CHAPTER 642

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 21-292, 21-295, 21-297, 21-300, 21-306,
21-814, 21-834, 21-837, 21-388, 21-844, 21-846, 21-347, 21-848, 21-849,
21-351 through 21-853, 21-3855 through 21-861, 21-863 through 21-
867, 21-3872, 21-381 through 21-885, 21-388, 21-889, 21-893, 21-394,
21-396, 21-898 through 21-400, 21-402, 21-405, 21-408 through 21-
418, 21-420 through 21-424, and 21-426 of the Code of Virginia, re-
lating generally to drainage projects and the administration of such
projects, and specifically to jurisdiction; form of petition; service and
return of summons, election of board of viewers; filling vacancies on
board; compensation; notice of preliminary report; benefits and as-
sessments; hearing on final report; payment of total costs and ex-
penses; records; powers and duties of board of viewers; and to sub-
stitute board of viewers in place of county board of drainage commis-
sioners wherever applicable from § 21-848 through § 21-426 and to
amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 21-292.1
construing the word district or districts to mean project or projects
and to repeal §§ 21-298, 21-818, and 21-320 of the Code of Virginia re-
lating to drainage districts...
ee

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That 8§ 21-292, 21-295, 21-297, 21-300, 21-306, 21-314, 21-334, 21-
337, 21-338, 21-344, 21-346, 21-347, 21-348, 21-349, 21-351 through 21-353,
21-355 through 21-361, 21-363 through 21-367, 21-372, 21-381 through
21-385, 21-388, 21-389, 21-398, 21-394, 21-396, 21-398 through 21-400, 21-
402, 21-405, 21-408 through 21-418, 21-420 through 21-424 and 21-426 of
the Code of Virginia be amended and reenacted, and that the Code of
virginia be amended by adding thereto a section numbered 21-292.1, as
ollows:

§ 21-292. The circuit courts of the several counties of this State shall
have jurisdiction, power and authority to establish a levee, or drainage *
project or * projects, in their several counties, and in * projects as here-
inafter set out, and to locate and establish levees, drains or canals and
cause to be constructed, straightened, widened or deepened any land drain-
age, ditch, drain or water course, and to build levees or embankments and
erect tide gates and pumping plants for the purpose of draining and re-
claiming wet, swamp or overflowed lands.

§ 21-292.1. Whenever the word district or districts hereinafter ap-
pears in this chapter, it shall be construed to mean project or projects.

§ 21-295. Whenever a petition, signed by fifty-one per centum or more
of the owners of land * who own fifty-one per centum or more of the land,
within a proposed drainage * project, according to the county-land book
or books or to the latest assessment lists of the county or counties in which
such * project is located, or by the heirs, guardians or executors of estates
or by those having color of title, or by those in adverse possession, or by
the officers of corporations, whose lands will be affected by or assessed
for the expense of the proposed improvements, shall be filed in the office
of the clerk of the circuit court of any county in which a part of the lands
are located, setting forth that any specific body or district of land in the
county or adjoining counties, described in such a way as to convey an in-
telligent idea as to the location of such land, is subject to overflow, or too
wet for cultivation, or in need of drainage, and the public benefit or utility
or the public health, convenience or welfare, will be promoted by draining,
ditching or leveeing the same, or by changing or improving the natural
water course or courses; and setting forth therein, as far as practicable,
the starting point, route and terminus and lateral tile or open branches,
of the proposed improvement, and there is filed therewith a bond for the
amount or product of * ten dollars multiplied by the square root of the
estimated number of acres within the bounds of the proposed * project,
signed by two or more sureties or by some lawful and authorized surety
company, to be approved by the clerk, and conditioned for the payment of
all costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings in case the court does not
grant the prayer of the petition, the clerk shall issue a summons, to be
served on all the defendant landowners, including any railway company,
who have not joined in the petition and whose lands are affected or in-
cluded in the proposed drainage district, to show cause, if any there be,
why ae lands in the proposed drainage * project should not be drained or
eveed.

