Chap. 367.—An ACT to create Arlington sanitary district, which shall include
the entire county of Arlington; to create the “Arlington board of public
works,” to define the powers and duties of said board; to invest said board
with the power of eminent domain; to provide for the division of said sani-
tary district into zones, or sections; to provide for the purchase, construction,
maintenance, operation and control of drainage and sewerage systems and
sewerage disposal plants or works: for the construction of sidewalks: for
the issuance of bonds to raise funds for such purposes; for the assessment
of abutting property owners with certain amounts to be used in the construc-
tion and use of sewers and sidewalks; for the fixing and regulation of ser-
vice and other charges for the connection with and use of sewers; for the
pay of members, officers and employees; to prescribe penalties for violations:
and to repeal chapter 260 of the acts of assembly of 1922, page 445, and
chapter 463 of the acts of assembly of 1926, page 754, chapter 315 of the
acts of assembly of 1926, page 531, and chapter 294 of the acts of assembly
of 1926, page 510, in so far as it is applicable to the county of Arlington,
and to repeal all other acts and parts of acts in conflict with any of the
provisions of this act. [H B 402]

Approved March 22, 1928

I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
territory now composing that subdivision of the Commonwealth of
Virginia known as Arlington county be, and the same is hereby desig-
nated for the purpose hereinafter set forth as “Arlington sanitary
district.”

Section 2. The said sanitary district is hereby placed under the
jurisdiction of a board to be at all times composed of the same persons
who compose the board of supervisors of the county of Arlington,
which board as so constituted, shall be a body, corporate and politic,
inder the designation of “Arlington board of public works,” and
shall be vested with all lawful power and authority necessary to carry
nut all the provisions of this act, including the power of eminent do-
main. The said board of public works shall be construed to be an
agency of the board of supervisors of Arlington county, Virginia,
and is set up and created for the purpose of enabling the said board of
supervisors to conveniently perform its duties in the orderly develop-
ment and administration of its functions, as provided in the Consti-
tution and laws of the State of Virginia, and wherever the term ‘“‘the
board” is used in the following sections of this act it shall be construed
fo mean the Arlington board of public works as an agency of the said
board of supervisors of Arlington county.

The board shall have and maintain an office at the county court-
house, and shall keep all records concerning the administration of this
act, separate and apart from the records of the board of supervisors.
The board shall provide and keep a separate and permanent minute
hook, or books, in which shall be entered all orders, resolutions and
ordinances of the board; a separate lien docket in which shall .be
entered and indexed, all liens created under any of the provisions of
this act: separate plat books in which shall be recorded plats showing
the several sanitary and sewerage zones or sections as laid out and
approved by the board; and such other books and records as may be
tound necessary to be kept in the administration of this act.

The board of supervisors of said county shall have the right and
authority to appoint, discharge at pleasure, and fix the compensation of
a chief engineer, and such engineering, legal, clerical and other force
and help as, from time to time, in its judgment, may be necessary to
carry out the provisions of this act: and the clerk of the board of
supervisors of Arlington county shall be ex-officio clerk of said board
of public works until such time as the said board shall appoint a sep-
arate clerk.

The members of the board shall serve without compensation.

All compensation, salaries and other costs and expenses incurred
in carrving out the provisions of this act, shall be provided for in the
county budget and paid out of the county ‘fund.

All receipts and expenditures of said board shall be subject to the
approval of the board of supervisors and to the provisions of the
county budget law in all respects.

Section 3. For the purpose of providing for the prosecution of its
investigations and surveys, the preparation of necessary maps, plans,
and specifications, and for the doing of all other things that may be
required by this act, other than construction work, the board shall,
from time to time, as in its judgment may appear necessary, expend
such amounts as may be required for said purposes, the same to be
provided for in the regular annual levy; except such costs as may be
properly apportioned among abutting landowners as hereinafter ser
forth.

Such levy shall be for the specific purposes of this act and shall be
expended for no other purpose and any unexpended balance at the
end of the year shall be set aside and used in succeeding years for the
purposes of this act.

