CHAPTER 2

An Act to amend and renact § 18-17, as amended, of the Code of Virginia
relating to appointment of conservators of the peace.
[H 30]

Approved February 8, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18-17, as amended, of the Code of Virginia be amended and
reenacted as follows:

§ 18-17. The circuit, corporation or hustings court, or the judge
thereof in vacation, of any county, city or town in which any watering
place, natural cavern, airport, manufacturing plant, automobile race track,
fair, football stadium, historical site, or such other like place where there
are great gatherings of people, or in which the University of Virginia, or
any incorporated college, or wherein any place, private or otherwise,
which, in the discretion of the court, is deemed essential to national and
State defense, may, upon the application of the proprietor of such water-
ing place, natural cavern, airport, manufacturing plant, automobile race
track, fair, football stadium, historical site, or such other like place where
there are great gatherings of people, or of the board of visitors of such
university or the constituted authority of such college, or upon applica-
tion, formal or informal, of anyone alleging that the place involved is
essential to, and should be specially policed in the interest of, national and
State defense, appoint one or more citizens of the Commonwealth conser-
vator or conservators of the peace, who shall hold office for such period
of time as the court or judge thereof in vacation may fix, not to exceed
one year from the time of appointment, and whose jurisdiction shall
extend over the grounds attached to such watering place, natural cavern,
airport, maunfacturing plant, automobile race track, fair, football sta-
dium, historical site, university, college, or other place, within such limits
as shall be prescribed in the order appointing any such conservator, pro-
vided, however, that the jurisdiction of any conservator appointed for a
college located within a city may also extend to the streets and sidewalks
adjacent to the college grounds. Any such conservator shall, within the
limits for which appointed, have the power and jurisdiction of any other
conservator of the peace.

CHAPTER 2

Examiners and Examinations
§ 45-18. Members of Board of Examiners; appointments and vacan-
cies.—The Board of Examiners in the Division of Mines is continued. The
Board shall consist of the Chief and two members to be appointed by the
Governor *. All vacancies occurring on the Board among appointive mem-
bers shall be filled by the Governor. :

§ 45-20. Nominations for appointments on Board.—Each appoint-
ment on such Board may be made from a list of at least five names from
each group submitted to the Governor or to the Governor-elect by the
Commissioner of Labor and Industry, except that each miners’ organization
in the State, if they so desire shall have the right to nominate one member
of their organization for membership on the Board, to be considered by
the Governor for the miner member on the Board. Nominations are to be
made to the Governor by June first of the year in which vacancies occur by
expiration of term of appointment.

The Governor shall notify the Commissioner promptly of any vacancy
other than by expiration and like nominations may be made for the filling
of the vacancy.

In no case shall the Governor be bound to make any appointment from
the * nominations submitted.

§ 45-23. Examination and certification by Board.—Such Board shall
examine and certify as eligible for certificates mine inspectors, superin-
tendents, mine foremen, assistant or section foremen and fire bosses in any
mine in this State. Persons employed as mine inspectors, superintendents,
mine foremen, assistant or section foremen or fire bosses in any coal mine,
prior to June twenty-four, nineteen hundred forty-four, shall be granted,
without examination, certificates of fitness, provided they have been so
employed one year or more prior to June twenty-four, nineteen hundred
forty-four, and, in the opinion of the * Chief, meet this requirement.

§ 45-24. Examination fees.—A fee of five dollars shall be paid to the
* Chief by each person examined, before the examination is begun. All
such fees collected, including moneys collected pursuant to the provisions of
§ 45-29, shall be promptly paid by the * Chief into the State treasury and
shall constitute an Examiners’ fund under the control of the * Chief for
the payment of the compensation and expenses of the members of the Board
of Examiners and the expenses of the Board, as hereinafter provided, for
which purposes such moneys are hereby appropriated.

§ 45-25. Expenditures from Examiners’ fund.—Out of the Examiners’
fund there shall be paid the cost of printing certificates and other necessary
forms, and the incidental expenses incurred by the Board of Examiners in
conducting examinations shall also be paid from the Examiners’ fund. The
* Chief shall keep accounts and records concerning the receipts and ex-
penditures of the fund as required by the Auditor of Public Accounts.

45-26. Meetings of Board; per diem and expenses.—Such Board
shall meet at least once a year and shall be called by the * Chief to meet at
such other times as the number of applications may justify. The Board
shall meet at such place or places and at such times as may be designated
by the * Chief, and the Board shall remain in session until its work is com-
pleted, but no one session of the Board shall continue more than three days.
Out of the Examiners’ fund there shall be paid to each member of the
Board, except the * Chief, who shall serve without extra pay, his necessary
expenses Incurred in the service of the Board and a per diem not to exceed
ten dollars for each day the Board is in session.

§ 45-27. Records of Board.—The * Chief shall preserve in his office
a record of the meetings and transactions of such Board and of all cer-
tificates issued.

§ 45-29. Replacement of lost or destroyed certificates.—In case of
the loss or destruction of a certificate, the * Chief may supply a copy thereof
to the person losing the same, upon the payment of one dollar to the * Chief
provided it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Board of Examiners
that the loss has actually occurred, and that the loser was the holder of
such certificate.

§ 45-31. Grade of foreman’s certificates; * reciprocity ; cancellation of
certificate.—(a) The Board of Examiners shall be entitled to grant mine
foreman’s certificates of competency * as follows:

(1) Certificates of the first class to persons who have had ex-
perience in mines generating gas; *

(2) Certificates of the first class to persons who have had exper-
ence in non-gaseous mines;

(3) Certificates of the second class *.

(b) Any person holding a first class certificate of any other State may
act as mine foreman in this State, without examination, until the next
meeting of the Board.

(c) The certificate of any person may be cancelled or revoked by the
Board whenever it shall be established to the satisfaction of the Board that
the holder thereof has become unworthy of official endorsement by reason
of violation of this law, intemperate habits, or incapacity.

CHAPTER 2
POWERS

§ 2.01. General Grant of Powers.—The city shall have and may
exercise all powers which are now or may hereafter be conferred upon or
delegated to cities under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth
and all other powers pertinent to the conduct of a city government the
exercise of which is not expressly prohibited by the said Constitution and
laws and which in the opinion of the council are necessary or desirable
to promote the general welfare of the city and the safety, health, peace,
good order, comfort, convenience and morals of its inhabitants, as fully
and completely as though such powers were specifically enumerated in this
charter, and no enumeration of particular powers in this charter shall be
held to be exclusive but shall be held to be in addition to this general grant
of powers.

§ 2.02. Financial Powers.—In addition to the powers granted by
other sections of this charter the city shall have power:

(a) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in the city such
sums of money as the council shall deem necessary to pay the debts and
defray the expenses of the city, in such manner as the council shall deem
expedient, provided that such taxes and assessments are not prohibited
by the laws of the Commonwealth. In addition to, but not as a limitation
upon, this general grant of power the city shall, when not prohibited by
the laws of the Commonwealth, have power to levy and collect ad valorem
taxes on real estate and tangible personal property and machinery and
tools; to levy and collect taxes for admission to or other charge for any
public amusement, entertainment, performance, exhibition, sport or
athletic event in the city, which taxes may be added to and collected with
the price of such admission or other charge; to establish, impose, and
enforce water and sewerage rates and rates and charges for garbage and
refuse collection and disposal, or other services, products or conveniences,
operated, rendered, or furnished by the city; to require licenses, prohibit
the conduct of any business or profession without such a license, require
taxes to be paid on such licenses in respect of all businesses and profes-
sions which cannot in the opinion cf the council, be reached by the ad
valorem system; and to require licenses of owners of vehicles of all kinds
for the privilege of using the streets, alleys and other public places in the
city, require taxes to be paid on such licenses and prohibit the use of
streets, alleys and other public places in the city without such license.

(b) To borrow money for the purposes and in the manner provided
by Chapter 5 of this charter.