§ 21-297. The summons may be served by publication as to any de-
fendants who cannot be personally served, as provided by law. Such sum-
mons shall be returnable to the first day of any regular term of the circuit
court of the county, during which term, or some succeeding term, the
court, after determining the sufficiency of the petition, shall immediately
* enter of record * three * interested resident freeholders of the * pronosed
project in which the lands are located * who have been elected by a majority
of the petitioners. Such persons appointed shall constitute a board of
viewers who shall select and designate an engineer, or other person ex-
perienced with drainage, deemed qualified by the board of viewers to make
a preliminary survey and report thereon. After the appointment of the
board the question of the sufficiency of the petition may not be again
raised, unless the boundary of the district be subsequently changed by the
court.

§ 21-300. * If a vacancy occurs on the board of viewers for any
reason a successor shall be chosen in accordance with the provisions of
§ 21-297.

§ 21-306. The * board of viewers of the project involved shall at * the
first meeting after the * selection of * a drainage engineer make provision
for the compensation to be paid him, zf any, and his necessary assistants
and the * members of the board of viewers together with their incidental
expenses. * The rate of pay to each member of the board of viewers shall
not exceed five dollars per day.

When the lands proposed to be drained and created into a drainage
district are located in two or more counties, the clerk of the circuit court
of either county shall have and exercise the jurisdiction herein conferred,
and the venue shall be in that county in which the petition is first filed.

§ 21-314. After the petition is entertained by the court, notice shall
be given to all interested landowners or their representatives in writing
mailed. to their last known address and by publication in * two consecutive
issues of any daily or weekly newspaper published in any city, town or
village situated within the original geographical bounds of the county or
counties in which the proposed district is located, if such there be, other-
wise in any daily or weekly newspaper designated by the court or the
judge thereof, and also by posting a written or printed notice at the door
of the court house, * that on the date set, naming the day, the court will
consider and pass upon the preliminary report of the board of viewers.
At least five days shall intervene between the date of the * second publica-
tion and the posting of the notices and the date set for the hearing.

§ 21-334. It shall be the further duty of the board of viewers per-
sonally to examine the land in the district and classify it with refer-
ence to the benefit it will receive from the construction of the levee, ditch,
drain, or watercourse or other improvement * and to determine rates of
assessment in direct proportion to the benefits received on an acreage basis
ris ech to the approval of a majority of the petitioners who own a majority
Oo e la

§ 21-337. When the final report is completed and filed * a date shall
be fixed for the final hearing upon the report, and notice thereof shall be
given in accordance with § 21-314.

§ 21-338. At the date set for the hearing any landowner may appear
in person or by counsel and file his objection in writing to the final report
of the board of viewers, and it shall be the duty of * said board of viewers
to carefully * review the * objections filed thereto and to make such
changes at it deems necessary to render substantial and equal justice to
all the landowners in the district. * If there be no objections made, or if
any objections made are satisfactorily adjusted, the board of viewers shall
certify such fact to the court.

§ 21-344. The total amount of the costs and expenses, or any part
thereof may be paid by any person * in lieu of assessments against his
land with the consent of the board of viewers. If all landowners elect to
pay their total assessed costs, upon the request of the board of viewers,
the sale of bonds shall not be made.

§ 21-346. The clerk of the circuit court in which the petition is filed
shall provide a suitable book to be known as the drainage record, in which
he shall record every petition, motion, order, report, judgment or finding
of the court in every drainage transaction that may come before it in such
manner as to make a complete and continuous record of the case. Copies
of all * maps, * profiles, minutes of meeting, receipts and other pertinent
information are to be furnished by the * board of viewers to the clerk of
the circuit court and marked by the clerk “official copies’, which shall be
kept on file by him in his office, and one other copy shall be pasted or other-
wise attached to his record book.

§ 21-347. After the drainage * project shall have been declared finally
established and the survey and plans therefor approved, * the board of
viewers for such drainage project shall have full authority to operate,
manage and administer the affairs of such drainage project as is provided
in this chapter.

§ 21-348. The * board of viewers of each drainage project may, if
necessary, appoint a competent person as superintendent of construction
and shall retain the services of the engineer of the drainage district, or his
duly appointed successor in the case of such change having been made, to
see that the work be performed according to the plans and specifications.
Such engineer and superintendent shall each furnish a bond the cost of
which shall be paid by the * project and to be approved by and payable
to the * board of viewers in the penal sum of ten thousand dollars each,
numa upon the honest and faithful performance of their respective

uties.