Section 4. The chief engineer shall present to the board on or
before the first day of January, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine
and annually thereafter, a detailed report covering its activities for
the previous calendar year and setting forth the best means of pro-
ceeding with the construction and operation of the sewerage systems.
and sidewalks, proposed for the sanitary district, and any other mat-
ters within the jurisdiction of the board.

Section 5. The board shall cause surveys, plans, specifications and
estimates to be made for sewerage and drainage systems and sewerage
disposal works, and sidewalks, in any portion of the sanitary district
in which, in its judgment, such systems or any of them, are necessary.
The board shall within sixty days after the passage of this act fix and
determine the boundaries of all sewerage districts in the county, and
to properly designate the same in such a way as shall, in its judgment,
best serve the needs of the various communities and shall promote
convenience and economy of installation and operation. The bound-
aries of any sewerage district may, at any time, be changed upon peti-
tion to the board by property owners in the area affected prior to
authorization of the issuance of bonds in said district.

Section 6. The board after fixing and designating the sewerage dis-
tricts as defined in section five, shall, from time to time, have prepared
by the commissioner of revenue of the county separate assessment
books showing all real estate and improvements, and all items subject
to taxation under this act in each sewerage district, as defined in sec-
tion five of this act, and said books shall be permanently so kept and
revised, from time to time, to show at all times for the purposes of
any levies authorized under this act the taxable property of each person,
firm or corporation.

Section 7. Whenever it shall be deemed necessary by the board to
take or acquire any land, structures or buildings, or any stream bed.
waterway, water rights or watershed, either in fee or as an easement,
within or without the sanitary district, for the constructing, renewing,
extension or maintenance of any sewers or appurtenances thereof, or
for any sewerage disposal plant, it may purchase the same from the
owners, or failing to agree with the owner or owners thereof, may
acquire the same by condemnation, and the proceedings in all such
cases shall be according to the provisions of chapter one hundred and
seventy-six of the Code of Virginia, nineteen hundred and nineteen.
and acts amendatory thereof, so far as they can be applied to the same,
and the board may likewise condemn the interest of any tenants, les-
sees or other persons having an interest in said land, structures or
buildings, stream bed, waterway, water rights or watershed.
Section 8. That all individuals, firms and corporations having
buildings, conduits, pipes, tracks or other physical obstructions in,
over or under the public roads, streets or alleys, within the sanitary
district, which shall block or impede the progress of the board’s sewer-
age or drainage system, while in process of construction and establish-
ment, shall, upon reasonable notice from the board, promptly so shift,
adjust, accommodate or remove the same, at their own cost and ex-
pense, as to fully meet the exigencies occasioning such notice; and
should the exigencies of any case involve the taking in the constitu-
tional sense, of the franchise or right in the exercise of which such
construction had its origin, the board shall be empowered to condemn
an easement in said franchise or right. Every public service corpora-
tion, company or individual, before it, or they, shall begin any under-
ground construction in any street. road, alley or public highway within
the sanitary district, shall file with the board a plan of such construc-
tion showing the location and depth of such street, road, alley or pub-
lic highway of the proposed conduit or pipe, with specification for
said work, which plans and specifications must be approved by the
board before such construction is begun; and when approved no change
shall be made in the physical location of anything shown upon said
plan except upon the approval of the board, and the board shall have
the right and authority to have said construction superintended to see
that it conforms to said plans and specifications. Whenever any such
underground main, conduit or pipe is put in without the filing of plans
and specifications with the board, and the approval thereof, or when
anv change is made in the physical location of such underground main,
conduit or pipe, as shown upon the plans approved by the board, or
anv approved change therein, the board may, when such conduit, main
or pipe interferes with the construction or operation of its water and
sewerage systems, remove the same or change the location thereof at
the cost and expense of the party so putting them in, or its successors,
and without any lability upon the part of the board for damage that
might be done to the same by reason of the board’s operations in con-
struction or maintaining its systems. Any violation of the provisions
of this section shall be a misdemeanor and punishable under section
nine of this act.