(c) To make appropriations, subject to the limitations imposed by
this charter, for the support of the city government and any other pur-
poses authorized by this charter and not prohibited by the laws of the
Commonwealth.

(d) To appropriate, without being bound by other provisions of this
charter, not more than one hundred thousand dollars in any one fiscal
year for the purpose of meeting a public emergency threatening the lives,
health or property of the inhabitants of the city, provided that any such
appropriation shall require at least four affirmative votes in the council
and that the ordinance making such appropriation shall contain a clear
statement of the nature and extent of the emergency.

(e) To accept or refuse gifts, donations, bequests or grants from
any source for any purpose related to the powers and duties of the city
government. ;

(f) To provide, or aid in the support of, public libraries and public
schools.

(g) To grant financial aid to military units organized in the city in
accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth, and to charitable or
benevolent institutions and corporations, including those established for
scientific, literary or musical purposes or the encouragement of agricul-
ture and the mechanical arts, whose functions further the public purposes
of the city.

(h) To establish a system of pensions for injured, retired or super-
annuated city officers and employees, members of the police and fire de-
partments, teachers and other employees of the school board, judges,
clerks, deputy clerks, bailiffs and other employees of the municipal courts,
and to establish a fund or funds for the payment of such pensions by
making appropriations out of the treasury of the city, by levying a special
tax for the benefit of such fund or funds, by requiring contributions pay-
able from time to time from such officers or employees, or by any com-
bination of these methods or by any other method not prohibited by law,
provided that the total annual payments into such fund or funds shall
be sufficient on sound actuarial principles to provide for the pensions to
be paid therefrom, and provided further that the benefits accrued or
accruing to any person under such system shall not be subject to execution,
levy, attachment, garnishment or any other process whatsoever nor shall
any assignment of such benefits be enforceable in any court.

(i) To provide for the control and management of the fiscal affairs
of the city, and prescribe and require the adoption and keeping of such
books, records, accounts and systems of accounting by the departments,
boards, commissions, courts or other agencies of the city government pro-
vided for by this charter or otherwise by law as may be necessary to give
full and true accounts of the affairs, resources and revenues of the city
and the handling, use and disposal thereof. :

§ 2.038. Powers Relating to Public Works, Utilities and Properties.—
In addition to the powers granted by other sections of this charter, the
city shall have power:

(a) To lay out, open, extend, widen, narrow, establish or change
the grade of, close, construct, pave, curb, gutter, adorn with shade trees,
otherwise improve, maintain, repair, clean and light, streets, including
limited access or express highways, alleys, bridges, viaducts, subways and
underpasses, and make and improve walkways upon streets and improve
and pave alleys, within the city; and the city shall have the same power
and authority over any street, alley or other public place ceded or con-
veyed to the city or dedicated or devoted to public use as over other streets,
alleys and other public places.

(b) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate, within the
city, public parks, parkways, playfields and playgrounds, and to lay out,
equip and improve them with all suitable devices, buildings and other
structures.

(c) To collect and dispose of garbage and other refuse and to con-
struct, maintain and operate, within and without the city, incinerators.
dumps or other facilities for such purposes.

(d) To construct, maintain and operate, within and without the city,
sewers, drains, culverts and sewage disposal works.

(e) To assess the whole or part of the cost of making and improving
walkways on then existing streets, improving or paving existing alleys,
or constructing sewers, culverts and drains, upon the owners of land
abutting thereon or on the street or alley in which such sewer, culvert,
or drain is laid in the manner provided by ordinance or by the general
laws of the Commonwealth, provided that the amount of such assessment
shall not exceed the peculiar benefit resulting to the landowner from the
improvement; provided further, that in lieu of any such assessment for
the construction of a sewer, culvert or drain, the city may assess and
collect an annual sewer tax as compensation for the use thereof, and may
provide for the commutation thereof upon such terms and conditions as
the council may provide by ordinance, but such assessment shall not be
in excess of the peculiar benefit resulting therefrom to such abutting land-
owners; and provided further, that the city may acquire by condemnation
or otherwise any interest or right of any owner of abutting property in
the use of any sewer, culvert or drain, and thereafter charge such land-
owner, for the use of such sewer, culvert or drain. The city may order
such improvements to be made and the cost thereof apportioned in pursu-
ance of an agreement between the city and the abutting landowners. In
the absence of such an agreement the improvements may be ordered on
a petition from not less than three-fourths of the landowners to be
affected thereby or by four affirmative votes of the council.

(f) To construct, maintain and equip all buildings and other struc-
tures necessary or useful in carrying out the powers and duties of the city.

(g) To sell, lease or dispose of, except as otherwise provided in this
charter and in the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth, land,
buildings and other property of the city, real and personal.

(h) To control and regulate the use and management of all prop-
erty of the city, real and personal.

(i) To acquire, construct and maintain or authorize the construction
and maintenance of bridges, viaducts, subways or underpasses over or
under the Jackson River or any other stream, creek or ravine when any
portion of such bridge, viaduct, subway or underpass is within the city
limits, and to charge or authorize the charging of tolls for their use by
the public, and to require compensation for their use by public utility,
transmission or transportation companies, except as the right to require
such compensation is affected by any contract heretofore or hereafter
made with the company concerned.

(j) To authorize by ordinance, in accordance with the Constitution
and laws of the Commonwealth, the use of the streets for the laying down
of street railway tracks and the operation of street railways therein under
such conditions and regulations as may be prescribed by such ordinance
or by any future ordinance, or to acquire by agreement or condemnation
any such street railway and maintain and operate the same.

(k) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate, within the
city, places for the parking or storage of vehicles by the public, which
shall include but shall not be limited to parking lots, garages, build-
ings and other land, structures, equipment and facilities, when in the
opinion of the council they are necessary to relieve congestion in the
use of streets and to reduce hazards incident to such use; provide for
their management and control by a department of the city government
or by a board, commission or agency specially established by ordinance
for the purpose; authorize or permit others to use, operate or maintain
such places or any portions thereof, pursuant to lease or agreement, upon
such terms and conditions as the council may determine by ordinance;
and charge or authorize the charging of compensation for the parking or
storage of vehicles or other services at or in such places.

(1) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate, within and
without the city, airports and all the appurtenances thereof; provide for
their management and control by a department of the city government
or by a board, commission or agency specially established by ordinance
for the purposes; charge or authorize the charging of compensation for
the use of any such airport or any of its appurtenances; lease any appur-
tenance of any such airport or concession incidental thereto or in the
discretion of the council, lease any such airport and its appurtenances
with the right to all concessions thereon to, or enter into a contract for
the management and operation of the same with, any person, firm or
corporation on such terms and conditions as the council may determine
by ordinance. .

(m) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate within the
city, stadia, arenas, swimming pools and other sport facilities; provide
for their management and control by a department of the city gov-
ernment or by a board, commission or agency specially established by
ordinance for the purpose; charge or authorize the charging of compensa-
tion for the use of or admission to such stadia, arenas, swimming pools
and other sport facilities, including charges for any services incidental
thereto; lease, subject to such regulations as may be established by ordi-
nance, any such stadium, arena, swimming pool or other sports facility
or any concession incidental thereto, or enter into a contract with any
person, firm or corporation for the management and operation of any
such stadium, arena, swimming pool or other sport facility, including
the right to all concessions incident to the subject of such contract, on
such terms and conditions as the council may determine by ordinance.

__ (n) To acquire, construct, own, maintain and operate, within and
without the city, water works, sewerage disposal works, gas plants and
electric plants, with the pipe and transmission lines incident thereto, to
be managed and controlled as provided by an ordinance for the purpose
of supplying water, gas and electricity and disposing of sewage within
and without the city, and to charge and collect compensation therefor, and
to provide penalties for the unauthorized use thereof.

