Chap. 182.—An ACT to provide a new charter for the town of Remington and to
repeal all other acts inconsistent with this act. [H B 387]

Approved March 22, 1932

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
town of Remington, in the county of Fauquier, shall continue to be a
town corporate, in the name and style of the town of Remington and
as such shall have and exercise all the powers conferred upon towns in
this Commonwealth by the general laws of this State concerning towns
now in force, or that may hereafter be enacted for the government of
towns.

2. The following are declared to be the bounds of said town:

Beginning at (1) an iron rod, driven on the northwest side of the
Kellyville road ; thence with northwest side of said road, north twenty
east one thousand feet to (2) an iron bar, driven on the northwest side
of said road; thence crossing the road, south eighty-one and one-
fourth east four hundred and forty-three and five-tenths feet to (3) an
iron bar, driven on the north side of the Ridge road, and corner to the
Virginia Public Service Company’s sub-station lot ; thence passing said
lot, and crossing C. H. Bowen’s land, north forty-six and one-half east
four hundred and five feet to (4) an iron bar driven in Tin Pot run;
thence up Tin Pot run, north five and one-fourth east eight hundred
and fifty feet to (5) a point on bridge over Tin Pot run, three feet
from the southwest corner thereof ; thence still with said run, north six
west One thousand and eighty-three feet to (6) a point on said run at
end of a ditch bank ; thence with Bowen and Lake, south eighty-nine
west eleven hundred and fourteen and five-tenths feet to (7) a point on
east side of Church street ; thence with the Perrow road, north sixty-
three and one-fourth west thirteen hundred and twenty-eight feet to a
point on the east side of the old Warrenton road, seven feet north-
west of a cedar in angle of McConchie’s fence line at (8) then with
said old road, south six east seven hundred and sixty-three and five-
tenths feet to (9) a pile of stone on west side of road; thence south
thirty-three west six hundred and sixty-one and five-tenths feet to
(10) a stake in Hedinger’s lot ; thence crossing Main street, south ten
and one-half west five hundred and sixty-three feet to (11) a stake;
thence south fifty east thirteen hundred and seven feet to (12) a stake
on the south side of the State highway; thence south forty-one and
one-half east five hundred and fifty-three and five-tenths feet to (13) a
telegraph pole on southeast side of Southern railway; thence south
thirty-one and one-half east six hundred and twenty-nine and five-
tenths feet to the place of beginning.

3. The government of the said town shall be vested in a town
council, which shall be composed of a mayor and six councilmen, each
of whom shall be a qualified voter within said town.

4. A mayor and six councilmen shall be elected on the second
Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and thirty-two and every two years
thereafter, and shall hold office for two years from the first day of
September next succeeding their election.

5. The council shall appoint a recorder and town sergeant, and if
they deem it advisable a deputy town sergeant, a town treasurer and
such other officers as the council may deem necessary and proper,
all of whom shall hold office at and during the pleasure of the council,
and said officers shall qualify and execute bonds in the manner pre-
scribed by resolution of the council; and the council shall have power
to fill vacancies in any of these offices created by death, resignation,
removal or otherwise. The council shall not elect any officer for a
term extending beyond the thirty-first day of August next succeeding
each regular quadrennial municipal election for members of the
council.

6. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the town and
shall have the jurisdiction and authority of a justice of the peace for
Fauquier county within and one mile beyond the corporate limits of
said town, and he shall have exclusive jurisdiction for the trial of
offenses arising under the ordinances of the said town. In the absence of
the mayor or during vacancy in his office the members of the council
shall have and exercise the same jurisdiction and authority.

7. The mayor shall preside over the meetings of the council but
will have no vote except in event of a tie vote when he shall vote. He
shall be entitled to receive the same fees for the issuance of warrants
and the trial of causes as are allowed under general laws to justices
of peace.

8. In case a vacancy shall occur in the office of mayor the same
shall be filled by appointment of the council of any one eligible to such
office.

9, If the mayor be absent during any meeting of the council it
shall elect one of its members as president protempore to preside at
such meeting.

10. If at any time the mayor shall believe that an emergency exists
or that it is necessary for the good order and preservation of the laws
that additional police be provided, he shall have the power to furnish
and qualify such additional police, their commpreleelete to be fixed by
the council.

