CHAPTER 583

An Act to provide for the incorporation of the town of Weber City in
the county of Scott and to provide a charter therefor.

[H 260]
Approved April 6, 1954

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1, § 1. The Town Corporate.—The inhabitants of the hereinafter de-
fined limits in Estillville Magisterial District in the County of Scott is
hereby made and constituted a body, politic and corporate, to be known
and designated as the town of Weber City, and as such shall have and
may exercise all powers which are now or hereafter may be conferred
upon or delegated to towns under the Constitution and laws of the Com-
monwealth of Virginia, as fully and completely as though such powers
were specifically enumerated herein, and no enumeration of particular
powers by this charter shall be held to be exclusive, and shall have, exer-
cise and enjoy all the rights, immunities, powers and privileges, and be
subject to all the duties and obligations now appertaining to and incumbent
on said town as a municipal corporation, and the said town of Weber
City, as such, shall have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued
implead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with, and may
have a corporate seal which it may alter, renew, or amend at its pleasure
by proper ordinance.

§ 2. Corporate Limits.—The corporate limits of the town of Weber
City are hereby established as follows: So much of the territories in the
county of Scott, together with all the improvements and appurtenances
thereunto belonging, as is contained in the following boundaries, to-wit:

BEGINNING at the point of intersection of a line 100 feet south-
westwardly from and parallel with the center line of the main track of
the Railway Company’s Bristol line, with a line 50 feet eastwardly from
and parallel with the center line of the main track of the Railway Com-
pany’s Bulls Gap Line; thence southwardly along the last described line
200 feet more or less to a point in the center of Big Moccasin Creek;
thence following the middle of Big Moccasin Creek southeastwardly 140
feet more or less to an intersection with the westerly right of way line of
U. S. Highway Route No. 23; thence southwardly and southwestwardly
along the irregular common dividing line between the right of way of the
Railway Company for its Bulls Gap Line and the right of way of U. S.
Highway No. 23 as established by condemnation (State Highway Commis-
sioner vs. Southern Railway Company) December 4, 1929 and by deed of
V&SW Railway to the Commonwealth of Virginia March 2, 1949, a
distance of 1,800 feet more or less, to an intersection with the Jayne Farm
subdivision line produced southeastwardly across the Railway Company’s
right of way; thence North 47-24 west 1,205 feet. thence S 32-36 W. 632.0
feet, thence S 36-39 E 962.0 feet to the North side of Broad Street in the
Jayne Farm Subdivision and the west property line of said sub-division,
thence S 60-11 W 860.1 feet to a stake in private drive of Jim Bells’, thence
S 60-01 W 738.2 feet to a stake on McArthurs’ Property and the Right of
Way of Drive to Blantons’ Property, thence N 9-03 W 547.1 feet to a stake
behind Blantons’ house, thence S 80-57 W 305.2 feet to a stake in Blantons’
west property line, thence with said line S 1-00 E 166.5 feet to a stake in
Fence line, thence S 16-04 E 501.8 feet to a stake, thence S 76-11 WwW
1212.0 feet to a stake in the center line of street through Miller Sub-
division, thence S 73-06 W 165.0 feet to a fence post, thence S 41-00 W
926.0 feet to a stake 226.0 feet north of center line of Southern Railway,
thence S 71-52 W 1800.0 feet to a stake in the old Smith and John Henry
Johnson line, thence S 8-59 E crossing the Southern Railway 1316.0 feet
to a stake, a corner to the John Henry Johnson land sold by the Osborne
Land Company Map by J. M. P. Gray dated November 1930, thence with
said map S 37-31 W 380.0 feet to a stake a corner to the present Holston
Cemetery Corporation, thence with Cemetery line S 70-14 E 988.0 feet
to a stake 150.0 feet west of the right of way line of U. 8S. Route #23,
thence paralleling said Route by 150.0 feet S 6-20 W 1960.0 feet to a
stake on Jim Brays’ Property, thence S 48-14 E 850.0 feet to a stake on
the E. Cox Farm, tnence N 6-20 E 2290.0 feet to a stake in the Peters