§ 2.04. Power to Make Regulations for the Preservation of the
Safety, Health, Peace, Good Order, Comfort, Convenience, Morals and
Welfare of the City and Its Inhabitants.—In addition to the powers
granted by other sections of this charter the city shall have power to
adopt ordinances, not in conflict with this charter or prohibited by the
general laws of the Commonwealth, for the preservation of the safety,
health, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, morals and welfare of
its inhabitants, and among such powers, but not in limitation thereof, the
city shall have power:

(a) To provide for the prevention of vice, immorality, vagrancy
and drunkenness; prevention and quelling of riots, disturbances and dis-
orderly assemblages; suppression of houses of ill-fame and gambling
places; prevention of lewd and disorderly conduct or exhibitions; and
prevention of conduct in the streets dangerous to the public.

(b) To regulate the construction, maintenance and repair of build-
ings and other structures and the plumbing, electrical, heating, elevator,
escalator, boiler, unfired pressure vessel, and air conditioning installations
pets for the purpose of preventing fire and other dangers to life and

ealth.

(c) To provide for the protection of the city’s property, real and
personal, the prevention of the pollution of the city’s water supply, and
the regulation of the use of parks, playgrounds, playfields, recreational
facilities, airports and other public property, located within the city.

(d) To grant or authorize the issuance of permits under such terms
and conditions as the council may impose for the use of streets, alleys
and other public places of the city by railroads, streets railways, buses,
taxicabs and other vehicles for hire; prescribe the location in, under or
over, and grant permits for the use of, streets, alleys and other public
places for the maintenance and operation of tracks, poles, wires, cables,
pipes, conduits, bridges, subways, vaults, areas and cellars; require tracks,
poles, wires, cables, pipes, conduits and bridges to be altered, removed
or relocated either permanently or temporarily; charge and collect com-
pensation for the privileges so granted; and prohibit such use of the
streets, alleys and other public places of the city, and no such use shall
be made of the streets, alleys or other public places of the city without
the consent of the council.

(e) To prevent any obstruction of or encroachment over, under or in
any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place; provide penalties for
maintaining any such obstruction or encroachment; remove the same and
charge the cost thereof to the owner or owners, occupant or occupants
of the property so obstructing or encroaching, and collect the sum charged
in any manner provided by law for the collection of taxes; require the
owner or owners or the occupant or occupants of the property so obstruct-
ing or encroaching to remove the same; pending such removal charge the
owner or owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching compen-
sation for the use of such portion of the street, alley, sidewalk or other
public place obstructed or encroached upon the equivalent of what would

the tax upon the land so occupied if it were owned by the owner or
owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching, and, if such
removal shall not be made within the time ordered, impose penalties for
each and every day that such obstruction or encroachment is allowed to
continue thereafter; authorize encroachments upon streets, alleys, side-
walks or other public places, subject to such terms and conditions as the
council may prescribe, but such authorization shall not relieve the owner
or owners, occupant or occupants of the property encroaching, of any
liability for negligence on account of such encroachment; and recover
possession of any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place or any other
property of the city by suit or action in ejectment.

(f) To prescribe the route and grade of any railroad hereafter laid
in the city, and to reasonably regulate the operation of any engines, cars
or railroad trains operating within the city.

(g) To regulate the operation of motor vehicles and exercise control
over traffic in the streets of the city and provide penalties for the viola-
tion of such regulations, provided that ordinances or administrative regu-
lations adopted by virtue of this subsection shall not be inconsistent with
the provisions of the motor vehicle code of Virginia. All fines imposed for
the violation of such ordinances and regulations shall be paid into the
city treasury.

(h) To regulate, in the interest of public health, the production, prepa-
ration, distribution, sale and possession of milk, other beverages and foods
for human consumption, and the places in which they are produced, pre-
pared, distributed, sold, served or stored; regulate the construction, in-
stallation, maintenance and condition of all water and sewer pipes, con-
nections, toilets, water closets and plumbing fixtures of all kinds; regulate
the construction and use of septic tanks and dry closets, where sewers
are not available, and the sanitation of swimming pools and lakes; provide
for the removal of night soil, and charge and collect compensation for
the removal thereof; compel the use of sewers, the connection of abutting
premises therewith, and the installation in such premises of suitable sani-
tary facilities; regulate or prohibit connections to and use of sewers; pro-
vide for the quarantine of any person afflicted with a contagious or infec-
tious disease, and for the removal of such person to a hospital or ward
specially designated for contagious or infectious diseases; inspect and
prescribe reasonable rules and regulations, in the interest of public health,
with respect to private hospitals, sanatoria, convalescent homes, clinics
and other private institutions, homes and facilities for the care of the
sick, of children, the aged and the destitute; and make and enforce all
regulations necessary to preserve and promote public health and sanita-
tion and protect the inhabitants of the city from contagious, infectious
or other diseases.

(i) To regulate cemeteries and burials therein, prescribe the records
to be kept by the owners of such cemeteries, and prohibit all burials except
in a public burying ground.

(j) To regulate or prohibit the exercise of any dangerous, offensive
or unhealthful business, trade or employment, and the transportation of
any offensive or dangerous substance.

(k) To regulate the light, ventilation, sanitation and use and occu-
pancy of buildings heretofore or hereafter constructed, altered, remodeled
or improved, and the sanitation of the premises surrounding the same.

(1) To regulate the emission of smoke.

(m) To compel the removal of weeds from private and public prop-
erty and snow from sidewalks; the covering or removal of offensive, un-
wholesome, unsanitary or unhealthy substances allowed to accumulate in
or on any place or premises; the filling in to the street level or fencing of
the portion of any lot adjacent to a street where the difference in level
between the lot and the street constitutes a danger to life and limb; the
raising or draining of grounds subject to be covered by stagnant water;
the razing or repair of all unsafe, dangerous or unsanitary public or pri-
vate buildings, walls or structures which constitute a menace to the health
and safety of the occupants thereof or the public; and to compel the abate-
ment or removal of any and all nuisances whatsoever. If after such reason-
able notice as the council may prescribe by ordinance the owner or owners,
occupant or occupants of the property or premises affected by the pro-
visions of this subsection shall fail to abate or obviate the condition or
nuisance, the city may do so and charge and collect the cost thereof from
the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the property affected in
any manner provided by law for the collection of taxes.

(n) To regulate or prohibit the manufacture, storage, transportation,
possession and use of explosive or inflammable substances and the use
and exhibition of fireworks and discharge of firearms.

(o) To regulate or prohibit the making of fires in the streets, alleys
and other public places in the city and to regulate the making of fires
on private property.

(p) To regulate or prohibit the running at large and the keeping
of animals and fowl and provide for the impounding and confiscation of
aug such animal or fowl found at large or kept in violation of such regu-
ations.

(q) To prevent cruelty to and abuse of animals.

(r) To regulate the sale of goods, wares or merchandise at auction;
regulate the conduct of and prescribe the number of pawn shops and
dealers in secondhand goods, wares and merchandise; regulate or prohibit
the peddling or hawking of any article for sale on the streets of the city;
prevent fraud or deceit in the sale of goods, wares and merchandise; re-
quire the weighing, measuring, gauging and inspection of goods, wares and
merchandise offered for sale; require weights and measures to be sealed
and subject to inspection; and provide for the appointment of a sealer
and one or more weighmasters who shall perform such duties and func-
tions as may be prescribed by ordinance.

§ 2.05. Miscellaneous Powers.—The city shall also have power:

(a) To establish, maintain and operate public employment bureaus,
public markets and public baths.

(b) To establish, maintain and operate, within and without the city,
public hospitals, sanatoria, convalescent homes, clinics and other public
institutions, homes and facilities for the care of the sick, of children, the
aged and the destitute.

(c) To provide care for the poor and have all the powers and duties
conferred and imposed on cities by the laws of the Commonwealth re-
lating to public assistance.