11. All ordinances of the town must, before becoming effective,
be enacted by a majority vote of the council and be approved by the
mayor; and if disapproved by the mayor shall become effective only
upon the affirmative vote of the council by at least four members
thereof entered of record. No penalty shall be imposed under any ordi-
nance enacted by the council until such ordinance shall have been
posted for a period of thirty days in one or more conspicuous places in
said town.

12. It shall be the duty of the recorder to keep a correct and pro-
per record of the proceedings of the council and to publish in such
manner as the council may indicate the by-laws, ordinances and reso-
lutions that may from time to time be adopted. He shall issue licenses
to all persons engaged in a pursuit, business, occupation, or profession
for which a license shall be required, shall prepare the tax tickets and
shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by the
council and by the provisions of this act, for which services he shall
receive such compensation as the council may determine, not exceed-
ing fifty dollars per annum.

13. The treasurer of the town shall be the disbursing agent of the
town and have the custody of all moneys and securities belonging
thereto; he shall collect all taxes and assessments, light bills, water
bills, and other charges payable to the town, and for that purpose he
is hereby vested with all powers which are now or may hereafter be
vested in county and city treasurers for the collection of county, city
and State taxes under general law. The treasurer shall keep an accu-
rate account of all receipts from all sources and of expenditures of all
departments of the town government. ,

a. No money shall be paid out by the treasurer except by order
of the council and upon a warrant of the recorder of the council
countersigned by the mayor.

b. He shall annually at the end of each fiscal year, publish, either
in a newspaper published in Fauquier county or by posting in front of
his office, a statement showing all receipts and income of the town and
from what source derived, and all disbursements made and for what
purpose.

c. He shall make such other reports from time to time as may be
required by ordinance or by resolution of the council.

d. The treasurer’s compensation shall be fixed by the council, but
in no case shall it exceed five per centum of all moneys collected by
him from all sources ; provided he shall receive no commission or com-
pensation on bonds issued or money borrowed by the town.

14. The town sergeant shall be a conservator of the peace and in
civil cases that may arise within the corporate limits of the town he
shall be invested with all the powers which the general laws of this
State confer upon constables; his jurisdiction as a police officer shall
extend one mile beyond the corporate limits of the town. The sergeant
shall possess the like right of distress and power in collecting munici-
pal taxes possessed by sheriffs and constables in the collection of State
and county taxes. He shall receive the same fees as a constable, and
such other compensation as may be prescribed by the council, ‘ot
exceeding, however, one hundred dollars per month. :

15. The recorder, treasurer and sergeant shall be under direct con-

trol of the council and in addition to the duties required of them under
this act they shall perform such other duties as may be required by the
council. They shall be subject to removal by a majority vote of the
council for incompetence, misconduct or negligence of duty. If re-
quired by the council, they shall execute bond in such penalty as may
be prescribed by the council, surety to be approved by the mayor.
The town council shall have the right to pay the premiums on the
official bonds of its officers.
16. The council shall hold regular or stated meetings once a
month at such time as shall be fixed by their body. Extra or special
meetings may be called by the mayor or by three members of the
council; but the purpose for which a special meeting is called shall be
stated in writing. Four members of the council shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.

The council shall be the sole judge of the election and qualification
of its members, and it shall have the power to fill all vacancies in its
own body and in any other office of the town. It may elect such com-
mittees for the various departments of the town as it may desire from
its own members. Such committees shall be appointed at the regular
meeting in September, nineteen hundred and thirty-two, and vacancies
shall be filled by the council as they occur.