Estate line, thence with their property line N 70-14 W 5382.0 feet to a
stake, thence N 19-46 E 126.0 feet to a corner post a corner of said
Peters land, thence N 35-03 E 431.0 feet to a post a corner to said Peters
land, thence N 56-42 W 24.0 feet to the center line of road layout behind
or south of lots 31 to 49 of the above mentioned J. M. P. Gray map, thence
with center line of said road N 50-83 E 514.0 feet, thence N 51-03 E 630.0
feet, thence N 64-48 E 611.0 feet to a stake, thence N 43-18 E 675.0 feet,
thence N 40-48 E 581.0 feet, thence N 9-42 W 105.0 feet to a post a
corner to Poplar Hill Sub-division and Peters Estate, thence N 71-48 E
142.5 feet to a post, thence N 51-01 E 178.6 feet to a post, a corner in said
Peters Estate, thence S 66-09 E 551.0 feet to a stake in the Wilhelm
Heights Sub-division thence S 56-49 E 557.0 feet, thence S 29-49 E 190.0
feet to the center line of Big Moccasin Creek, thence with the said center
line N 55-56 E 175.0 feet, thence N 42-48 E 1500.0 feet to the center line
of Big Moccasin Creek and the intersection of the American Legion
Property line, thence N 48-12 W 570.0 feet, thence N 31-39 W 95.6 feet
to the south side of Baltic Road of the J. F. Bushelman Sub-division,
thence with said road N 58-21 E 532.5 feet to the corner of the American
Legion Property, thence S 21-39 E 528.0 feet to the center line of Big
Moccasin Creek, thence with the said center line N 38-21 E 550.0 feet to
the intersection of the Bushelman and Gardner lands, thence N 7-21 E
1,640 feet to the south right of way line of the Southern Railway Bristol
line; thence northwestwardly along said Railway right of way line and at
all points 70 feet southwestwardly from the center line of the Railway
Company’s main track 1,037 feet more or less; thence to the left by a
right angle 30 feet to a point which is 100 feet from the center line of
said main tract; thence to the right by a right angle along the Railway
Company’s right of way line parallel with and 100 feet southwestwardly
from the center line of main track 135 feet, more or less, to an intersection
with the northeasterly right of way line of State Highway No. 10; thence
in a northwestwardly direction along the irregular common dividing line
between the right of way of the Railway Company and the right of way
of said Highway No. 10 as established by condemnation (State Highway
Commissioner vs. Southern Railway System) March 13, 1933, a distance
of 1,125 feet, more or less, to a point 100 feet southwestwardly from the
center line of the main track; thence northwestwardly along the Railway
Company’s right of way line 100 feet southwestwardly from and parallel
with the center line of the main track 45 feet more or less to the point of
beginning, containing 16,009,300 sq. ft. of area or 367.53 acres.

§ 3. Powers of the Town of Weber City.—In addition to the powers
elsewhere mentioned in this charter and the powers conferred by general
law and the Constitution, the town shall have the following powers:

(1) To raise revenue by the levying and collection of taxes on
property in accordance with this charter and the Constitution and laws
of the Commonwealth.

(2) To impose special local assessments for local improvements and
to enforce payment thereof, subject to such limitations prescribed by the
Constitution and general laws as may be in force at the time of the imposi-
tion of such special or local assessments.

(3) To impose a tax not exceeding one dollar per annum upon all
persons residing in said town above the age of twenty-one years, not
exempt from the payment of State capitation tax.

(4) To contract debts, borrow money, and make and issue evidences
of indebtedness.

(5) To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.

(6) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation, or other-
wise, property, real or personal, or any estate therein within or without
the town, for any purpose of the town, and to hold, improve, sell, lease,
mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of the same or any part thereof,
including any property now owned by the town.

(7) To establish markets in the town and regulate the same and to
enforce such regulations in regard to the keeping and sale of fresh meats,
vegetables, eggs, and other green groceries, and the trade of hucksters
and junk dealers as may be deemed advisable.