(d) To establish, own, maintain and operate, within and without
the city, cemeteries for the interment of the dead, fix the price at which
graves and lots therein shall be sold, make contracts for their perpetual
care and establish the rates to be charged for the digging of graves, con-
struction of vaults and other services. ;

(e) To establish, maintain and operate, within or without the city,
a jail for the confinement of prisoners, ordered or sentenced to be con-
fined therein, and a jail farm; and compel able-bodied prisoners confined
in the jail to work on such farm, with the approval of the court trying
such cases.

(f) For the purpose of carrying out any of its powers and duties,
to acquire by gift, bequest, purchase or lease, and to own and make use of
within the city, lands, buildings and other structures and personal prop-
erty, including any interest, right, easement or estate therein, and in
acquiring such property to exercise, within the city, the right of eminent
domain; and in the exercise of the right of eminent domain by the city
the city shall have all the rights and powers and the proceedings shall
conform in all respects including the offsetting of enhancement in value
against damages to those prescribed in Article 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 33
of the Code of Virginia 1950, relating to proceedings instituted in the
name of the State Highway Commission; provided, however, that the
provisions of § 25-233 of the Code of Virginia of 1950 shall apply as to
any property owned by a corporation possessing the power of eminent
domain that may be sought to be taken by condemnation under the provi-
sions of this act.

§ 2.06. Enforcement of Regulations.—When by the provisions of
this charter or the Constitution and general laws of the Commonwealth
the city is authorized to pass ordinances on any subject, the council may
provide suitable penalties for the violation of any such ordinances. No
such penalty shall exceed a fine of five hundred dollars or imprisonment
in the jail of Alleghany County for six months or both. Upon convic-
tion for violation of any ordinance the court trying the case may require
bond of the person so convicted with proper security in the penalty of
not more than two thousand dollars, conditioned to keep the peace and be
of good behavior for the period of not more than one year not to
violate the ordinance for the breach of which he has been convicted.
Whenever any fine, costs or penalty shall be imposed but not paid the
court trying the case may, unless an appeal be forthwith taken, order
the person convicted to be imprisoned for such time as is provided by
Code 1950, § 19-809 and may issue a writ of fieri facias directed to the
proper officer for the collection of the amount due, returnable within
sixty days from its issuance. The city is hereby expressly authorized and
empowered to institute and maintain a suit or suits to restrain by injunc-
tion the violation of any ordinance legally adopted by it, notwithstand-
ing such ordinance may provide penalties for its violation.

§ 2.07. Licenses and Permits.—Whenever in the judgment of the
council it is advisable in the exercise of any of the powers of the city or
in the enforcement of any ordinance or regulation, it may provide for the
issuance of licenses or permits in connection thérewith, establish the
amount of the fee to be charged the licensee or permittee and require from
the licensee or permittee a bond and an insurance policy of such character
and in such amount and upon such terms as it may determine.

§ 2.08. Injunctions Against the City.—No injunction shall be award-
ed by any court or judge to stay the proceedings of the city or any of its

officers, employees or agents in the exercise of any of their powers unless

it be manifest that the city, its officers, employees or agents are

transcending the authority given the city by this charter and the general

laws of the Commonwealth, and also that the intervention of a court of

equity is necessary to prevent injury that cannot be compensated by
amage.

§ 2.09. Construction of Powers.—The powers which are now or may
hereafter be conferred upon or delegated to the city under the Constitu-
tion and laws of the Commonwealth and this charter shall be liberally
construed when such powers are exercised by the city and in case of doubt
as to the existence of a power such doubt shall be resolved in favor of

the city.
Chapter 2
The Administration and Government

§ 2.01. Town Officials —The administration and government of the
town is vested in the council composed of a mayor and six councilmen,
all of whom shall be electors of the town.

(a) The said council shall be elected in the manner provided by
law, as follows: At the regular municipal election to be held on the second
Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred fifty-four, the mayor and six council-
men shall be elected. The mayor shall be elected for a term of four years
and every four years thereafter. The three councilmen, each of whom
has received more votes in said election than any of the other members,
shall serve as members of the council for terms of four years each. The
remaining three members shall serve for a term of two years each.

In the regular municipal election to be held on the second Tuesday
of June, nineteen hundred and fifty-six, and every two years thereafter,
three councilmen shall be elected for terms of four years each. Terms
of office shall begin on the first day of September next following their
election. Each councilman and the mayor elected as hereinabove pro-
vided shall serve for the term stated or until his successor has been
elected and qualified. The council shall be a continuing body, and no
measure pending before such body shall abate or be discontinued by
reason of expiration of term of office or removal of any of its members.

(b) Vacancy in the council shall be filled within sixty days, for the
unexpired term, by a majority vote of the remaining members; provided,
that if the term of office to be filled does not expire for two years or
more after the next regular election for councilman, following such
vacancy and such vacancy occurs in time to permit it, then the council
shall fill such vacancy only for the period then remaining until such
election, and a qualified person shall then be elected by the qualified
voters and shall from and after the date of his election and qualification
succeed such appointee and serve the unexpired term. The number of
candidates for council equal to the number of vacancies to be filled for
full terms receiving the highest number of votes shall be entitled to such
full terms and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes
shall be entitled to the unexpired term caused by such vacancy.

§ 2.02. Electors.—The electors of the town of Christiansburg shall
be the actual residents of the town, who are otherwise qualified to vote
for members of the General Assembly.

§ 2.03. Municipal Officers—The municipal officers of said town
shall, in addition to the mayor, consist of a treasurer, sergeant, clerk of
the town council; and the council may appoint such committees of the
council and create such boards and departments of town government and
administration with such powers and duties and subject to such regula-
tions as it may see fit, consistent with the provisions of this act and the
general laws of this State. The said treasurer and clerk may be one and
the same person if the council may deem it more expedient.

§ 2.04. Town Manager.—The council of the town of Christiansburg
may, in its discretion, elect a town manager who may also serve as town
engineer. Upon the election of a town manager by the council he shall
be vested with the administrative and executive powers of the town and
shall hold office during the pleasure of the council. He shall receive such
compensation as shall be fixed by the council. The town manager shall
see that within the town the laws, ordinances, resolutions and by-laws
of the council are faithfully executed. He shall attend all meetings of
the council and recommend for adoption such measures as he shall deem
expedient. He shall make reports to the council from time to time upon
the affairs of the town, keep the council fully advised of the town’s
financial condition and its future financial needs. He shall prepare and
submit to the council a tentative budget for each fiscal year. He shall
perform such other duties as may be prescribed by the council and shall
be bonded in such amount as the council may deem necessary.

§ 2.05. Removal of Officers and Employees.—All officers and em-
ployees appointed may be removed by the town council at its pleasure,
and where the appointment is by a committee or board, or where such
appointment is by the mayor, or head of a department, such removal
may be by order of the mayor, head of department or committee or

oard.

§ 2.06. Compensation.—The council shall by ordinance or resolu-
tion fix the salaries of all officers and employees of the town elected or
appointed by it, or appointed by its authority and may so far as is not
inconsistent with the provisions of the charter, define the powers and
prescribe the duties of all such officers and employees. To effectuate the
powers conferred by general laws as well as the powers herein specifically
granted, the council may employ all such persons as may be necessary.

§ 2.07. Officers.—Fill More than One Office.—It shall be lawful for
any Officer appointed by the council, any committee, municipal board, or
the head of any department to fill two or more of the offices whose
incumbents are appointed by the council or by any appointing power
designated by the council subject to the same penalties, liabilities and
requirements as to each of said offices as would apply to the incumbents
thereof if held by different persons.

§ 2.0 The Mayor and Councilmen Not Eligible for Remunerative
Position.—The mayor and no member of the town council during his
tenure of office as such shall be eligible to any remunerative office, posi-
tion, or employment to be filled by the council by election or appointment.

§ 2.09. Oaths of Office—The mayor, councilmen and all municipal
officers of said town shall, before entering upon the duties of their respec-
tive offices, be sworn in accordance with the laws of the State of Virginia
by anyone authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the State.

