CHAPTER 490

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 7 as amended, and 12 and 13 of Chapter
130 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942, approved March 9, 1942, known
as the Elizabeth River Tunnel Revenue Bond Act, and to amend such
chapter by adding a section numbered § 16-a, the amended and new
sections, relating, respectively, to incidental powers of the Commission,
cessation of tolls, and trial of certain cases.

[S 354]

Approved April 2, 1952

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 7 as amended, and 12 and 13 of Chapter 130 of the Acts of
Assembly of 1942, approved March 9, 1942, be amended and reenacted and
that such chapter be amended by adding a section numbered § 16-a, the
amended and new sections being as follows:

§ 7. Without in any manner limiting or restricting the general powers
granted by this act, the Commission shall have power:

(a) To make rules and regulations for the conduct of its business;

(b) To acquire in the name of the District, hold and dispose of personal
property for the corporate purposes of the District;

(c) To acquire full information to enable it to establish, construct,
maintain and operate the project;

(d) To employ consulting engineers, a superintendent or manager of
the project, and such other engineering, architectural, construction and
accounting experts and inspectors and attorneys, and such other employees
as may be deemed necessary, and to prescribe their powers and duties
and fix their compensation;

(e) To make and enter into all contracts or agreements, as the Com-
mission may determine, which are necessary or incidental to the per-
emianee of its duties and to the execution of the powers granted under
this act;

(f) To accept loans and grants of money or materials or property at
any time from the United States of America, or the State of Virginia, or
any agency or instrumentality thereof, upon such terms and conditions as
the United States of America, or the State of Virginia, or such agency or
instrumentality may impose;

(g) To purchase, solely from funds provided under the authority of
this act, such lands, buildings, structures, rights of way, franchises, ease-
ments, and interests in lands, deemed by the Commission to be necessary
for the construction or operation of the project, upon such terms and at
such prices as may be considered by it to be reasonable and can be agreed
upon between it and the owner thereof, and to take title thereto in the
name of the District. Whenever a price cannot be agreed upon, or when-
ever the owner is legally incapacitated or is absent, or is unable to convey
valid title, or is unknown, the Commission is hereby authorized and
empowered to acquire any such property, by condemnation in accordance
with and subject to the provisions of any and all laws mutatis mutandis
applicable to the condemnation of property in the name of the “State
Highway Commissioner” under the laws of the State of Virginia;

(h) To exercise any power usually possessed by private corporations
performing similar functions;

(1) To adopt and enforce reasonable rules and regulations which after
publication one time in full in a newspaper of general circulation published
in the city of Norfolk and a newspaper of general circulation published in
the city of Portsmouth and when posted where the using public may
conveniently see the same, shall have the force and effect of law as to
(1) maximum and minimum speed limits applicable to motor vehicles using
such project and other property under control of the Commission, (2) the
types, kinds and sizes of the vehicles which may use such project, (8)
the nature, size, type or kind of materials or substances which shall not
be transported through or over such project, (4) such other rules and
regulations as may be necessary or expedient in the interest of public safety
with respect to the use of said project, and (5) tolls to be wmposed upon
the use of said project.

(j) The violation of any of such rules and regulations shall be punish-
able as follows:

(1) If such a violation would have been a violation of law or ordi-
nance if committed on any public road, street, highway or turnpike in
the municipality in which such violation occurred, it shall be tried and
punished in the same manner as if it had been committed on such public
road, street, highway or turnpike.

(2) All other violations shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.

(k) To appoint and employ special policemen to enforce within the
area under the control of the Commission the rules and regulations adopted
by the Commission. Such special police shall have the powers of special
police appointed under Section 15-557 of the Code of Virginia which Article
shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to special police appointed under this Act.

Such special policemen appointed by the Commission may issue sum-
mons to appear, or arrest on view without warrant, within the jurisdiction
of this State and conduct before the nearest police or trial justice of the
municipality in which the arrest is made, or a police or trial justice of
any neighboring municipality, any person violating, within or upon the
project or other property under the control of the Commission, any rule
or regulation of the Commission for the regulation and control of highway
traffic on any bridge or in any tunnel owned or operated by it or under its
jurisdiction or control or on any of the entrance or exit plazas or ap-
proaches adjacent or appurtenant thereto, including, but not limited to,
rules and regulations regarding the payment of tolls.