17. The town council may make ordinances and by-laws for carry-
ing into effect the provisions of this act; may prescribe fines and other
punishment for the violation of any of the ordinances of the town;
may levy and collect privilege and other kind of taxes not prohibited
by general law; may prevent animals and fowls from running at large
on the streets of the town; may prohibit cruelty to animals; may re-
strain and punish beggars, peddlers and vagrants; may prevent and
disperse riots, disturbances and unlawful or disorderly assemblages ;
may suppress houses of ill fame and bawdy houses; may abate as a
nuisance any house or other place upon evidence of general reputation
that the same is being used for the purpose of lewdness ; may prohibit
and punish gaming and betting, regardless of the amount won or lost ;
may prevent indecent or lewd conduct, pictures and exhibitions ; may
prevent and prohibit immoral and lewd picture shows, or motion pic-
tures calculated to injure the morals of the town; may prohibit the
coming into town of persons having no ostensible means of support
and of persons who may be dangerous to the peace and safety of the
town; may offer rewards for the apprehension of persons committing
felonies in the town, provided a reward offered in any case shall not
exceed the sum of one hundred dollars; may prescribe rules and regu-
lations for the orderly building of blacksmith shops, garages and other
shops and structures; may control or prevent the storage of fire
crackers, gun powder and other works manufactured or prepared
therefrom, kerosene, gasoline or other combustible materials.

The council may compel the abatement and removal of nuisances
within the town, at the expense of the person or persons causing the
same, or at the expense of the owner or occupant of the ground or
premises wherein the same may be found; may require all lands and
lots and other premises within the town to be kept clean and sanitary
and free from stagnant water, weeds, filthy and unsightly deposits ;
may regulate or prevent slaughter-houses or other noisome and of-
fensive business within the town, and may generally prohibit, abate
and suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals,
safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the said town.

18. The council may impose a capitation tax of fifty cents per an-
num upon the residents of the town, male and female, who have at-
tained the age of twenty-one years not exempt by law from the pay-
ment of the State capitation tax, may lay a levy of not exceeding one
dollar and fifty cents, upon the one hundred dollars of the assessed
value of all real estate and personal property within the town; subject
to local taxation and not expressly segregated to the State for pur-
poses of State taxation only; may require a license tax for anything
for which a State license tax is required, and for which under the gen-
eral laws of the State a license tax may be required by a town, and in
addition thereto may impose a license tax on any business or thing
carried on or done in the town, for which under the general laws of
the State a license tax may be required by a town, whether a license
tax is required therefor by the State or not. The council shall also
have the right to license and regulate the holding and location of
shows, circuses, public exhibitions, carnivals and similar shows or
fairs and to prohibit the holding of the same, or any of them, within
the town.

19. The town council shall have the power, whenever they deem it
expedient, to lay sewers and to have the sidewalks, footways, and gut-
ters along any street or alley in the said town paved or otherwise
suitably improved, altered or repaired, and to assess against the abut-
ting land owners a portion, not to exceed one-half of the cost of im-
proving the walkways upon then existing streets, and improving and
paving then existing alleys, and for either the construction, or for the
use of sewers, provided no such assessment shall in any event be in
excess of the peculiar benefits resulting therefrom to such abutting
land owners, such assessments to be proportioned to the number of
feet that any such property fronts any such improvements. Such
assessments shall be collected as other taxes are collected; and in all
such cases, where a lessee or tenant pays any such assessment, such
payment shall be an effort against a like amount of rent then due by,
or that may thereafter accrue against him.

20. The council shall have the right to require the owners of real
estate abutting upon paved or other improved sidewalks to remove the
snow therefrom, and shall also have the right to prohibit skating and
riding of bicycles thereon and of all other improper uses thereof, and
to enforce the regulations and ordinances with reference thereto by
fine.

21. The council may prohibit the erection of frame buildings in
any part of the said town designated by it as the fire area; may pre-
scribe and locate building lines and regulate the height and construc-
tion of buildings ; may require building permits and may make reason-
able regulations regarding the building and construction of houses in
the town.

22. The council shall have the right to make and enforce ordi-
nances similar to the prohibition laws of the State of Virginia.

23. The town council shall have all powers and authority that are
now or may hereafter be granted to councils of towns by the general
laws of this State, and the recital of special powers and authority here-
in shall not be taken to exclude the exercise of any power granted by
the general laws of the State of Virginia to town councils, but not
herein specified.

24. All ordinances now in force in the town of Remington not in-
consistent with this act shall be and remain in force until altered,
amended or repealed’ by the town council.

25. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this act shall for
any reason be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be 1n-
valid such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remain-
der of the act, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sen-
tence, paragraph, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy
in which said judgment shall have been rendered.

26. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this
act are hereby repealed; provided, however that the officers of the
town of Remington shall continue in office until the first day of Sep-
tember, nineteen hundred and thirty-two or until their successors have
been elected and qualified.