Section 9. That every act or omission designated as a misdemeanor
in this act, unless otherwise provided, shall be brought by warrant or
indictment upon the oath or information of any member of said board,
or any employee thereof, and the offender shall, upon conviction, be
subject to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or thirty days in
the county jail, or both, in the discretion of the justice or jury trying
the case. Where such act or omission is of a continuing nature and
is persisted in, in violation of the provisions of this act or any rule or
regulation formulated thereunder, a conviction for one offense shall
not be a bar to conviction for a continuation of such offense subse-
quent to the first, or any succeeding, conviction.

Section 10. The board shall have full power and authority to enter
into any contracts or agreements with the commissioners of the Dis-
trict of Columbia, or any other federal authority for the connection
of its sewerage and drainage systems with those of the District of
Columbia, or any other federal authority, for the disposal of sewerage
and drainage from the sanitary district; and to enter into any agree-
ment concerning any other matter necessary, advisable or expedient
for the proper construction, maintenance and operation of the sewer-
age or drainage systems under its control, or those under the control
of the commissioners of the District of Columbia, or any other federal
authority. | !

Section 11. That whenever the plans and specifications for sewer-
age or drainage systems, or sewerage disposal works, or sidewalks,
for any district shall have been completed and/or the issue of bonds
authorized for the construction thereof, the board shall advertise by
notice in such newspapers and technical press as it may deem proper,
for bids for the construction of said system, systems, or works, in
parts or as a whole, as in its judgment may appear advisable. The
contract shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, or the board may
reject any or all bids, and, if in its judgment the prices quoted are
unreasonable, it may re-advertise the work or any part of it, or may
do any part or all of the work by day labor; provided that the board
may, at any time, in its discretion, expend by day labor for construc-
tion an amount not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, without adver-
tising or receiving bids. All such contracts shall be protected by such
bonds, penalties and conditions as the board shall require, all of which
shall be enforceable in any court having jurisdiction.

Section 12. For the purpose of providing funds for the design,
construction, establishment, purchase or condemnation of sewerage
and drainage systems and/or sewerage disposal works, and/or for
laying and constructing sidewalks in the said sanitary district, the
board of supervisors of said county is authorized and empowered to
issue bonds, from time to time, in such amounts as it may deem neces-
sary to carry on such works; provided, however, that no bonds may be
issued for main trunk sewerage lines or sewerage disposal works, or
for the construction of sidewalks unless and until the same be previ-
ously authorized by an election to be held as hereinafter provided ;
and provided further that any two districts may be combined, or con-
solidated, and have a general bond issue for the area so combined.

Section 13. The circuit court of the county, upon the petition of
a majority of the board, or upon petition of fifty qualified voters of
any one or more sewerage districts which have been designated, as
aforesaid, shall make an order requiring the judges of election, at the
next election of county officers, or at any other time not less than
thirty days from the date of such order, which shall be designated
therein, to open a poll and take the sense of the qualified voters of the
said sewerage district or districts, on the question whether the board
shall issue bonds for the purposes set forth in said petition; a general
description of the works proposed to be constructed, and the estimated
cost thereof, to be named in the order. The said order shall designate
the sewerage district or districts, in which said public improvements
are to be constructed, and the maximum amount of bonds to be issued.
The qualified voters at any election held under this act shall be all
persons in said sewerage district or districts, qualified to vote at a
special election, under the provisions of section eighty-three of the
Code of Virginia.

The regular election officers of said county in and for the pre-
cincts in which the sewerage district or districts, or a greater part
thereof are located, or at the nearest voting place if there be none in
such district or districts at the time designated in the order authorizing
the vote, shall open the polls at the regular voting places in said
sewerage district or districts, and shall conduct such election and close
the polls in such manner as is provided by law in other elections, and
at such election, each qualified voter who shall approve such issue of
bonds shall deposit a ballot on which shall be printed the words “for
bond issue,” and each qualified voter who shall oppose such issue shall
deposit a ballot whereon shal! be printed the words “against bond
issue.” The judges of election at the several voting places shall im-
mediately after the closing of the polls count the ballots deposited, and
shall make return thereof as is provided in other elections. Said bal-
lots shall be printed and furnished by the regular election officers.

