
ject to the control of the bridge authority; provided, however, that
neither the city of Norfolk nor the city of Portsmouth shall authorize
the construction, operation or maintenance of any other bridge or
tunnel between the city of Norfolk and Portsmouth, unless said cities
shall first assume liability for the payment of the principal and interest
of all obligations issued by the bridge authority for the constructior.
of the bridge or tunnel herein provided for and then outstanding.

10. The bridge authority shall annually elect from its number a
chairman and a vice-chairman to serve for the term of one year each,
subject to re-election, and may appoint such officers, engineers, in-
spectors, and employees as it may require for the performance of its
duties, and shall fix and determine their qualifications, duties and
salaries.

The committee provided for in section two, to be designated by the
bridge authority, may receive such salaries and allowances as may be
approved by the bridge authority. All salaries and expenses shall be
paid in the manner and from the funds hereinafter provided.

11. A majority of the members from each of the councils of the
cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth and of the board of supervisors of
Norfolk county shall be required to constitute a quorum, and no action
by the bridge authority shall be binding unless a majority of the votes
of all the members from the council of the city of Norfolk, a majority
of the votes of all the members from the council of the city of Ports-
mouth, and a majority of the votes of all the members from the board
of supervisors of Norfolk county are cast therefor.

The bridge authority may adopt a seal which it may alter or
change at will.

12. ‘The bridge authority is vested with the power of investigating
and deciding upon the necessity or desirability of a bridge or bridges,
a ferry or ferries, a tunnel or tunnels, within or connecting the cities
of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and/or connecting either of said cities
and the said county and determining upon the same, together with the
location thereof, the type of construction to be followed, and the cost
thereof.

To provide funds for the acquisition or the construction of the
said ferry or ferries, bridge or bridges, tunnel or tunnels, with all
necessary rights of way, approaches, appurtenances and fixtures, the
bridge authority is authorized to issue its bonds and/or other nego-
tiable obligations at such time and from time to time, in such amounts,
bearing such interest rates and having such maturity dates, as it may
determine upon, such obligations to be secured by the pledge of all
or part of the revenues and tolls arising out of the use of said ferry
or ferries, bridge or bridges, tunnel or tunnels and their appurtenances,
and/or by mortgages upon the ferry, bridge or tunnel and all property
and rights connected therewith, as may be agreed upon with the pur-
chasers of such obligations; provided, however, that the rights herein
granted to construct a bridge or bridges, tunnel or tunnels, shall be
exercised by commencing the work of constructing a bridge or tunnel
within three (3) years from the date of the passage of this act and
by completing such structure within five (5) years from the date of
the commencement of the work thereon.

13. The obligations for money so raised by the bridge authority
for the construction of a bridge or tunnel and purposes incidental
thereto, as well as for such compensation as may be agreed upon be-
tween the councils of the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth and the
board of supervisors of Norfolk county to be paid to the said city of
Portsmouth and county of Norfolk for their interest in or any loss
occasioned to their revenues obtained from the Norfolk and Ports-
mouth ferries, sometimes called the Norfolk county ferries, by the
construction or operation of a bridge or tunnel, or both, shall consti-
tute a lien or liens upon the bridge or bridges, tunnel or tunnels, ferry
or ferries, the approaches and appurtenances thereto, the revenues and
tolls therefrom, in the order and in accordance with the terms and
conditions agreed upon between the bridge authority and the persons
or corporations acquiring its obligations, from and after the time that
such agreement has been duly recorded in the clerk’s offices of the
corporation court of the city of Norfolk, and the court of hustings
of the city of Portsmouth, and any right or claim of the State of Vir-
ginia, the city of Norfolk, the city of Portsmouth, the county of Nor-
folk, or any other person, corporation or political subdivision of the
State, including any claim arising out of this law, shall be subordinate
thereto.

14. The acquisition or construction, maintenance and operation of
a ferry, bridge or tunnel within or connecting the cities of Norfolk
and Portsmouth, either of said cities and said county, by such bridge
authority is in all respects for the benefit of the people of the State
and of the two cities and said county, for the increase of their com-
merce and prosperity, and for the improvement of their health and
living conditions, and the bridge authority shall be regarded as per-
forming a governmental function in undertaking the said acquisition,
construction, maintenance and operation, and in carrying out the
provisions of law relating to said ferry, bridge or tunnel, and shall be
required to pay no taxes, levies nor assessments upon any of the
property acquired by it for the construction, operation and mainte-
nance of a ferry, bridge or tunnel, nor upon such ferry, bridge or
tunnel, its approaches, appurtenances, equipment, nor upon any other
property owned by the bridge authority, nor upon the income derived
from its operation.

15. The bridge authority, through its chairman or vice-chairman,
shall have full power and authority after taking a vote, as provided
for in section eleven—to enter into all needful contracts and agree-
ments, and to execute all notes, bonds or other obligations on behalf
of and in the name of the bridge authority, to appear before all depart-
ments of the State or national government, and to ask for and obtain
all necessary permits and authorizations therefrom for the construc-
tion, operation and maintenance of said ferry or ferries, bridge or
bridges, tunnel or tunnels.

16. If, after the terms of the agreement provided for in sec-
tions twelve and thirteen have been fully complied with, there should
remain any surplus funds, which, in the judgment of the bridge author-
ity, are not, and will not be needed for the future operation and main-
tenance of such bridge or bridges, tunnel or tunnels so acquired or
constructed, the same shall be paid over to the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk in equal proportions.

17. The obligations of the bridge authority issued pursuant to this
act, or any amendment thereof, are declared to be the obligations of
any instrumentality of the State, and as such are and shall be, and the
income therefrom, exempt from all taxation of every kind to the
holders thereof, to the same extent and in the same manner as are
the State’s own obligations.

18. If and when the obligations to be issued for the construction
of any bridge or tunnel, or any obligations issued in payment or re-
newal thereof, or in compensation to Norfolk county and the city of
Portsmouth for their interest in or any loss occasioned to their ferry
revenue, have been paid, so that there is no outstanding obligations
against such bridge or tunnel, as provided in said agreement in section
twelve, mentioned, and the income therefrom is not needed to meet
such obligations, the bridge authority shall recommend to the city of
Norfolk and Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk what disposition
shall be made with respect to the future operation of such bridge or
tunnel, and the revenue therefrom.

19. This act shall be known and may be referred to as “the Nor-
folk-Portsmouth-Norfolk county bridge authority act.”

20. If any provision of this act, or the application thereof to any
person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act, and the
application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall
not be affected thereby.

21. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are, to the
extent of such conflict, hereby repealed; provided, however, that
nothing hercin contained shall be construed as modifying or repealing
any provision of chapter eighty-six of the Code of Virginia, providing
for the establishment and maintenance of ferries by private persons.
22. An emergency is hereby declared to exist, and this act shall
be in force from its passage.