§2.10. Certificate of Oath.—When the mayor, councilmen, treasurer,
clerk, and sergeant take the oaths required of them, duplicate certificates
of the court or person administering the same, stating the fact of their
having been taken, shall be obtained by the person taking the same and
be by him delivered for record as follows: one to the clerk of the circuit
court of Montgomery County and one to the clerk of the town council.
When any other municipal officer takes the oath required of him, a cer-
tificate as aforesaid, shall be secured by him and delivered to the clerk
of the town council.

§ 2.11. Neglect of Oath.—If any person elected or appointed to any
office in said town shall neglect to take such oath on or before the day on
which he is to enter upon the discharge of the duties of his office, or shall,
for twenty days after the beginning of his term of office, fail to give such
bond with such security as may be required of him by the council of said
town, he shall be considered as having declined said office, and the same
shall be deemed vacant, and such vacancy shall be filled as prescribed in
this act or by the general laws of this State.

§ 2.12. Surrender of Papers and Property.—If any person, having
been an officer of said town, shall not within ten days after he shall have
vacated or been removed from office, and upon notification of request of
the council within such time as it may allow, deliver to his successor in
office all property, books and papers belonging to the town or appertaining
to such office, in possession or under his control, he shall forfeit and pay
to the town a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, to be sued for and
recovered with costs; and all books, records and documents used in any
office by virtue of any provision of this act, or of any ordinances or order
of the town council, or any superior officer of said town, shall be deemed
the property of said town and appertaining to said office, and the chief
officer thereof shall be held responsible therefor.

§ 2.13. Salary of Mayor.—The salary of the mayor shall be fixed by
the town council, and shall not be diminished during his term of office.

§ 2.14. Duties of Mayor.—The mayor shall be the chief executive
officer of the town and it shall be his duty to see that the by-laws and
ordinances thereof are fully executed, and he shall preside over the meet-
ings of the town council, voting only in case of a tie.

The mayor shall see that the duties of the various town officers, mem-
bers of the police and fire departments, whether elected or appointed, are
faithfully performed. He shall have power to investigate their acts, have
access to all books and documents in their office, and may examine them
or their subordinates on oath, but the evidence given by persons so exam-
ined shall not be used against them in any criminal proceedings.

The mayor shall communicate to the town council annually at the
beginning of each fiscal year, or oftener, if he be required by the council,
a general statement of the condition of the town in relation to its govern-
ment, finances and improvements, with such recommendations as he may
deem proper; and may from time to time communicate to the council such
suggestions and recommendations as he shall deem proper.

§ 2.15. President of Council.—In case of the absence or inability of
the mayor to act, the president pro tempore of the council, to be chosen by
a majority of the council present at a legal meeting, or in his absence or
inability to act, some other member of the council selected in the same
manner, shall possess the same power and discharge the municipal duties
of the mayor during such absence or inability.

§ 2.16. Vacancy in Office of Mayor.—lIn case a vacancy shall occur
in the office of the mayor, the vacancy shall be filled by the method pro-
vided in § 2.01 (b) for filling vacancies in council.
_ _§ 2.17. Salaries of Councilmen.—The town council is hereby author-
ized and empowered, by ordinance or resolution, passed by the affirmative
recorded vote of two-thirds of the full membership thereof, to be deter-
mined by yeas and nays, to provide and fix salaries for its members, as it
may determine, to be payable in such amounts and at such time or times
as it may direct. The council may provide and fix the salaries for its
members, on the basis of stated amounts or sums, for each regular meeting
of council attended by members, and may prescribe that no member shall
receive any compensation for any meeting of said council not attended by
such member.

§ 2.18. Meetings of Council—Quorum.—The council shall by ordi-
nance adopt such rules as it might deem proper for the regulation of its
proceedings and shall meet at such times as may be prescribed by ordi-
nance, provided, however, that it shall hold at least one regular meeting
each month. The mayor and four councilmen shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business, or in the absence of the mayor, four councilmen
shall constitute a quorum. No ordinance, or resolution appropriating
money exceeding the sum of five hundred dollars, imposing taxes, or
authorizing the borrowing of money shall be passed by the council except
by a recorded affirmative vote of a majority of all members elected to the
council. No such ordinance shall be passed by the council on the same day
on which it is introduced, nor shall any such ordinance or resolution be
valid until at least three days intervene between its introduction and the
date of passage. The meetings of the council shall be public, unless the
council by a recorded affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members shall
declare that the public welfare demands an executive session of the council;
and citizens may have access to the minutes and records of the council at
any reasonable time.

§ 2.19. Special Meetings.—The mayor, or any other two members
of the council, may call a special meeting of the council upon at least
twelve hours written notice of the time, place and purpose to each member
served personally or left at his usual place of business or residence by the
town sergeant, or any police officer, and no business shall be transacted by
the council in such special meeting which has not been stated in the notice,
provided, however, that these regulations shall not apply when all members
of the council attend such meeting or waive notice thereof, nor shall it
apply to an adjourned session from a regular meeting.

No vote shall be reconsidered or rescinded at any special meeting,
unless at such special meeting there be present as large a number of mem-
bers of council present as were present when such a vote was taken.

§ 2.20. Signing of Minutes.—A record shall be kept of the proceed-
ings of the town council, and at the request of any member present the
yeas and nays shall be recorded on any question. At the next meeting the
proceedings shall be read and signed by the person who was presiding
when the previous meeting adjourned, or if he be not then present, by the
person presiding when they were read.

§ 2.21. Recording of Proceedings.—The clerk of the council shall
keep such record and shall record therein the proceedings of the council
at large thereon, and keep the same properly indexed.

§ 2.22. Qualifications and Conduct of Members.—The town council
may compel the attendance of absent members, and fine them for dis-
orderly behavior, and with the concurrence of five members, expel a
member for malfeasance or misfeasance while in office.

§ 2.23. Replacing of Expelled Member.—If any member of the coun-
cil shall be adjudged by the council disqualified or be expelled, under the
previous § 2-22, a special election shall be held under the general election
laws of the Commonwealth to fill such vacancy, for the unexpired term.

§ 2-23. Absenteeism.—If any member of said council be voluntarily
absent from its meetings consecutively for three months, his seat may be
declared vacant by the council, and the unexpired term filled by appoint-
ment as provided in § 2-01 (b).

Where not otherwise provided for by the laws of this State the town
council] shall by ordinance provide for any irregular elections not herein
or by the State laws provided for, and appoint the necessary officers to
conduct the same.

§ 2-25. General Powers.—The town council shall have, subject to
the provisions of this act and the general laws of this State, the manage-
ment and control of the fiscal and municipal affairs of the town, and of
all property, real and personal, belonging to the town.

§ 2-26. Same.—The town council shall have all power and authority
that is now or may hereafter be granted to the councils of towns by the
Constitution and general laws of this State; and the recital of special
powers and authorities herein shall not be taken to exclude the exercise
of any power and authority granted by the general laws of the State to
town councils, but not herein specified.

§ 2-27. Same.—For carrying into effect the powers granted by this
act and the general laws of this State, the town council may make ordi-
nances and by-laws, and prescribe fines and other punishments for violation
thereof, levy taxes and licenses, keep town guard, appoint a collector of
taxes and levies, and such other officers as they may deem proper, define
their powers, prescribe their duties and compensation, and take from any
of them a bond, with surety, in such penalty as the council may deem
proper, payable to the town by its corporate name, and with condition for
the faithful discharge of the said duties.