§ 12. The Commission is hereby authorized to fix and to revise from
time to time tolls for the use of the project or any part thereof and to
charge and collect the same, and to contract with any person, partnership,
association, or corporation desiring the use of any tunnel or bridge in-
cluded in the project, its approaches and appurtenances, or any part
thereof, for placing therein or thereon water, gas, or oil pipe lines, tele-
phone, telegraph, electric light, or power lines, or for any other purpose,
and to fix the terms, conditions, and rates of charge for such use.

The tolls for the use of the project shall be so fixed and adjusted as
to provide a fund sufficient, with other revenues of such project, to pay
(a) the cost of maintaining, repairing and operating the project unless
such cost shall be otherwise provided for, (b) the bonds, and the interest
thereon as the same shall become due and (c) any amount to be paid by
agreement between the Commission and the city of Portsmouth and the
county of Norfolk for the purchase of the Norfolk County Ferries, or to
compensate said city and county for any diminution of revenue due to the
existence of the project. (d) To compensate the cities of Norfolk and
Portsmouth for the loss of taxable values and incidental costs of streets
and traffic controls and damage to utilities to be sustained by sard cities by
reason of the construction of said project to such extent as may be mutually
agreed upon. Such tolls shall not be subject to supervision or regulation
by any other State commission, board, bureau or agency. All tolls and all
other revenue derived from the project, except such part thereof as may be
required to pay the cost of maintaining, repairing and operating the pro-
ject, and to provide such reserves therefor as may be provided for in the
resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or in the trust indenture, or
such parts thereof as may be required by such resolution or trust indenture,
shall be set aside at such regular intervals as may be provided in such
resolution or such trust indenture in a sinking fund which is hereby pledged
to and charged with the payment of (1) the interest upon such bonds
as such interest shall fall due, (2) the principal of the bonds as the same
fall due, (3) the necessary fiscal agency charges for paying principal and
interest, and (4) any premium upon bonds retired by call or purchase as
herein provided. The use and disposition of such sinking fund shall be
subject to such regulations as may be provided in the resolution authorizing
the issuance of bonds, or in the trust indenture but, except as may other-
wise be provided in such resolution or trust indenture, such sinking fund
shall be a fund for the benefit of all bonds without distinction or priority
of one over another. The moneys in such sinking fund, in accordance with
the provisions of the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or
of the trust indenture, shall be applied to the payment of the interest on
and the prinicipal of the bonds and the purchase or redemption of bonds.
All bonds so purchased or redeemed shall forthwith be cancelled and shall
not again be issued.

Any tolls or other revenues derived from the project and not required
in the resolution authorizing the issuance of the bonds or in the trust in-
denture to be set aside for the payment of the cost of maintaining, re-
pairing and operating the project or making payments into the sinking
fund, and providing reserves for such purposes, shall be applied in ac-
cordance with the terms of any agreement entered into between the Com-
mission and the city of Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk, relating
to the application of such tolls or revenues. :

§ 13. When the bonds issued for the project and the interest thereon
shall have been paid, or a sufficient amount shall have been provided for
their payment and shall continue to be held for that purpose, the Com-
mission shall cease to charge tolls for the use of the project and thereafter
the project shall be free; provided, however, that the Commission shall
thereafter charge tolls for the use of the project in the event that tolls
are required for maintaining, repairing and operating the project due
to the lack of funds from other sources than tolls or in the event that the
continuation of such tolls shall be required by the provisions of any agree-
ment relating thereto and theretofore entered into by and between the
Commission, the city of Portsmouth and the county of Norfolk, Virginia,
or in the event that the continuation of such tolls is necessary to acquire
funds with which to reimburse the cities of Portsmouth and Norfolk for
the loss of taxable values and incidental costs of streets and traffic controls
and damage to utilities to be sustained by said cities by reason of the con-
struction of said project to such extent as may be mutually agreed upon.

§ 16-a. The trial of cases involving the violation of rules and regula-
tions of the Commission shall be held in the court having jurisdiction to
try misdemeanors in the city in which the violation occurred and if such
violation occurred in neither city it may be tried in either. Fines and costs
assessed and collected shall be paid to the court trying such case for the
benefit of the city wherein such court 1s located.

2. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.