The commissioner of election of said county shall, within two days
after the judges of election have made return of the poll books and
ballots as aforesaid, meet at the office of the county clerk, and, having
taken oath before him faithfully to discharge their duties, canvass the
returns and certify the results thereof to the circuit court.

If it shall appear by the report of the commissioners of election
that a majority of the qualified voters of the sewerage district or dis-
tricts, in which the public improvements are to be constructed, voting
on the question, are in favor of issuing the bonds for the purposes
aforesaid, the circuit court shall, at its next term, enter of record an
order requiring the board to proceed at their next meeting to carry out
the wishes of the voters, as expressed at the said election.

Section 14. Whenever the sense of the qualified voters of any sew-
erage district or districts, shall be taken on the question, whether the
board of supervisors of said county shall issue bonds for the purpose
aforesaid, the said election and returns shall be subject to the inquiry,
determination and judgment of the circuit court of the county in which
said election was held, upon the written complaint of fifteen or more
of the qualified voters, of such county in the sewerage district or dis-
tricts, in which the public improvements are to be constructed, of an
undue election or of false returns, two of whom shall take an oath
that facts set forth in said complaint are true to the best of their
knowledge and belief, and the court shall, in judging of such election
and returns, proceed upon the merits thereof, and determine concerning
the same according to the Constitution and laws of this State, but
such complaint shall not be valid unless it shall have been filed within
thirty days after said election in the clerk’s office of the said circuit
court. The board of supervisors shall be made a defendant by sum-
mons, or notice, to its chairman of the filing of the complaint, and
after such service of notice on the chairman of the said board either
party, upon reasonable notice to the other, shall be at liberty to take
depositions to sustain or invalidate such election. Service of notice
on any three of the complainants shall be sufficient. The court shall
proceed at its next term after such service of summons, or notice, to
determine the contest without a jury on the evidence, oral or written,
unless good cause be shown for the continuance, and shall make a
proper record of its judgment. If the judgment be that the election is
a valid one in favor of the issuing of bonds for the public improve-
ments in said sewerage district or districts, the court shall make an
order in conformity with the preceding section.

The board shall determine what amount of bonds for said public
improvements in said sewerage district or districts, shall presently be
issued, and shall enter of record the amount so determined, and, in
event they do not at that time direct the present issuing of all the said
bonds, they may thereafter, from time to time, direct the residue
thereof to be issued to carry out the wishes of the voters, so far as
necessary, as expressed in such election, and in event the board for
any reason fails, or refuses, to issue the bonds so authorized to be 1s-
sued, the circuit court of the county may upon the complaint of ten
qualified voters of the sewerage district or districts, and after ten days
notice to the chairman of the board, and the board of supervisors, tor
cause shown, issue an order directing the issue of the said bonds, or anv
unissued residue thereof, or such portion thereof as the court may,
from time to time, deem proper to be issued in order to enable the
proper authorities to carry out the wishes of the voters, as expressed
in said election.

Section 15. The board of supervisors shall have the power to ap-
point an agent, or agents, to sell such bonds as may be issued from
time to time, under the provisions of this act, provided that said bonds
be sold and paid for in lawful money and at such price, or prices, as
will net the county not less than the par value thereof. All bonds is-
sued for main trunk line, sewers and sewerage disposal works shall
be designated as “trunk line sewer bonds, series one, two, three, etc.”,
and the proceeds thereof shall be used solely in connection with laying
out, establishing, acquiring and constructing main trunk line sewers
and sewerage disposal works. All bonds issued for lateral sewer lines
shall be designated as “lateral sewer line bonds, series A, B, C, etc.”,
and the proceeds thereof shall be used solely in connection with lay-
ing out, establishing, acquiring and constructing lateral sewer lines.
All bonds issued for sidewalk construction shall be designated as
“sidewalk construction bonds, series one, two, three, etc.”, and the
proceeds thereof shall be used solely for construction of sidewalks.

Separate detailed accounts shall be kept by the treasurer of the
county, of all receipts and expenditures for the two classes of sewer-
age works and sidewalks, and statements of said receipts and expendi-
tures published annually by the board in one or more newspapers
published in Arlington county.