(8) To own, operate and maintain water works and to acquire in
any lawful manner in any county of the State, such water, lands, prop-
erty rights, and riparian rights as the council of the said town may deem
necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate water supply to the
said town and piping and conducting the same; to lay, erect and maintain
all necessary Mains and sewer lines, either within or without the corpo-
rate limits of the said town, for the distribution of water to its cus-
tomers and consumers, both within and without the corporate limits
of the said town, and to charge and collect water rents therefor; to erect
and maintain all necessary dams, pumping stations and other works in
connection therewith; to make reasonable rules and regulations promot-
ing the purity of its water supply and for protecting the same from
pollution; and for this purpose to exercise full police powers and sanitary
patrol over all land comprised within the limits of the watershed, trihu-
tary to any such water supply wherever such lands may be located in this
State; to impose and enforce adequate penalties for the violation of any
such rules and regulations; and to prevent by injunction any pollution
or threatened pollution of such water supply, and any and all acts likely
to impair the purity thereof; and to carry out the powers herein granted,
the said town may exercise within the State all powers of eminent
domain provided by the laws of this State.

' (9) To acquire by gift, purchase, exchange or by the exercise of the
power of eminent domain within this State lands, or any interest or
estate in lands, rock quarries, gravelpits, sandpits, water and water
rights, and the necessary roadways thereto, either within or without the
town, and to acquire and install machinery and equipment and build the
necessary roads or trainways thereto, and to operate the same for pro-
ducing material required for any and all purposes of the town.

(10) To provide in or near the town the land to be used as burial
places for the dead; to improve and care for the same and the approaches
thereto, and to charge for and regulate the use of the ground therein,
to cooperate with any non-profit corporation or association in the im-
provement and care of burial places and approaches thereto: and to
provide for the perpetual upkeep and care of any plot or burial lot therein.
the town is authorized to take and receive sums of money by gift, bequest
or otherwise, to be kept and invested and the income thereof used in and
about the perpetual upkeep and care of the said lot or plot for which the
said donation, gift, or bequest has been made. And all acts of the said
town in accepting from any cemetery company, society or corporation
such land to be used as a burial place for the dead, whether said land had
been heretofore used or not, as well as all contracts and agreements made
with any person or persons for perpetual care and maintenance, are
hereby declared valid.

(11) To collect and dispose of sewage, offal, ashes, garbage, car-
casses of dead animals, and other refuse, and make reasonable charges
therefor; to acquire and operate reduction or any other plants for utili-
zation and disposal of such material; to contract for or regulate the
collection and disposal thereof, and to require the collection and disposal
thereof, and to acquire land within or without the town for said purpose.

(12) To inspect, test, measure and weigh any commodity or com-
modities or articles of consumption for use within the town; and to
establish, regulate, license and inspect weights, meters, measures and
scales

(13) To license and regulate the holding and location of shows,
circuses, public exhibitions, carnivals, and other similar shows or fairs,
or prohibit the holding of the same, or any of them within the limits of
the town or within one mile thereof.

(14) To construct, purchase, maintain, regulate and operate public
improvements of all kinds, including municipal and other buildings,
armories, markets, and all buildings and structures necessary or appro-
priate for the use and proper operations of the various departments of
the town; and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise all lands, riparian
and | other rights and easements necessary for such improvements, or any
of them.

(15) To establish, alter, enter, open, widen, extend, grade, improve,
construct, maintain, and clean public highways, streets, sidewalks, boule-
vards, parkways, and alleys; to establish and maintain parks, play-
grounds, and public grounds; to keep them lighted and in good order; to
construct, maintain, and operate bridges, viaducts, subways, tunnels,
sewers and drains, and to regulate the use of all such highways, streets,
alleys, public grounds, and works; to plant and remove shade trees along
the streets and upon such public grounds; to prevent the obstruction of
such streets, alleys, and highways, abolish and prevent grade crossings
over the same by railroads in the manner provided by the general law
for the elimination of grade crossings; to require any railroad company
operating a railroad at a place where any highway or street is crossed
within the limits of the town to erect and maintain at such crossing
proper gates and keep a person in charge thereof, or keep a flagman at
such crossings during such hours as the council may require in accord-
ance with general laws, and to regulate the length of time such crossing
may be closed due to any railroad operations within the town and to do
all other things whatsoever adapted to make said streets and highways
safe, convenient, and attractive.