§ 21-349. The * board of viewers of each drainage project shall cause
notice to be given daily for two consecutive weeks in some newspaper
published in the county wherein such improvement or a part thereof is
located if such there be, or in any newspaper within the geographical
bounds of the county and in such additional publications elsewhere as they
may deem expedient, of the time and place of letting the work of construc-
tion of the improvement, and in such notice they shall specify the security
to accompany each bid, the approximate amount of work to be performed
and the time fixed for the completion thereof; and, on the date appointed
for the letting they, together with the superintendent of construction, or
the engineer, shall convene and let to the lowest responsible bidder, either
as a whole or in sections, as they may deem the most advantageous for
the district, the proposed work.

§ 21-351. The * board shall have the right to reject all bids once and
advertise again the work, if, in their judgment, the interests of the *
project will be subserved by so doing, but if, upon the second bidding, all
the bids exceed the estimated cost of the work, the bids shall be reported
to the court by the * board of viewers of each drainage project and the
court thereupon, after giving notice to all parties affected in a manner
similar to that required before the hearing of the final report, as set out
in § 21-337, shall hear and decide anew the question of finally establishing
the district, taking as the basis of cost the lowest responsible bid as re-
ported to it by the * board of viewers, and the proceeding thereupon shall
be as set forth in §§ 21-338 to 21-344, and if the court anew decides that
the value of the benefits of the increased value of the lands will exceed
the costs it shall direct the * board of viewers to accept the lowest respon-
sible bid, otherwise the petition shall be dismissed at the cost of the peti-
tioners. Cost shall be apportioned among them each according to acreage.

§ 21-352. A successful bidder shall be required to enter into a contract
with the * board of viewers of each drainage project and to execute a bond
for the faithful performance of such contract, with sufficient sureties in
favor of the * board of viewers for the use and benefit of the levees, or
drainage * project in an amount equal to twenty-five per centum of the
amount of the contract price of the work awarded to him.

§ 21-353. In canvassing bids and letting the contract, the superin-
tendent of construction or the engineer shall act only in an advisory capacity
to the * board of viewers.

§ 21-355. All bids shall be sealed and shall not be opened except under
the authority of the * board of viewers and on the day theretofore ap-
pointed for opening the bids.

§ 21-356. The * board of viewers of each drainage project shall have
power to correct errors and modify the details of the final report *, if in
their judgment they can increase the efficiency of the drainage plan and
afford better drainage to the lands in the district without increasing the
estimated cost. *

§ 21-357. The superintendent in charge of construction or the en-
gineer shall make monthly estimates of the amount of work done, and shall
furnish one copy to the contractor and file the other with the * board of
viewers and the board shall, within five days after the filing of such esti-
mate, meet and direct the secretary to draw a warrant in favor of such
contractor for ninety per centum of the work done, according to the
specifications and contract; and upon presentation of such warrant, prop-
erly signed by the chairman and secretary, to the treasurer of the drainage
fund he shall pay the amount due thereon. When the work is fully com-
pleted and accepted by the superintendent or the engineer, the engineer
shall make an estimate for the whole amount due, including amounts with-
held on the previous monthly estimates, which shall be paid from the
drainage fund, as before provided.

§ 21-358. If any contractor to whom the work or a portion of the
work shall have been let shall fail to perform the same according to the
terms specified in his contract, action may be had in behalf of the * board
of viewers against such contractor on his bond in the circuit court for
damage sustained by the levee or drainage* project and recovery made
against such contractor and his sureties. In such an event the work shall
be advertised and relet in the same manner as the original letting.

§ 21-359. Where any public ditch, drain or watercourse established
under the provisions of this chapter crosses a public highway,* the High-
way Department shall provide bridges or culverts of adequate capacity to
permit the free flow of water. The landowners in the drainage project
shall bear the excavation cost for such structures.

Any government installation whether Federal, State, county, city or
town with runoff or acres draining into such a watershed area will be
considered a landowner and shall be assessed on an acreage basis for drain-
age at the same rate as any other landowner.