Section 16. When such sale of bonds has been authorized and ne-
gotiated the board of supervisors of said county shall issue the same.
Such bonds may be either registered or coupon bonds, in such de-
nomination or denominations as shall be determined by the board of
supervisors and shall be guaranteed as to payment of principal and
interest by said board of supervisors, which guaranties shall be in-
dorsed on each of said bonds in the following language: “the payment
of interest when due and of the principal at maturity is guaranteed by
Arlington county, Virginia.”

Such bonds shall be signed by the chairman of the board of super-
visors, and countersigned by the clerk thereof under the seal of the
board of supervisors; shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding six
per centum per annum, payable semi-annually at the office of the
treasurer of said county, and shall be payable not exceeding twenty
years from the date thereof at said office, but may in the discretion of
said board of supervisors be made redeemable at such time or times,
after such period or periods, and upon such notice as the said board of
supervisors may prescribe and stipulate upon the face of the bonds
when issued. The board of supervisors shall deliver them to the treas-
urer of the county, who shall deliver said bonds to the purchasers
thereof, or their order, upon the payment of the price thereof. The
said treasurer and his sureties shall be liable for the amount received
for said bonds as though it were a county levy, and said fund shall be
expended for the purpose and in the district or districts, for which it
was intended and none other. The said treasurer shall receive no
compensation for his services hereunder. The cost of giving surety
on such additional bond as may be required of him, if any, on account
of his receipts of said funds, shall be paid by the board of supervisors.
The said board of supervisors may direct the treasurer to deposit the
proceeds of said bond issue in such bank, or banks, as he may select,
to the credit of said treasurer, and at the best obtainable rate of inter-
est, to be paid out on his checks therefor, and all interest accrued
therefrom shall be accounted for by said treasurer and expended for
the purposes of said public works, and in so far as not necessary for
said public works, shall be covered into the sinking fund for the pay-
ment of the principal of said bonds.

Section 17. After issuing such bonds for trunk line sewers, sewer-
age disposal works or sidew alks when the next levy is laid or tax im-
posed in said county, a tax shall be levied on all property liable to
county or district tax in such sewerage districts in which the proceeds
of the bonds have been, or are to be expended, to pay the interest on
the bonds so issued, and to create a sinking fund to redeem the princi-
pal thereof at maturity; the amount levied and set apart as a sinking
fund and the interest accruing thereon shall be used for the payment
of the principal of said bonds, and for no other purpose.
Should, for any reason, the county in any way have to assume any
payment on account of said bond issue, either interest or principal, it
is hereby provided that the board of supervisors shall levy such tax
in said districts as may be necessary to defray the amount assumed
by the county, it being intended that bonds to be issued under this act
are county obligations, but pavable primarily out of levies upon the
property in the districts where the proceeds of the bonds may he ex-
pended hereunder.

The board of supervisors is hereby authorized and empowered 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 pur-
chased by said board of supervisors, shall be immediately cancelled,
and shall not be re-issued, and the said board of supervisors 1s author-
ized and empowered to lend out, upon real estate security, the loan
not to exceed seventy-five per centum of the assessed value of such
real estate or deposit in bank at interest, all accumulations of money
to the credit of said sinking fund, and to collect and re-invest the same,
and the interest accruing thereon from time to time, so often as may
be necessary or expedient, until such time. as such bonds become sub-
ject to call.

Section 18. When the said county wishes to redeem any of its
outstanding bonds subject to call, issued under the provisions of this
act, it may, through the chairman of the board of supervisors, give
notice of its readiness to do so to the holder in person, or by publi-
cation thereof once a week, for two successive weeks, in a newspaper
published in said county. It shall be sufficient in the notice to give the
designation number and amount of such bond, and fix the day for its
presentation and payment, which shall not be less than ten days from
the date of personal service of notice, or the completion of the publi-
cation thereof, as the case may be. If the bond be not presented on
the day fixed for its redemption, interest thereon shall cease from
that date.