(16) In addition to the parks and playgrounds above provided for,
the said town may also acquire by purchase, gift, or devise, and operate
parks, playgrounds, and public grounds without the corporate limits of
the town, and may place on the same either within or without the town
stadia, swimming pools, recreation and amusement buildings, structures
or enclosures of every character and charge admission thereto, and may
rent out or lease the privileges of the same.

(17) To establish, impose and enforce the collection of water and
sewage rates, and rates and charges for public utilities, or other services,
products, or conveniences, operated, rented, or furnished by the town;
and to assess, or cause to be assessed, after reasonable notice to the
owner or Owners, water and sewage rates and charges directly against
‘the owner or owners of the building, or against the proper tenant or
tenants; and may by ordinance require a deposit of such reasonable
amount as it may prescribe before furnishing such service either to
owner or tenant.

(18) To establish, construct, and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer
lines and systems, and to require abutting property owners to connect
therewith; to establish, construct, maintain, and operate sewage disposal
plants, and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or without
the town limits, all land, rights-of-way, riparian and other rights and
easements necessary for said purpose, and to charge and assess and
collect reasonable fees, rentals, assessments or costs of service for con-
necting with and using the same.

(19) To require every owner of motor vehicles residing in the said
town, on a date to be designated by the council, to annually register such
motor vehicles and to obtain a license to operate the same by making
application to such person as may be designated by the council of said
town to issue said license, and to require the said owner to pay an annual
license fee therefor to be fixed by the council; provided that such license
fee shall not exceed that charged by the State on such machines.

(20) In so far as not prohibited by the general law of the State, to
control, regulate, limit and restrict the operations of motor vehicles car-
rying passengers for hire upon the streets and alleys of the town; to
regulate the operation of motor vehicles upon the streets; to regulate the
routes in and through the town to be used by motor vehicle carriers
operating in and through said town and to prescribe different routes for
different carriers; to prohibit the use of certain streets by motor trucks;
and generally to prescribe such regulations respecting motor traffic and
parking therein as may be necessary for the general welfare and safety.

(21) To prevent the riding or driving of horses or other animals
at an improper speed; to prevent the throwing of stones, the setting off
of fireworks, or engaging in any sort of employment in the public streets
which is dangerous or annoying to passersby; and to prohibit and punish
the abuse of animals.

(22) Subject to the provisions of the Constitution and general laws
of this State, to grant franchises for public utilities.

(23) To charge and collect fees for permits to use public facilities
and for public services and privileges; and to have the right and power
to charge for any service rendered or convenience furnished to those
residing without the corporate limits different from the rates charged
td similar services or conveniences to those residing within the corporate
imits.

(24) To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within
the town or upon property owned by the town without its limits at the
expense of the person or persons causing the same or of the owner or
occupant of the ground or premises wherein the same may be, and to
collect said expense by suit or motion or by distress and sale; to require
all lands, lots and other premises within the town to be kept clean and
sanitary and free from stagnant water, weeds, filth, unsightly deposits,
or to make them so at the expense of the owners or occupants thereof,
and to collect said expense by suit or motion or by distress and sale; to
regulate or prevent slaughter houses or other noisome or offensive husi-
ness within the said town, or the exercise of any dangerous or unwhole-
some business, trade, or employment therein; to regulate the transpor-
tation of all articles through the streets of said town; to compel the
abatement of smoke and dust, and prevent unnecessary noise; to regulate
the location of stables and the manner in which the same shall be con-
structed and kept; to regulate the location, construction, operation, and
maintenance of billboards and signs; and generally to define, prohibit,
abate, suppress, and prevent all things detrimental to the health, morals,
aesthetics, safety, convenience, and welfare of the inhabitants of the
town; and to require all owners or occupants of property having public
sidewalks adjacent thereto to keep the same clean and sanitary, free from
weeds, filth, unsightly deposits, ice and snow.