§ 2.28. Town Clerk—Duties.—The town clerk shall be appointed by
the council, and shall attend the meetings of the council and shall keep
permanent records of its proceedings; he shall be custodian of the town
seal and shal] affix it to all documents and instruments requiring the seal,
and shall attest the same; he shall keep all papers, documents, and records
pertaining to the town, the custody of which is not otherwise provided for
in this charter; he shall give notice to all parties, presenting petitions or
communications; he shall give to the proper department or officials ample
notice of the expiration or termination of any franchise, contract or agree-
ments; he shall publish such records and ordinances as the council is
required to publish, and such other records and ordinances as it may
direct; he shall upon final passage transmit to the proper departments or
officials copies of all ordinances or resolutions of the council relating in
any way to such departments or to the duties of such officials, and he shall
perform such other acts and duties as the council may, from time to time,
allow or require.

2.29. Town Treasurer and Duties.—There shall be appointed by
the council a town treasurer who shall hold office during the pleasures of
the council; but the present treasurer of the town shall continue to dis-
charge the duties of the office until removed by the council or until his or
her successor shall have qualified. Any vacancy in this office shall be
promptly filled by the council. The said treasurer shall be the disbursing
agent of the town and have the custody of all money and all evidences of
value belonging to the town or held in trust by the town. He shall receive
all money belonging to and received by the town and keep correct accounts
of all receipts from all sources and of all expenditures of all departments.
He shall collect all taxes and assessments, water rents, and other charges
belonging to and payable to the town, and for that purpose he is hereby
vested with powers similar to those which are now or may hereafter be
vested in county and town treasurers for the collection of county, town,
and State taxes under the general law; he shall keep, disburse and deposit
all money or funds in such manner and in such places as may be deter-
mined by ordinance or the provisions of the law applicable thereto ; he
shall pay no money out of the treasury, except in the manner prescribed
by this charter or by ordinance or the general law; he shall perform such
duties as are usually incident to the office of commissioner of revenue in
relation to the assessment of property for town taxation and town license
taxes and shall have power to administer oaths in the performance of his
or her official duties. The treasurer shall not be entitled to any commission
for handling the funds of the town but shall be paid such salary as may
be provided by the council, and before entering upon the duties of his office
shall execute a bond in such amount and with such security as the council
by ordinance may prescribe. The treasurer shall be subject to the super-
vision of the council of the town of Christiansburg. The said treasurer
and clerk may be one and the same person if the council may deem it more
expedient.

§ 2.30. Town Sergeant and Duties.—There shall be appointed by
the council a town sergeant who shall qualify and give bond in such
amount as the council may require. He shall be vested with powers of
a conservator of the peace, and shall have the same powers and dis-
charge the same duties as a constable within the corporate limits of the
town and to a distance of one mile beyond the same, and shall perform
such other duties as may be from time to time prescribed by the council.

§ 2.31. Chief of Police and Duties——The town council shall have
the power and authority to appoint a chief of police and such additional
police officers and privates as it may deem necessary or proper, to pre-
scribe rules and regulations for the government thereof, to prescribe
uniforms and badges of officers thereof, and to prescribe their rate of
pay; and in addition thereto the mayor, or in his absence, the president
pro tempore of the council, or in the absence of both, any councilman,
shall have the power and authority whenever the regular police force
of the town is inadequate to meet the needs of the occasion, to appoint
and swear in such additional or special policemen as he may deem requi-
site for a term of service not to exceed ten days, and at such compensa-
tion as the council may fix for special policemen. The duties and powers
of such special policemen shall be the same as that of private of the
regular police force. Until the town council shall appoint a chief of
police the town sergeant shall perform the duties of such office.

2.32. Control of Police Force.——The police force shall be under
the control of the mayor for the purpose of enforcing peace and order
and executing the laws of the State and ordinances of the town. They
shall also perform such other duties as the council may prescribe. For
the purpose of enabling them to execute their duties, each policeman is
hereby invested with all the power and authority which belongs to the
office of the constable at common law in criminal cases.

§ 2.33. Warrants and Summonses.—The policemen of the town
shall have no power or authority in civil matters, but they shall in all
other cases execute such warrants or summonses as may be placed in their
hands by the mayor or any councilman of said town, or any other prop-
erly constituted authority, and shall make due return thereof. The crim-
inal jurisdiction of the policemen of the town shall extend one mile
beyond the corporate limits of the town.

used for conducting or treating sewage, as that term is defined in Chapter 2
of Title 62 of the Code of Virginia, to serve or to be capable of serving
three or more connections shall, at least sixty days prior to commencing
construction thereof, notify in writing the governing body of the county
in which such sewerage system is to be located and shall appear at a
regular meeting thereof and notify such governing body in person.

§ 2. The governing body of any county so notified of the proposed
establishment of a sewerage system under § 1 of this act is authorized to
disapprove the same, if it finds that such sewerage system is not capable
of serving the proposed number of connections by reason of inadequate
pipes, conduits, pumping stations, force mains, or sewage treatment plants
or is otherwise inadequate to render the proposed service. If at the expira-
tion of sixty days from the date on which the applicant appeared before
the governing body, such governing body has not disapproved the applica-
tion, the applicant may proceed with the construction and installation of
such sewerage system, provided he first gives notice to the Chairman of
the governing body by registered mail of his intention to proceed.
§ 3. The applicant shall state in the notice to the governing body
required by § 1 of this act the number and nature of the connections to
which service will be given under the certificate applied for. The governing
body may require such further information as it deems desirable in order
to pass upon the application.

§ 4. No person, firm, corporation or association who or which has
constructed or installed a sewerage system after having complied with the
provisions of this act, shall extend the service in excess of the number of
connections for which approval was originally given. In case any such
extension is desired, such person shall proceed in the same manner as 1n
the case of an original application under this act and proceedings thereon
shall comply herewith. ,

§ 5. Any person, firm, corporation or association who or which fails
or refuses to notify the governing body of the county in which any such
sewerage system is to be constructed or installed, or to notify the govern-
ing body of the county of any proposed cxtension beyond the number of
connections for which approval was originally given, and thereafter
constructs and installs any such system, or, having given such notice and
the same having been disapproved, proceeds to construct or install any
such system, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punished as provided
in § 6. Each day of operation without notifying the governing body as
above required or after disapproval by the governing body, shall consti-
tute a separate offense.

§ 6. Any person violating any provision of this act shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor and may be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-
five dollars nor more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in jail
for not less than thirty days nor more than six months, or by both, and,
in addition, may be enjoined from further violation of this act.

No provision of this act shall apply to a corporation the principal
business of which is the operation of a hotel and which may extend the
use of its surplus sewage facilities to a limited number of patrons.

3. This act shall be in force on and after July 1, 1954.

CHAPTER 2

Powers

2.01. In addition to the powers mentioned in the preceding section,
the said City shall have power:

(1) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in said City on all
subjects the taxation of which by cities is not forbidden by general law,
such sums of money as the council herein provided for shall deem neces-
sary for the purpose of said City, and in such manner as said council
shall deem expedient, in accordance with the Constitution and laws of
this State and of the United States; provided, however, that said tax for
general City purposes shall not exceed the sum of four dollars and fifty
cents on the hundred dollars of assessed value of real and personal prop-
erty subject to taxation by the City. In addition to the tax for general
City purposes the Council may levy a tax for the operation and mainten-
ance of its schools. |

(2) The City council may levy a tax or a license on any person, firm,
or corporation conducting any business, employment or profession what-
soever in the City, except when expressly prohibited by general law,
whether a license may be required therefor by the State or not, and may
exceed the State license, if any be required; to levy and collect taxes for
admission to or other charges for any public amusement, entertainment,
performance, exhibition, sports or athletic event in the City which taxes
may be added to and collected with the price of such admission or other
charges.

(3) The council may require of owners of motor vehicles, trailers and
semi-trailers, residing in, or having a place of business in the City in
which business the said motor vehicle is used, licenses for the privilege of
operating such vehicles in the City, such licenses to be issued and the
fees therefor fixed by the council, provided that the license shall not exceed
the amount charged by the State on the said vehicle.