§ 21-360. Whenever the board of viewers shall make a survey for the
purpose of locating a public levee or drainage * project or changing a
natural water course, and the same would cross the right of way of a rail-
road company it shall be the duty of the board of viewers promptly to
notify the railroad company by serving written notice, accompanied by
plans and profiles, upon the agent of such company or its lessee or receiver,
that they will meet the company’s representative at the place where the
proposed ditch, drain, or water course crosses the right of way of such
company, or at such other place as may be agreed upon by the respective
parties. The meeting shall not be less than ten days after the service of
notice fixing the time of the same, for the purpose of conferrng with the
railroad company with relation to the place where and the manner in which
such improvements shall cross such right of way. When the time fixed for
such conference shall arrive, unless for good cause more time is agreed
upon, it shall be the duty of the board of viewers and the railroad company
to agree, if possible, upon the place where and the manner and method in
which such improvement shall cross such right of way. If, however, the
board of viewers and the railroad company cannot agree, the whole matter
shall be reported to the court by the board of viewers, and by the court
referred to the State Corporation Commission as arbiters. The fact that
the railroad company is required by the construction of the improvement to
build a new bridge or culvert or to enlarge or strengthen an old one, shall
be considered as damages to the railroad company to the extent of the
actual cost thereof, as provided in § 21-359.

§ 21-361. The board of viewers shall also assess the benefits that will
accrue to the right of way of the company by affording better drainage or a
better outlet for drainage, as provided in § 21-359, in the case of highways;
but no benefits shall be assessed because of the increase of business that
may come to the road because of the construction of the improvement. The
benefits shall be assessed as provided in § 21-334, and it shall be reported
by the board of viewers as an assessment, due from the railroad company;
and unless the same is paid when due by the company as an assessment, it
may be collected in the manner of an ordinary debt in any court having
jurisdiction ; but the * board of viewers of each drainage project shall have
the right to enter into contracts with any such railroad company looking to
a further assessment by virtue of the benefits received under this chapter.

§ 21-363. After the contract is let and the actual construction is com-
menced, the superintendent in charge of construction shall notify the rail-
road company of the probable time at which the contractor will be ready to
enter upon the right of way of the road and construct the work thereon.
It shall be the duty of the railroad to send a representative to view the
ground with the superintendent of construction, and arrange the exact
time at which such work can be most conveniently done. The work shall be
so planned and conducted as to interfere in the least possible manner with
the business of the railroad; and shall be conducted under the supervision
and direction of the representative of the railroad company. However, all
work necessary in the roadbed of the railroad company, including all
temporary and permanent work, shall be promptly done by the railroad
company and paid for from the fund of the drainage * project in the same
manner as provided in § 21-359, covering public highways.

§ 21-364. Whenever any improvement constructed under this chapter
is completed, it shall be under the control and supervision of the * board of
viewers of the project in the county in which the petition was filed. It
shall be the duty of the board to keep the levee, ditch or watercourse in good
repair, and for this purposse they may levy an assessment on the lands bene-
fited by the construction of such improvements in the same manner and in
the same proportion as the original assessments were made, and the fund
that is collected shall be used for repairing and maintaining the ditch,
drain or watercourse in perfect order; but if any repairs are made neces-
sary by the act or negligence of the owner of any land through which such
improvement is constructed, or by the act or negligence of his tenants,
agents or employees or the same is caused by cattle, hogs, or other stock of
the owner, employee, or agent, then the cost thereof shall be assessed and
levied against the lands of the owner alone, to be collected by proper suit in-
stituted by the * board of viewers.

It shall be unlawful for any person to injure or damage or obstruct or
build any bridge, roadway, fence or flood gate in such a way as to injure
or damage any levee, ditch, drain, or watercourse constructed or improved
under the provisions of this chapter, and any person causing such injury
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof may be fined
any sum not exceeding twice the damage for injury done or caused.