(25) To extinguish and prevent fires, and to establish, regulate, and
control a fire department or division; to regulate the size, height, mate-
rial, and construction of buildings, fences, walls, retaining walls and
other structures hereafter erected in such manner as the public safety
and convenience may require; to remove or require to be removed or
reconstructed any building, structure, or addition thereto which by
reason of dilapidation, defect of structure, or other causes may have
become dangerous to life or property, or which may be erected contrary
to law; to enact stringent and efficient laws for securing the safety of
persons from fires in halls and buildings used for public assemblies,
entertainments, amusements, or school gatherings.

(26) To direct the location and construction of all buildings for
storing explosives or combustible substances; to regulate the sale and.
use of gunpowder, nitroglycerine, fireworks, kerosene, gasoline, and other
like material; to regulate or prevent the exhibition of fireworks, the dis-
charge of firearms, and the making of bonfires within the corporate limits
of said town.

(27) To provide for the preservation of the general health of the
inhabitants of said town, make regulations to secure the same, inspect all
foodstuffs and prevent the introduction and sale in said town of any
articles or thing intended for human consumption which is adulterated,
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; to prevent the introduction or spread of contagious
or infectious diseases, and prevent and suppress disease generally; to
provide and regulate hospitals within the town limits, and if neces-
sary to the suppression of disease, to enforce the removal of persons
affected with contagious or infectious diseases to hospitals provided for
them; to provide for the organization of a department or bureau of
health, to have the powers of a board of health for said town, with
authority necessary for the prompt and efficient performance of its duties,
with the power to invest any or all of the officials or employees of such
department of health with such powers as the police officers of the town
have, to establish quarantine ground within or without the town, and
establish and enforce such quarantine regulations against contagious and
infectious diseases as the council may see fit, subject to the laws of the
State and the United States.

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

(29) To acquire by purchase, gift or devise, for the purpose of encour-
aging commerce and manufacture, lands within or without the town, not
exceeding at any one time five hundred acres in the aggregate, and from
time to time sell or lease the same or any part thereof for industrial or
commercial use and purposes, irrespective of the consideration paid for
such lease or sale.

(80) To prevent any person having no visible means of support,
paupers, and persons who may be dangerous to the peace and safety of
the town from coming to the town from without the same; and to expel
therefrom any such person who has been in said town less than twelve
months.
(31) To exercise full police powers and establish and maintain a
department or division of police.

(32) To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and street beg-
gars; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances, and disorderly assem-
blages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling houses and punish
the operators and inmates of the same; to prohibit and punish the carry-
ing of concealed weapons within the said town; to prevent and punish
lewd, indecent, and disorderly exhibitions in said town. To prohibit and
punish gambling and betting, disturbances of the peace, disorderly con-
duct, and public swearing and cursing, within the said town.

(33) To prohibit and punish mischievous, wanton or malicious dam-
age to school, church, and public property, as well as to private property.

(34) To prohibit persons under 18 years of age from and punish them
for frequenting, playing, or loitering in any public poolroom, billiard
parlor, or bowling alley, and to punish any proprietor or agent thereof for
permitting same.

(35) To make and enforce ordinances, not inconsistent with the
laws of this State.

(36) To offer and pay rewards for the apprehension of criminals.

(37) To compel persons sentenced to confinment in the jail of the
town for any violation of the laws or ordinances of the town to work on
the public streets, parks, or other public works of the town; and on the
requisition of the mayor it shall be the duty of the sergeant of the town
to deliver such persons to the duly authorized agent of the town for such
purposes from day to day as they may be required. For the purpose of
carrying into effect the police regulations of the town, the town shall have
the use of the county jail of Scott County for the safe keeping and con-
finement of all persons who shall be sentenced to imprisonment under
the ordinances of said town. :

(38) To enforce, and restrain the violation of any town ordinance
or ordinances, although a penalty is provided upon conviction thereof.