Section 19. The board shall provide for each and every property
abutting upon a street or right of way in which, under this act, a
sanitary sewer is laid, a sewer connection which shall be extended, as
required, from the sewer to the property line of the abutting lot, said
service pipe or connection to be constructed by, and at the sole ex-
pense of said board. When any sewer is declared by the board com-
plete and ready for the reception of sewage, every abutting property
owner, after notice, shall make connection of all toilets and waste
drains with said sewer within a time prescribed by said board. Where
the aforesaid fixtures do not exist, or are of a nature which, in the
judgment of the board, is improper or inadequate, satisfactory equip-
ment shall be installed by the abutting property owner within such
time as the board shall prescribe. All cesspools, sink drains and privies
shall be abandoned and left in such a way that they cannot again be
used nor injuriously affect the public health, said disposition to be
determined by the board; and all wells that are found by the board
to be polluted or a menace to health shall likewise be abandoned and
closed. Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be a mis-
demeanor punishable under section nine of this act.

Section 20. Before any sewer construction is done in any building,
or upon any private property, within the sanitary district, which con-
nects with or forms a part of the permanent sewerage system of the
sanitary district, the person, firm or corporation doing the same shall
first obtain a permit from the board and pay therefor such reason-
able sum as the board may prescribe. Such work shall be done under
and pursuant to such rules, regulations and requirements as the
board may from time to time formulate, and subject to such inspect-
tion as may be deemed necessary. No connection of any kind shall
be made with any sewer, constructed or maintained by the board, with-
out a permit and under conditions as the board may authorize. No
private, or semi-public, sewerage installation intended for the use
of two or more buildings or premises shall be constructed in said
sanitary district without the person, firm or corporation doing the
work having first obtained a permit from the board and paid a reason-
able charge therefor, and such plant shall. then be installed, main-
tained and operated under such rules and regulations as the board may
require or devise. Any violation of any of the provisions of this
section shall be a misdemeanor punishable under section nine of this
act.

Section 21. In lieu of or in addition to the special assessment pro-
vided for in section twenty-seven of this act, the board may make such
charge as it may determine to be reasonable, for every sewer connec-
tion provided for in the preceding section, which charge shall be uni-
form throughout the sanitary district. subject, however, to revision
annually by the board. Said charge shall be paid by all property own-
ers at the office of the county treasurer before the actual connection
with any pipe on private property is made; or any owner so desiring
may so pay one-fourth of said charge, in which case the balance shall
be paid in three equal annual installments, such deferred payments to
bear interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, and shall be a
lien on the property with which the connection is made in the same
manner and to the same extent as county taxes.

Section 22. For the purpose of providing funds for maintaining,
repairing and operating its sewerage and drainage systems, including
overhead expense and proper depreciation allowance, the board shall
be empowered and directed to make such service rates as it may deem
necessary chargeable against all properties having a connection with
any sewer under its ownership, and anv unexpended balance accumu-
lated from such rates shall be applied toward defraying interest and
sinking fund of said bonds. Said rates shall be uniform throughout
the sanitary district, but subject to change from time to time, as neces-
sary. Bills for the amount of the charges as above specified shall be
sent monthly, quarterly or senu-annually, as the board may determine,
to each property served, and shall be thereon payable at the office of
the county treasurer. If any bill shall remain unpaid for sixty days
after being sent by the board, it shall be collectible against the owner
of the property served, in the same manner and to the same extent as
county taxes.