§ 21-865. The owner of any land that has been assessed for the con-
struction of any ditch, drain or watercourse as herein provided, shall have
the right to use the ditch, drain or watercourse as an outlet for lateral
drains from the land; and if the land is separated from the ditch, drain
or watercourse by the land of another or others, and the owner thereof
shall be unable to agree with the other or others as to the terms and
conditions on which he may enter their lands and construct the drain or
ditch, he may file his ancillary petition to the court in such pending pro-
ceeding, and the procedure shall be as now provided by law. When the
ditch is constructed it shall become a part of the drainage system, and
shall.be under the control of the * board of viewers and kept in repair
by them, as provided in this chapter.

§ 21-366. After the contract for the work of construction of the
improvement has been let, the * board of viewers shall ascertain the total
cost of the improvement, including damages awarded to be paid to owners
of land, all costs of incidental expenses, and including a reasonable attor-
ney’s fee to counsel for petitioners for conducting the proceedings on
behalf of the petitioners, the amount of such fee to be fixed by the *
board of viewers and also including an amount sufficient to pay the
necessary expenses of maintaining the improvement for a period of three
years after the completion of the work of construction, after deducting
therefrom any special assessments made against any railroad or highway.
Thereupon the * board of viewers under the hand of the chairman and
secretary of the board, shall certify to the clerk of the circuit court the
total cost, ascertained as aforesaid; and the certificate shall forthwith
be recorded in the drainage record and open to inspection of any land-
owner in the district.

§ 21-367. The * board of viewers with the assistance of the engineer,
shall immediately prepare, in duplicate, the assessment rolls, or drainage
tax lists, giving thereon the name of the owners of land in the district,
so far as can be ascertained from the public records, or, if necessary,
from the survey made by the drainage engineer a brief description of the
several tracts of land assessed, * and the amount of the assessment against
each tract of land.

§ 21-372. These assessment rolls shall be signed by the chairman
of the * board of viewers and by the secretary of the board.

§ 21-881. No bid at any sale shall be received unless sufficient in
amount to discharge all the drainage assessments and other charges due
by the delinquent lands or owner thereof, together with all costs and
expenses of sale. If no sufficient bid be received, the * board of viewers
shall be deemed the purchaser * at a sum sufficient to pay all assessments
which are due, and costs, as above stated, and shall be entitled to receive
a certificate of purchase and deed in the manner provided by law for
purchases at tax sales. The * board of viewers shall only be required
to pay the costs and expenses of sale before receiving a certificate of pur-
chase, and no lands shall be subsequently sold for drainage assessments
while the * board of viewers holds a certificate of * purchase or deed
therefor.

§ 21-382. The * board of viewers shall be in like position and have
the same rights and be subject to the same duties as the purchaser of
lands at any tax sale under the general law.

§ 21-383. The owner of the lands so sold or any person having an
estate therein or having a lien thereon, may redeem the same in the
manner provided by law; and if the * board of viewers shall have been
the purchaser of the lands, the amount paid in redemption shall include
the sum bid therefor plus the penalty.

§ 21-384. When the period of redemption has expired the * board
of viewers shall pay to the treasurer or treasurers of the county or counties
in which the lands lie, the balance of the amount representing its bid at
the sale of the lands and any accumulated assessments on the lands, before
it or its assigns shall be entitled to a deed therefor.
§ 21-385. The * board of viewers after acquiring a deed for such
lands, may hold the same as an asset of the * project of which the lands
are a part, and shall be liable for the payment of all drainage assessments
and State and county taxes accruing after the sale at which the district
was a bidder, and in all respects be deemed the owner of the lands and
subject to the same privileges and liabilities as any other landowner,
including the right to convey the lands for a consideration and pay the
proceeds of the sale to the county treasurer for the credit of the district,
of which such lands are a part, which may be distributed by the * board
of viewers for the benefit of the district in the same manner as other
district funds.

§ 21-388. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the county in which
the land is located and without any previous order from the * board of
viewers out of the amount received by him as aforesaid, to provide and
pay the installment of interest at. the time and place as evidenced by the
coupons attached to the bonds, and also to pay the annual installments of
the principal due on the bonds at the time and place as evidenced by the
bonds; namely, so far as they affect and are liens by virtue of this chapter,
upon the lands in his county, and any county treasurer shall be guilty
of a misdemeanor, if he shall wilfully fail to make prompt payments of
the interest and principal upon such bonds, and shall likewise be liable
in a civil action for all damages which may accrue either to the * board
of viewers or the holder of the bonds, to either or both of which a right of
action is hereby given.