(89) To pass and enforce all by-laws, rules, regulations, and ordi-
nances which it may deem necessary for the good order and government
of the town, the management of its property, the conduct of its affairs,
the peace, comfort, convenience, order, morals, health and protection of
its citizens and their property, and to do such other things and pass such
other laws as may be necessary or proper to carry into full effect all
powers, authority, capacity or jurisdiction, which is or shall be granted
to or vested in said town, or in the council, court or offices thereof, or
which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

(40) To do all things whatsoever necessary or expedient and lawful
to be done for promoting or maintaining the general welfare, comfort,
education, morals, peace, government, health, trade, commerce, or indus-
tries of the town, or its inhabitants.

(41) To prescribe any reasonable penalties for the violation of any
town ordinance, rule, or regulation, or of any provision of this charter,
not exceeding penalties for similar offenses prescribed by the general laws
of the State of Virginia.

(42) To give names to or alter the names of streets.

(483) To make and adopt a comprehensive plan for the town, and
to that end all plats and replats hereafter made subdividing any land
within the town or a mile of its corporate limits into streets, alleys, roads,
and lots or tracts shall be submitted to and approved by the council before
such plats or replats are filed for record or recorded in the office of the
Clerk of Scott County.

(44) To own, operate and maintain electric light and gas works,
either within or without the corporate limits of the town and to supply
electricity and gas, whether the same be generated or purchased by said
town, to its customers and consumers both within and without the cor-
porate limits of the said town, at such price and upon such terms as it may
prescribe, and to that end it may contract for and purchase electricity
and gas from the owners thereof upon such terms as it may deem
expedient.

(45) To regulate, permit or prohibit poles and wires for electric,
telephone, and telegraph purposes erected or to be erected and gas pipes
to be laid in the streets and alleys of the town; to require the owner or
lessee of an electric light, telephone, or telegraph pole, or poles, or wires,
now in use or hereafter erected, to change the location of or move the same.

_ (46) To provide by ordinance for a system of meat and milk inspec-
tion, and appoint milk and meat inspectors, agents, or officers to carry
the same into effect; to license, regulate, control, and locate slaughter
houses within the corporate limits of the town; and for such services of
inspection to make reasonable charges; and to provide reasonable penalties
for the violation of such ordinances.

(47) To establish, organize, administer, or contribute to the sup-
port of public schools and libraries, subject to the general laws establish-
ing a standard of education for the State.

(48) The enumeration of particular powers by this charter shall
not be deemed to be exclusive, and in addition to the powers enumerated
herein or implied hereby, or appropriate to the exercise of such powers,
it is intended that the town council shall have and may exercise all powers
which, under the constitution and laws of this State, it would be com-
petent for this charter specifically to enumerate.

§ 4. Administration and Government.—(1) That the Circuit Court
of Scott County shall within 30 days after this Charter goes into effect,
appoint the mayor, recorder, treasurer and six councilmen for the said
town and the persons appointed by the court shall hold office until their
successors in office shall be duly elected and qualified as hereinafter pro-
vided for.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in this charter, all powers of the
town and the administration and government thereof shall be vested in
the council and such boards or officers as are hereafter mentioned, or may
be by law otherwise provided.

(3) On the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and fifty-five,
and every two years thereafter, there shall be elected by the qualified
voters of the town, one elector of the town, who shall be denominated
mayor, and six other electors, who shall be denominated councilmen, and
the mayor and councilmen shall constitute the town council. They shall
enter upon the duties of their offices on the first day of September next
succeeding their election, and shall continue in office until their successors
are duly elected and qualified. Every person so elected shall take an oath
faithfully to execute and discharge the duties of his office to the best of
his judgment, and the mayor shall take the oath prescribed by law for
State officers. The failure of any person elected or appointed under the
provision of this charter to qualify or to take the oath required, within
the time prescribed for entering upon the discharge of the duties of the
office to which he is elected or appointed, shall vacate the said office, and
the council shall proceed and is hereby vested with power to fill such
vacancy in the manner herein prescribed.

(4) There shall be appointed for the town a registrar and officers
of election in the manner provided for by general law of Virginia, and
all elections held in said town shall be conducted in accordance with said
general law; the electorate shall be that prescribed by general law.