Section 23. Whenever the board shall have extended its general
sewerage system up to and is ready to connect with any municipally
owned or privately owned sewerage system, or previously thereto if
in its judgment such action is expedient, and it deems it advisable and
proper for the adequate operation of the system under its jurisdiction
to take over ‘the said sewerage system, it may purchase the same upon
such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon. In the event ot
tailure to agree as to the purchase price or conditions of purchase
ot said sewerage system, whether privately or municipally owned, the
board may acquire the same by condemnation, in the same manner as
it is authorized to acquire land by this act. In the condemnation of
privately owned sewerage systems the commissioners shall take into
consideration as a part of their award, any payment, contribution or
tax paid by the respective lot owners or purchasers toward the con-
struction of said systems, and where said system or systems have been
built in connection with and for the purpose of developing home sites,
subdivisions or villages by any individual, firm or corporation and
such system or systems have been offered as an inducement for the
purchase of lots or land therein, the commissioners may, in their dis-
cretion, deduct from the determined value of the plan or system such
sum as it may reasonably determine was added to the purchase price
ot said land or lots in the sale thereof for the purpose of constructing
said system. Privately owned systems shall be taken under said con-
demnation by the board free and clear of all debts and liens, but the
board shall make a party defendant any person, firm or corporation
having anv record, lien or encumbrance against the same, and the cir-
cuit court 1s hereby empowered and authorized to determine the re-
spective amount due the defendants, and from and after the payment
into court or to the proper parties, the board shall be authorized at once
to take possession of, maintain and operate said system, whether private
or municipal, as a part of its general system, and from the date of
such payment all properties along the line of any sewer of the system
so acquired shall stand in the same relation, and be subject to the same
regulations and penalties, as though the system so acquired had been
constructed and put into operation by the board under the provisions
of this act, provided, however, that no building or premises, actually
connected in an adequate manner with said acquired system at the time
of its purchase, shall be required to pay the connection charge specified
under section twenty-one. Wherever there is in existence a privately
owned sewerage system which, in the judgment of the board, 1s unft,
as a whole or in part, for incorporation with the board’s system, the
board shall disregard the existence of said system, or unfit part thereof,
and extend its system to serve the area tributary to the existing system,
or unfit part thereof, and all the provisions of this act relating to system
construction by the board shall apply to said extension. Any munici-
pality whose system is acquired by the board, whether by purchase or
condemnation, is hereby authorized to use the amount paid to it for
said system for the purchase or redemption of any bonds or debt which
may be outstanding against the same; or the board may, as a part of
the purchase price of said system, assume the payment of any such
outstanding bonds.

Section 24. After the passage of this act, whenever a municipality
or the property owners or residents of any locality in the sanitary dis-
trict, other than public service corporations, shall desire a sewerage or
drainage system, or part thereof, to be constructed in that municipality,
or locality, such municipality or persons may, with approval of the
board, build and operate said system at its or their own expense, but
it shall be constructed under the plans and specifications prepared by
the board and under its supervision, and its maintenance and operation
shall be under the general supervisory control of the board, which
engineering and supervisory service shall be rendered by the board
free of charge; and no such system or part thereof, or no sewer, storm
water drain, or sewage disposal plant, or no connection with the above,
shall be constructed or installed except as above provided, and any
violation of this provision shall be a misdemeanor punishable under
section nine of this act. All construction and operating records, in-
cluding cost records, shall be filed with the board, which shall be em-
powered at any time to take over said system or part thereof, or said
sewer, storm water drain, or sewage disposal plant, or connection with
the above, in the same manner as provided under section twenty-three
for systems existing at the time of the passage of this act. The
board shall be empowered to extend its sewerage and drains into an
area outside of the sanitary district contiguous thereto or in the
vicinity thereof, whenever the property owners of said area shall agree
to the conditions that may be imposed by the board.

Section 25. The board may enter upon any State, county or
municipal street, road or alley, or any public highway, or railroad
right of way, for the purpose cf installing, maintaining and operating
the sewerage and drainage systems provided for under this act, and
it may construct in any street, road or alley or public highway, or rail-
road right of way, a sewer or drain, or any appurtenance thereof, with-
out the receipt of a permit or the payment of a charge; provided that
whenever any State, county or municipal highway, or railroad right
of way, is to be disturbed the public authority having control thereof,
or the railroad company, as the case may be, shall be duly notified, and
provided further that said highway, or railroad right of way, shall be
repaired and left by the board in the same, or a not inferior, condition
to that existing before being torn up, and that all costs incident thereto
shall be borne by the board.

Section 26. Any employee or agent of the board shall have the right
of entry, at all reasonable hours, upon any private premises and into
any building in the sanitary district, while in the pursuit of his official
duties, and any restraint or hindrance offered to such entry by any
owner or tenant, or agent of said owner or tenant, shall be a misde-
meanor punishable under section nine of this act.