§ 21-3889. If at any time before or after the preparation of the
assessment rolls or drainage tax lists the owners of any lands within the
boundary of the drainage * project, which are liable for assessments or
are assessed, should sell the whole or part of the lands, the * board of
viewers together with the assistance of the drainage engineer of the *
project, or any other competent drainage engineer, * shall so prepare
or change the assessment rolls to provide for the change in liability due
to the change of ownership of the lands or part thereof. The new owner’s
name shall be added to the assessment roll and shall thereafter be liable
for the drainage assessment upon that portion of the land purchased.

§ 21-393. The * board of viewers of the county in which the petition
was filed shall give notice by publication once a week for three successive
weeks in some newspaper published in the county in which the * project,
or some part thereof, is situated, if there be any such newspaper, and
also by posting a written or printed notice at the door of the courthouse
and at five conspicuous places in the * project, reciting that they propose
to issue drainage bonds for the total cost of the improvement, giving the
amount of the bonds to be issued, the rate of interest that they are to bear,
and the time when payable.

§ 21-394. Any landowner in the * project not wanting to pay interest
on the bonds may, within fifteen days after the last publication of the
notice, pay to the treasurer of the county in which his land is located
the full amount for which his land is liable, to be ascertained from the
* assessment list, and the certificate of the * board of viewers showing the
total cost of the improvements, and have his lands released from liability
to be assessed for the improvement; but such land shall continue liable
for any future assessment for maintenance or for any increased assess-
ment authorized under this chapter.

§ 21-396. At the expiration of fifteen days after publication of notice
of bond issue, the * board of viewers of the county in which the petition
was filed may issue bonds of the drainage * project for an amount equal
to the total cost of the improvement, including all costs as allowed under
the terms of this chapter, less such amounts as shall have been paid in
cash to the county treasurer, or treasurers, plus an amount sufficient to
pay, interest on the bond issue for the three years next following the date
of issue.

§ 21-398. The * board of viewers after widely advertising the sale of
the bonds in such publications as they deem necessary, may sell the bonds
upon the approval of the court or the judge thereof, to the highest bidder,
or bidders, and devote the proceeds to the payment for the work as it
progresses, and to the payment of the interest on the bonds for the three
years next following the date of issue, and to the payment of outstanding
indebtedness and the other expenses of the * project provided for in this
chapter, including a reasonable attorney’s fee to counsel for conducting the
proceedings, the amount of such fee to be fixed by the court.

§ 21-399. The proceeds derived from the sale of such bonds shall be
for the exclusive use of the levee or drainage * project specified on their
face, and the bonds shall be numbered by the * board of viewers and
recorded in the drainage record, which record shall set out specifically the
lands embraced in the * project on which the tax has not been paid in
full, which land is to be assessed as hereinafter provided.

§ 21-400. If any instalment of principal or interest represented by
the bonds shall not be paid at the time and in the manner when the same
shall become due and payable, and such default shall continue for a period
of six months, the holder or holders of such bond or bonds upon which
default has been made shall have a right of action against the * board of
viewers wherein the circuit court may issue a writ of mandamus against
the drainage * project, its officers, including the county treasurer, or
treasurers, directing the levying of a tax or special assessment as herein
provided, and the collection of the same, in such sum as may be necessary
to meet any unpaid instalment of principal and interest and costs of action,
and such other remedies are hereby vested in the holder or holders of such
bond or bonds in default as may be authorized by law. The right of action
is vested in the holder or holders of such bond or bonds upon which default
has been made, authorizing them to institute suit against any officer on
his official bond for failure to perform any duty imposed by the pro-
visions of this chapter. The official bond of any county treasurer shall
be liable for the faithful performance of the duties herein assigned him.
Such official bonds may be increased by the governing body of any county
or the board or party having such authority.

21-402. Where the * board of viewers has confirmed an assessment
for the construction of any public levee, ditch, or drain, and such assess-
ment has been modified by the court to which an appeal has been taken,
but for some unforeseen cause it cannot be collected, the * board of viewers
shall have the power to change or modify the assessments as originally
confirmed to conform to the judgment of the higher court, and to cover any
deficit that may have been caused by the order of the court or unforeseen
occurrence.