(5) The council shall judge of the election, qualification, and returns
of its members; may fine them for disorderly conduct, and, with the con-
currence of two-thirds, expel a member. If any person returned be
adjudged disqualified, or be expelled, a new election to fill the vacancy
shall be held on such day as the council may prescribe. Any vacancy
occurring otherwise during the term for which such person was elected
shall be filled by the council by the appointment of any one eligible to such
office. A vacancy in the office of mayor shall be filled by the council from
the electors of the town, and any member of the council may be eligible
to fill such vacancy.

(6) A majority of the members of the council shall constitute a
quorum for the transaction of business.

(7) Each member of the council may receive a salary to be fixed by
the council, payable at such times, and in such manner as the council may
direct, but the salary paid to any one member during any year shall not
exceed the sum of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per annum. The mayor
may receive a salary to be fixed by the council, payable in such manner
and at such times as the council may direct, not to exceed the sum of
nine hundred dollars ($900.00) per annum; and such salary shall be in
lieu of any fees he is entitled to enter up as part of the costs and receive
in the trial of cases for violation of the ordinances of the town as herein-
after provided for.

(8) The mayor shall prescribe at the meetings of the council and
perform such other duties as are prescribed by this charter and by general
law, and such as may be imposed by the council consistent with his office.
The mayor shall have no right to vote in the council, except in case of a
tie he shall have the right to break the same by his vote; but he shall
have no right of veto. He shall take care and see that the by-laws, ordi-
nances, acts, and resolutions of the council are faithfully executed and
obeyed, and shall have and exercise all power and authority conferred by
general law on mayors of towns not inconsistent with this charter. He
shall be exofficio a conservator of the peace within the town and within
one mile of its corporate limits; and shall have jurisdiction to issue process
for and try all cases for the violation of the town ordinances, subject to
an appeal to the Circuit Court of Scott County, and impose such punish-
ment and/or fines as may be prescribed for violation of the same, and
he shall have power to issue executions for all fines and costs imposed by
him, or he may require an immediate payment thereof, and in default of
such payment he may commit the defaulting party to the town jail or the
Scott County jail until such fine and costs shall be paid, such commitment,
however, not to be for more than twelve months. He may release persons
accused or convicted of the violation of a town ordinance upon the giving
of sufficient bail to be fixed by him. He shall see that peace and good order
are preserved and that persons and property within the town are pro-
tected. He shall authenticate by his signature such documents and instru-
ments as the council, this charter, or the laws of this Commonwealth
require. He shall from time to time recommend to the council such
measures as he may deem needful for the welfare of the town.

(9) The council shall, as soon as practicable after qualification, ap-
point one of its members as vice-mayor. The vice-mayor, during the
absence or disability of the mayor, shall perform the duties and be vested
with all the powers, authority, and jurisdiction, of the mayor; and in the
event of a vacancy for any reascn in the office of mayor, he shall act as
mayor until a mayor is duly appointed by the council or is elected.

(10) The council shall, by ordinance, fix the time for their regular
meetings, which shall be held at least once a month. Special meetings may
be called by the clerk at the instance of the mayor or any two members
of the council in writing; and no other business shall be transacted at a
special meeting except that stated in the call, unless all members be present
and consent to the transaction of such other business. The meetings of
the council shall be open to the public except when in the judgment of
the council the public welfare shall requirc executive meetings.

(11) The council shall keep a minute book, in which the clerk shall
note the proceedings of the council, and shall record proceedings at large
on the minute book and keep the same properly indexed.

(12) The council may adopt rules for regulating its proceedings,
but no tax shall be levied, corporate debt contracted, or appropriation of
money exceeding the sum of one hundred dollars be made, except by a
recorded affirmative vote of a majority of all members elected to the
council.

(13) There shall be appointed by the council at its first meeting in
September, or as soon as practicable thereafter, a treasurer, who shall
hold office for a term of two years. The council may provide a salary for
the treasurer. He shall give such bond, with surety and in such penalty
as the council prescribes. He shall receive all money belonging to the town,
and keep correct accounts of all receipts from all sources and of all
expenditures of all departments. He shall be responsible for the collection
of all taxes, license fees, levies and charges due to the town, and shall
disburse the moneys of the town in the manner prescribed by the council
as it may by ordinance direct.