Section 27. The board shall have the right to impose and levy
special taxes or assessments upon abutting property owners for the
purpose of making and improving the walkways upon then existing
streets, and improving and paving then existing alleys, and for either
the construction, or for the use of sewers, within the limitations pre-
scribed by section one hundred and seventy of the Constitution, as
amended, and, except as hereinafter otherwise provided, upon the same
terms and conditions, to the. same effect, and upon proceedings similar
to, and as nearly as can be, in accordance with the terms, conditions
and proceedings prescribed for cities and towns, and certain counties
by sections three thousand and sixty-seven, three thousand and sixty-
eight, three thousand and sixty-nine, three thousand and seventy and
three thousand and seventy-one of the Code of Virginia as amended.

In the absence of an agreement between the board and the abutting
land owners, such improvements, the cost of which is to be defrayed
in whole or in part by such local tax or assessment, may be ordered
on the petition of the owners of real estate abutting on such improve-
ments, the assessed value of which is equal to at least sixty per centum
of the assessed value of all of such abutting property; or the same may
be made when the board shall deem the same necessary or expedient.
In either such event, notice shall be given and proceedings had in
accordance with the provisions of sections three thousand and sixty-
eight, three thousand and sixty-nine, three thousand and seventy and
three thousand and seventy-one of the Code of Virginia as amended.

Any tax or assessment imposed under the provisions of this act,
may be made payable upon such terms and in such installments, as the
board may prescribe, provided that any such installments shall not be
made to extend through a period of more than ten years.

All taxes and assessments imposed under any of the provisions of
this act, shall constitute liens upon the real estate against which the
same may be levied or imposed, superior to all other liens except taxes
levied for other local purposes.

The board shall promptly certify to the clerk of the circuit court of
Arlington county, copies, or abstracts of all orders, resolutions and
ordinances imposing such taxes or assessments, who shall forthwith
enter the same in the current judgment lien docket in his office, and
index the same in the name of the board and of each person whose real
estate is affected thereby. All such orders, resolutions and ordinances
shall show the location of the property affected thereby, as well as the
names of the owners thereof.

All special assessments made under any of the provisions of this
act, shall, when and as collected, be paid into the funds raised from
the sale of bonds issued for such local improvements in the zone, or
zones, in which such assessments are made, and the same, together with
any unexpended portion of such bond funds, shall constitute a revolving
fund for further improvements ordered and made under the provisions
hereof.

The provisions of this act, with reference to the kinds of local
lmprovements covered hereby, are in adidtion to, and shall not be con-
strued in diminution of any power or authority conferred by general
law, or any other special act.

The board shall have the right at any time, and from time to time,
to issue bonds for such amounts as it may deem necessary or proper,
for the construction of lateral sewer lines without the necessity of
having the same authorized or approved by a vote of the people, not
to exceed, however, fifty thousand dollars outstanding in any sewerage
district at any one time; and when it shall be determined to construct
a system of sidewalks in any magisterial district, and the cost thereof
shall have been apportioned between the board and the abutting prop-
erty owners, either by agreement, or by virtue of a proceeding had
under the provisions of section three thousand and sixty-seven of the
Code, the board may allow the portion to be paid by such property
owners, which may not be more than fifty per cent of the cost thereof,
except by mutual agreement, to be paid in installments over a period
not exceeding five years, and a tax shall be levied on the property in
such magisterial district taxable for local purposes, for so many years
as may be necessary to raise sufficient funds to pay the principal and
interest of such bonds, which will not be covered by the assessments so
made, against the abutting property owners, provided that such levy
shall not be less than five cents nor more than ten cents on each one
hundred dollars of assessed value, for any year.

Section 28. Chapter two hundred and sixty of the acts of the
assembly, nineteen hundred and twenty-two, page four hundred and
forty-five; chapter four hundred and sixty-three of the acts of as-
sembly, nineteen hundred and twenty-six, page seven hundred and fifty-
four; chapter three hundred and fifteen, of the acts of assembly, nine-
teen hundred and twenty-six, page five hundred and thirty-one; and
chapter two hundred and ninety-four of the acts of assembly, nineteen
hundred and twenty-six, page five hundred and ten, in so far as it is
applicable to the county of Arlington; and all other acts or parts of
acts in conflict with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed.

Section 29. An emergency existing, this act shall be in force from
its passage.