(4) All goods and chattels wheresoever found, may be distrained and
sold for taxes assessed and due thereon, and no deed of trust or mortgage
upon goods and chattels shall prevent the same from being distrained and
sold for taxes.

(5) There shall be a lien on real estate for the City taxes as assessed
thereon from the commencement of the year for which they were assessed.
The council may require real estate in the City delinquent for the non-
payment of City taxes to be sold for said taxes, with interest thereon at
the rate of six per centum per annum, and such per centum as the
council may prescribe for charges. Such real estate may be sold and
may be redeemed in the manner provided by law; provided that at any
such sale where no person bids the amount chargeable on any such real
estate, it shall be lawful for the director of finance to purchase the same
for the benefit of the City upon the same terms and conditions prescribed
by general law, for the purchase of delinquent real estate by the treasurer
for the benefit of a city.

(6) To impose special or local assessments for local improvements
and enforce payment thereof, subject, however, to limitations prescribed
by the Constitution of Virginia, as may be in force at the time of the
imposition of such special or local assessments.

(7) To contract debts, borrow money and make and issue evidence of
indebtedness.

(8) To expend the money of the City for all lawful purposes.

(9) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise,
property, real or personal, or any estate or interest therein, within the
City and for any of the purposes of the City; and to hold, improve, sell, lease,
mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of the same or any other part thereof.

(10) To acquire or lease by purchase, gift or devise for municipal pur-
poses or for the purpose of encouraging commerce and manufacture, lands
within and without the City not exceeding at any one time five thousand
acres in the aggregate, and may from time to time sell or lease the same or
any part thereof for all lawful purposes.

(11) To make and maintain public improvements of all kinds, includ-
ing municipal and other public buildings, airports, armories, markets,
municipal off street parking stations, swimming pools, libraries, hospitals,
comfort stations or rest rooms and all buildings and structures necessary
or appropriate for the use of the departments of fire and police; and to
establish a market or markets in and for said City for the sale of food-
stuffs, to appoint proper officers therefor; to prescribe the time and place
for holding the same; to provide suitable buildings and grounds therefor
and to make and enforce such rules and regulations as shall be necessary
to restrain and prevent huckstering, forestalling and regrating, and for
the purpose of regulating and controlling the sale of fresh meats, seafood,
farm and domestic products and all perishable foods in said City; by such
methods, the council shall also have authority to confine the sale of such
articles or products by hucksters, peddlers, or other similar tradesmen to the
public markets and public squares provided by the City for that purpose,
and shall have full authority to regulate the same.

(12) To furnish all local public services; to purchase, hire, construct,
own, lease, maintain and operate local public utilities, to acquire by con-
demnation or otherwise within or without the corporate limits, lands and
property necessary for any such purposes.

(13) To own, operate and maintain electric light and/or gas works,
either within or without the corporate limits of the said City for the
generating of electricity and/or the supplying of gas for illuminating
power and other purposes, and to supply the same whether said gas
and /or electricity be generated or purchased by said City, to its customers
and consumers both at such price and upon such terms as it may pre-
scribe, and to that end it may contract with owners of land and water
power for the use thereof, or may have the same condemned, and to pur-
chase such electricity and/or gas from the owners thereof, and to furnish
the same to its customers and consumers, both within and without the
corporate limits of the said City at such price and on such terms as it may
prescribe.

(14) To establish, impose and enforce water, light and sewerage rates
and rates and charges for public utilities, or other service, products or
conveniences, operated, rendered or furnished by the City; and to assess,
or cause to be assessed, water, light and sewerage rates and charges
against the proper tenant or tenants or such persons, firms, or corporations
as may be legally liable therefor; and the council may by ordinance require
a deposit of such reasonable amount as it may by such ordinance prescribe,
before furnishing any of said services to any person, firm or corporation,
but nothing herein shall be construed as conferring upon said council
authority to regulate rates and charges of public utilities which are sub-
ject to the jurisdiction of the State Corporation Commission.

(15) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Virginia to
grant franchises for public utilities.

(16) To acquire in the manner provided by the general laws any
existing water, gas or electric plant, works or system, or any part thereof.
Any public utility owned or operated by the City of Galax, whether it be
water, gas, electric plant or otherwise shall not be sold until the same
shall have been first submitted to the qualified voters of the City at a
general or special election and shall have been approved by two-thirds of
such voters voting on the question of such sale, which two-thirds shall
include the majority of qualified registered voters owning real estate in
said City and voting in such election on such sale.

(17) To establish, open, widen, extend, grade, improve, construct,
maintain, light, sprinkle and clean, public highways, streets, alleys, boule-
vards and parkways, and to alter, or close the same; to establish and
maintain public parks, playgrounds and other public grounds; to construct,
maintain and operate public bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels, sewers
and drains, and to regulate the use of all such highways, parks, public
grounds and works; to plant and maintain shade trees along the streets
and upon such public grounds; to prevent the obstruction of such streets,
drains and highways; to regulate the operation and speed of all locomotives,
cars, and vehicles using the streets or railroads within the City; to regulate
the services to be rendered and rates to be charged by public buses, motor
cars, taxicabs and other public vehicles used for hauling passengers and
baggage for hire, except when prohibited by the State Corporation Com-
mission of Virginia, or the Interstate Commerce Commission; to require
any telephone and telegraph wires and cables carrying electricity to be
placed in conduits under ground and to prescribe rules and regulations
for the construction and use of such conduits; and to do all other lawful
things whatsoever adapted to make said streets and highways safe, con-
venient and attractive.

(18) To construct and maintain, or aid in constructing and main-
taining, public roads, boulevards, parkways and bridges beyond the limits
of the City, in order to facilitate public travel to and from said City and
any property owned by said City and situated beyond the corporate limits
thereof, and to acquire land necessary for such purposes by condemnation
or otherwise.

(19) To collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage, carcasses
of dead animals and other refuse, and to acquire and operate plants for the
utilization or destruction of such materials, or any of them; or to contract
for and regulate the collection and disposal thereof.

(20) To compel the abatement and removal of all public nuisances
within the City or upon property owned by the City, beyond its limits;
to require all lands, lots and other premises within the City to be kept
clean, sanitary and free from weeds; to regulate or prevent slaughter
houses or other noisome or offensive business within said City, the keeping
of animals, poultry or other fowls therein, or the exercise of any dangerous
or unwholesome business, trade or employment therein; to regulate the
transportation of all articles or materials through the streets of the City;
to compel the abatement of smoke, odors and dust; to prevent unnecessary
noise therein; to regulate the location of stables and the manner in which
they shall be kept and constructed, and generally to define, prohibit, abate,
suppress and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals, comfort,
safety, convenience and welfare of the inhabitants of the City.

(21) If any ground in the said City shall be subject to be covered
by stagnant water or if the owner or occupant thereof shall permit any
offensive or unwholesome substance to remain or to accumulate thereon,
the said council may cause such ground to be filled up, raised or drained,
or may cause such substance to be covered or removed therefrom, pro-
vided, that reasonable notice shall be first given to the said owner or
occupant or his agent. In case of nonresident owners who have no agent in
said City, such notice may be given by publication for not less than ten
days in any newspaper published in said City or having general circulation

erein.

(22) To direct or prevent the location of all buildings for storing
gunpowder or other explosives or combustible substances, to regulate or
prohibit the sale and use of dynamite, gunpowder, firecrackers, kerosene
oil, gasoline, nitroglycerine, camphene, burning fluid, and all explosives
or compustible materials, the exhibition of fireworks, the discharge of
firearms, the use of candles, and light in barns, stables and other build-
ings, the making of bonfires and the carrying of concealed weapons.

(23) To prevent the running at large in said City of all animals and
fowls, and to regulate the keeping or raising of same within said City,
and to subject the same to such levies, regulations and taxes as it may
deem proper.

(24) To inspect, test, measure and weigh any commodity or article
offered for human consumption or use within the City.