(14) The treasurer shall make such reports and at such time as
the council may prescribe. The books and accounts of the treasurer shall
be examined and audited at least once a year by a competent accountant
molecu by the council, such examination and audit to be reported to the
council. ‘

(15) The council may in its discretion designate the place of deposit
of all town funds, which shall be kept by the treasurer separate and apart
from his personal funds.

(16) There shall be appointed by the council, at its first regular
meeting in September after its clection, a clerk of the council, who shall
hold office for a term of two years. He shall attend the meetings of the
council and keep its minutes and records and have charge of the corporate
seal. He shall keep all papers required to be kept by the council, shall
publish such reports and ordinances as are required to be published, and
shall perform such other duties as the council may from time to time
require. His compensation shall be fixed by the council. Any vacancy in
this office shall be filled by the council.

(17) There shall be appointed by the council at its first regular
meeting in September or as soon as practicable thereafter, a town ser-
geant, who shall also be chief of police, and shall hold office for two years.
His duties shall be such as the council prescribes. He shall be vested with
the powers of a conservator of the peace. His compensation shall be fixed
by the council.

(18) The council may appoint or elect such other officers as may be
necessary, including a business manager for the town, and fix their
salaries and define their duties.

§ 5. Actions against Town.—No actions shall be maintained against
the town for damages for any injury to any person or property alleged
to have been sustained by reason of the negligence of the town or any
officer, agent, or employee thereof, unless a written statement, verified
by the oath of the claimant, his agent or attorney, or the personal repre-
sentative of any decedent whose death is a result of the alleged negligence
of the town, its officers, agents, or employees, of the nature of the claim
and the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred or
to have been received, shall have been filed with the mayor or any attorney
appointed by the council for this purpose within sixty days after such
cause of action shall have occurred, except where the claimant is an
infant or non compos mentis, or the injured party dies within such sixty
ttatement may be filed within one hundred and twenty days.
ers, agents, or employees of the town shall have authority to
‘onditions precedent or any of them.

f any clause, sentence, paragraph, or part of this act shall for
e adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
nt shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of said
ll be confined in its operation to the part of the act directly
the controversy in which said judgment shall have been

his act may be referred to or cited as the Weber City Charter
1undred and fifty-four.

vision of this act providing a charter for the town of Weber
ot become effective unless a majority of the qualified voters
Estillville Magisterial District in the county of Scott within
et forth in § 2 of this act, hereinafter referred to as the
rritory, voting on the question in an election ordered and held
er provided, votes in favor of incorporating the described
a town.

cuit court of the county of Scott, or the judge thereof in
all, within fifteen days after receipt of a request so made by
f twenty-five qualified voters of the described territory, enter
uiring the judges of election of Estillville Magisterial District,
ated in the order, but not later than forty-five days after entry
, to open a poll and take the sense of the qualified voters of the
rritory on the question of whether the described territory
porated as a town. The poll shall be taken at a special elec-
or that purpose, to be held not less than thirty days nor more
ive days from the date of the order but in no event within
prior to or following a regular election in the county.

of the holding of such election shall be given by the posting
ff of the county of Scott of one or more copies of a notice in
is May be prescribed by the judge of the circuit court of the
ach polling place within the described territory not less than
prior to the date stated in the order of the circuit court, or
ereof in vacation, directing said election to be held.

ction shall in all other respects be held and conducted in
with the provisions of § 24-141 of the Code of Virginia.

all appear by the report of the Commissioners of election that
yf the voters of the described territory voting on the question
r of incorporation of the described territory as a town, the
rt shall certify that fact to the circuit court or to the judge
acation, whereupon the circuit court, or the judge thereof in
all enter of record an order declaring that the town of Weber
rporated, whereupon the provisions of this act providing a
fhe town of Weber City shall be in force.

rgency exists and this act is in force from its passage.