§ 21-405. When the fund in the custody of any county treasurer shall
be exhausted in the payment of annual assessments against such lands,
or there shall not be a sufficient sum to pay the next annual assessment,
such treasurer shall immediately give written notice to that effect to the
chairman of the * board of viewers of the county in which the petition
was filed, and to the clerk of the board, and also to the clerk of the circuit
court of the county for which he is treasurer, whereupon the * board of
viewers for the county in which the petition was filed shall institute an
investigation of the tract or tracts of land to determine the market value
thereof, and if they shall find the market value of the tract or tracts is
not equal to all the future annual assessments to cover its share of
instalments of principal and interest on the outstanding bonds, they shall
proceed to make new assessment rolls on all the remaining lands in the
* project and increase the sum in sufficient sums to equal the deficit
thereby created, and such new assessment rolls shall constitute the future
assessment rolls until changed, according to law, and shall be certified
to the proper county treasurer or treasurers as herein provided in lieu
of the former assessment rolls.

However, the tract or tracts of land which have been so sold by any
county treasurer shall continue on the assessment rolls in the name of
the new owner, but reassessed upon the new basis, and the drainage tax
collected at the same time and in the same manner as other lands, so long
as the lands may have sufficient market value out of which to collect
the annual drainage tax, and when such lands shall fail to have such
value, or shall be abandoned by the person claiming title thereto, the *
board of viewers may omit the same from the assessment roll; but the
lands may in the same manner at any time in the future be restored to the
assessment rolls.

§ 21-408. If the contractor shall make default and if there shall
be a failure to collect all the damages from such contractor and the
sureties upon his bond, and it shall thereby be necessary to raise a greater
sum of money to complete the drainage works in accordance with the plans,
or for any other unavoidable cause it shall be necessary to raise a greater
sum to complete such drainage work, the * board of viewers of the county
in which the petition was filed, shall prepare new assessment rolls upon
all the lands in the * project upon the original basis of classification of
benefits, and increase the same in sufficient sums to equal the deficit
thereby created, and the same shall constitute the new assessment rolls
until changed according to law, and shall be certified to the county treasurer
or treasurers as herein provided.

§ 21-409. If for any of the causes hereinbefore recited, or for any
other cause, a sum of money greater than the proceeds of sale of the drain-
age bonds shall become necessary to complete the drainage sytsem, and
the * board of viewers shall determine that the amount to be raised is
greater than can be realized from the collection of one annual assessment
upon the lands in the drainage * project without imposing an undue
burden upon the lands, or if it is advisable or necessary to raise the money
more expeditiously, then and under such conditions additional bonds may
be issued in such aggregate sum as may be necessary.

§ 21-410. The proceedings for the issue of such additional bonds
shall be substantially as follows: The * board of viewers of each drainage
project in the county in which the petition was originally filed, shall issue
a notice to all the owners of land within the drainage * project, setting
forth all the facts which require the expenditure of more money and the
issue of additional bonds to complete the drainage system, which shall be
accompanied by the recommendation of the drainage engineer, * selected
by the * board of viewers directing each to appear before them on a cer-
tain day, mentioning the day, at least ten days’ notice being given, and
show cause, if any they have, why the additional bonds should not be
authorized and issued, which notice shall be served personally on each
such landowner by leaving a copy at their residence or place of business,
and, if the same cannot be personally served, then it shall be served by
publication as hereinbefore stated, or in the manner authorized by law.
Any landowner may file an answer denying any material allegation in the
notice or setting forth any valid objection to the same before the return
day thereof. Upon the day when the notice is returnable, or on such day,
as to which the same may have been continued, the * board of viewers
shall proceed to hear the answers. If they find that the answers are not
material, and that the issue of additional bonds is advisable or necessary,
it shall make an appropriate order authorizing and directing the issue of
such additional bonds, fixing the amount of the issue, the date of the same,
the time when the interest and principal shall be payable, and all other
matters necessary and appropriate in the premises. Any landowner may