(25) To provide for the care, support and maintenance of children
and of sick, blind, aged, insane, or poor persons and paupers.

(26) To establish, organize and administer public schools subject to
the general laws establishing a standard of education for the State.

(27) To provide and maintain, either within or without the City,
charitable, recreative, curative, corrective, detentive, or penal institutions.

(28) To provide for the preservation of the general health of the in-
habitants of said City, make regulation to secure the same, inspect all
food and foodstuffs and prevent the introduction and sale in said City
of any article or thing intended for human consumption, which is adulter-
ated, impure or otherwise dangerous to health, and to condemn, seize and
destroy or otherwise dispose of any such article or thing without liability
to the owner thereof; prevent the introduction or spread of contagious
or infectious diseases, and prevent and suppress diseases generally; to
provide and regulate hospitals within or without the City limits, and to
enforce the removal of persons afflicted with contagious or infectious
diseases to hospitals provided for them, to provide for the organization
of a department of health, to have the powers of a board of health, for said
City, with the authority necessary for the prompt and efficient performance
of its duties, with power to invest any or all the officials or employees of
such department of health with such powers as the police officers of the
City have; to establish a quarantine ground within the City limits and one
mile thereof outside the City and such quarantine regulations against in-
fectious and contagious diseases as the said Council may see fit, subject to
the laws of the State and the United States; to provide and keep records of
vital statistics and compel the return of all births, deaths and other in-
formation necessary thereto.

(29) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise
lands, either within or without the City, to be used, kept and improved as
a place for the interment of the dead, and to make and enforce all necessary
rules and regulations for the protection and use thereof; and generally to
regulate the burial and disposition of the dead.

(30) To exercise full police powers and establish and maintain a de-
partment or division of police.

(31) To create, regulate and maintain a fire department for the City
and to prescribe the duties of said department and its officers.

_ (82) For the purpose of guarding against the calamities of fires, the
City council may, from time to time, designate such portions and parts of
the City as it deems proper within which inflammable buildings may not
be erected. It may prohibit the erection of wooden buildings or buildings
of inflammable material in any portion of the City without its permission,
and may provide for the removal of such buildings or additions which shall
be erected contrary to such prohibitions at the expense of the builder or
owner thereof; or if any building in process of erection or already built
appears clearly to be unsafe, the council may cause such building to be
taken down, after reasonable notice to the owner; and the council may, by
proper ordinance, divide the City into zones; specify the kind and character
of buildings which may be erected in the different zones; provide for the
disposition of garbage and waste; provide precautionary measures against
danger from fires; provide for the removal of buildings or structures of
any kind, erected in violation of ordinances, at the expense of the builder
or owner; and may do all other things lawful to be done, looking to the
health and safety of the inhabitants of the City.

(33) The City council shall not take or use any private property for
streets or other public purposes without making the owner thereof just
compensation for the same; but in cases where the council cannot by
agreement obtain title to the ground for such purposes the council may
exercise the power of eminent domain, as provided by law.

(34) In every case where a street in said City has been, or shall be,
encroached upon by any fence, building or otherwise, the council may re-
quire the owner to remove the same, and if such removal be not made
within the time prescribed by the council, it may impose such penalty as
it deems proper for each and every day it is allowed to continue thereafter,
and may cause the encroachment to be removed, and collect from the owner
all reasonable charges therefor, with costs by the same process that council
is hereinafter empowered to collect taxes.

Except, in case where there is a bona fide dispute as to the true
boundary line or the location of the true street line (and if such passage
over such street is not seriously impeded) the same shall be first estab-
lished and determined by an adjudication of a court of competent juris-
diction in a proceeding instituted by the said City or the property owner
for that purpose before the said City shall take any steps to remove the
said obstruction or encroachment, or to impose any penalty therefor. No
encroachment upon any street, however long continued, shall constitute
any adverse possession to or confer any rights upon the persons claiming
thereunder as against the said City.

(35) Dedication of any street, alley or lane in said City may be made
by plat or deed. Any street or alley reserved in the division or subdivision
into lots of any portion of the territory within the corporate limits of said
City, by a plan or plot of record, shall be deemed and held to be dedicated
to public use, unless it appears by said record that the street or alley so
reserved is designated for private use. The council shall have the right
to elect by resolution entered on its minutes, whether it will or will not
accept the dedication of any street or alley.

(36) To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient for promoting
or maintaining the general welfare, comfort, education, morals, peace,
government, health, trade, commerce or industries of the City or its in-
habitants.

(37) To establish a system of pensions for injured, retired or super-
annuated city officers and employees, members of the police and fire de-
partments, teachers and other employees of the school board, and to estab-
lish a fund or funds for the payment of such pensions by making appro-
priations out of the treasury of the City, by levying a special tax for the
benefit of such fund or funds, by requiring contributions payable from
time to time from such officers or employees, or by any combination of
these methods, or by any other method not prohibited by law, provided that
the total annual payments into such fund or funds shall be sufficient on
sound actuarial principles to provide for the pensions to be paid therefrom,
and provided further that the benefits accrued or accruing to any person
under such system shall not be subject to execution, levy, attachment,
garnishment or any other process whatsoever, nor shall any assignment
of such benefits be enforceable in any court.

(38) To acquire, lease, construct, own, maintain and operate places
for the parking or storage of vehicles by the public, when in the opinion
of the council they are necessary to relieve congestion in the use of streets
and to reduce hazards incident to such use, provide for their management
and control; authorize or permit others to use, operate or maintain such
places, pursuant to lease or agreement, upon such terms and conditions as
the council may determine by ordinance; and charge or authorize the
charging of compensation for the parking or storage of vehicles or other
services at such places.

(39) To prevent any person having no visible means of support,
paupers, and persons who may be dangerous to the peace or safety of the
City, from coming in said City of Galax from without the same; and for
this purpose to require the owner of any conveyance, other than a common
carrier, bringing such person to the City to take such person back to the
place whence he was brought, or enter into bond with satisfactory security
that such person shall not become a charge upon the City within one year
from the date of his arrival; also to expel from the City all persons found
therein dangerous to the peace, safety and welfare of the City who have not
resided therein as much as one year.

(40) To impose, in its discretion, a tax of one dollar per annum, upon
every resident of the City who is above the age of twenty one years.

(41) To make and enforce all ordinances, rules and regulations neces-
sary or expedient for the purpose of carrying into effect the powers con-
ferred by this charter or by any general law, and to provide and impose
suitable penalties for the violation of such ordinances, rules and regula-
tions, or any of them, by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or im-
prisonment not exceeding twelve months, or both, provided that such penal-
ties shall not exceed any penalties established by the Commonwealth for
similar offenses. The City may maintain a suit to restrain by injunction
the violation of any ordinance notwithstanding such ordinance may pro-
vide punishment for its violation. Upon conviction for violation of any
ordinance, the court trying the case may require bond of the person so
convicted with proper security in the penalty of not more than $500.00
conditioned to keep the peace and be of good behavior and especially for the
period of not more than one year not to violate the ordinance for the breach
of which he has been convicted. From any fine or imprisonment imposed
an appeal shall lie as in cases of misdemeanor. Whenever any fine or penalty
shall be imposed but not paid the court trying the case may, unless an ap-
peal be forthwith taken, order the person convicted to be imprisoned in the
city jail for one day for each two dollars thereof and may issue a writ of
fieri facias directed to the sergeant or any police officer of the City for the
collection of the amount due, returnable within sixty days from its issuance.
The enumeration of particular powers in this charter shall not be deemed
or held to be exclusive, but in addition to the powers enumerated herein or
implied thereby, or appropriate to the exercise thereof, the said City shall
have and may exercise all other powers which are now or may hereafter be
possessed or enjoyed by cities under the Constitution and general laws of
this State not inconsistent with this charter.

§ 3. The board shall thereafter proceed as provided in Chapter 2
of Title 62 of the Code of Virginia.