CHAPTER 456

An Act to provide a new charter for the Town of Vienna, in Fairfax
County, and to repeal Chapter 420 of the Acts of Assembly of 1940,
approved April 1, 1940, as amended, which provided a new charter for
the Town of Vienna in Fairfax County.

({S 142]

Approved March 30, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. The inhabitants of the territory comprised within the present
limits of the Town of Vienna, as such limitations are now, or may be
hereafter altered and established by law, shall constitute and continue a
body politic and corporate to be known and designated as the Town of
Vienna, 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 Commonwealth 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, exercise and enjoy all the rights, immunities,
powers and privileges, and be subject to all the duties and obligations now
appertaining to and incumbent on the town as a municipal corporation;
and the Town of Vienna, as such, shall have perpetual succession, may
sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted
CH. 456] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 669

with, and may have a corporate seal which it may alter, renew, or amend
at its pleasure by proper ordinance.

§ 2. The territory embraced within the present corporate limits
of the Town of Vienna is, the territory in the county of Fairfax, included
in a square to be ascertained by surveying along Maple Avenue, extended
three-fourths of a mile each way from its intersection with Center Street,
and at right angles thereto, along Center Street extended three-fourths of
a mile each way, thus forming a rectangle one and one-half miles square,
with sides parallel to said avenue and street; and said territory shall also
constitute one of the road districts of Fairfax County.

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

(a). The mayor and six councilmen shall be elected by the qualified
voters of the town on the second Tuesday in June of the year nineteen
hundred and fifty-six, and every two years thereafter, all of whom shall
hold office for terms of two years, beginning on the first day of September
next succeeding their election, and shall continue in office until their suc-
cessors shall have qualified. The council shall be a continuing body and
no measures pending before such body, or contract, or obligation incurred,
shall abate or be discontinued by reason of the expiration of term of
office or removal of any of its members.

(b). Vacancies in the council shall be filled within thirty days, for
the unexpired term, by a majority vote of the remaining members; sub-
ject, however, to the mayor’s right of veto, and the right of a two-thirds
majority of the remaining members of said council to override said veto
by a polled vote as provided by the Constitution of the Commonwealth
of Virginia.

§ 4. The council shall appoint a clerk, a treasurer, a town sergeant
and such other officers and employees as the council may deem necessary
or proper, all of whom shall hold office at and during the pleasure of the
council, and said officers and employees shall qualify as prescribed by law,
and shall execute such bonds as may be prescribed by resolution of the
council; and the council shall have power to fill any vacancy in any of
such offices. Upon the failure of any council, after being qualified to
appoint such officers and employees all of such officers and employees then
in office shall so continue in office until removed by that or a succeeding
council. The same person may be appointed to fill two offices at the dis-
cretion of the council.

§ 5. Elections in the Town of Vienna shall be conducted pursuant to,
and in accord with, Sections 24-23, 24-56, 24-170, 24-171, 24-172, 24-178,
24-174, and 24-175 inclusive of the Code of Virginia, except insofar as
same are amended by subsection (a) of this section of the Charter.

(a). The mayor shall issue to those elected certificates of election,
which shall be countersigned by the town clerk. Tie votes shall be decided
by lot, and contests shall be tried and finally determined by the mayor,
pursuant to such regulations as the council may adopt.

The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the town and
it shall be his duty to see that the laws and ordinances thereof are fully
executed, and he shall preside over the meetings of the council, appoint
all necessary committees or departments for the proper dispatch of the
business of the town. However, the mayor, as a member of the council,
shall vote only in case of a tie; in addition to his constitutional power of
veto. The mayor shall see that the duties of the various officers, 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 on oath, and dismiss or suspend them from office,
670 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY [va., 1956

subject to the right of the council to reinstate such officers by a vote of
two-thirds majority of such 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 regular meeting, shall possess the same powers, and dis-
charge the same duties during such absence or inability.

In case a vacancy should occur in the office of mayor, same shall be
filled by any qualified voter for the unexpired term by a majority vote
of the council.

The council of said town is hereby authorized to fix the salary of
the mayor, members of the council, and all appointed officers and em-
ployees of said town, at a sum not to exceed any limitations placed by the
laws and Constitution of the State of Virginia.

§ 7. The mayor, in addition to all other powers, shall be a conserva-
tor of the peace, and shall have authority to appoint, subject to the ap-
proval of the council, such police force to aid the sergeant of said town
(who shall have control of same under the orders of the mayor) whenever
and as he may deem necesary. The mayor shall, unless and until a trial
justice is appointed as hereinafter provided, have power to issue warrants
and summon witnesses, and exclusive jurisdiction to try cases involving
violations of town ordinances. In the collection of taxes or assessments
or other form of debt owing to the town, he shall have like powers to
those delegated to trial justices by the laws of this State; in the exercise
of the jurisdiction herein conveyed, he may exercise the powers and shall
perform the duties of a trial justice as provided by the trial justice laws
of the State of Virginia, except that he shall not be required to be a
licensed attorney. The fees and cost in connection with such cases shall
be the same as are authorized by law to be charged, taxed and collected
by trial justices for similar services, and such fees and fines collected shall
promptly be paid into the treasury of said town. Provided, however, that
the council may at any time it deems the same expedient, appoint a trial
justice for the town who shall be a resident qualified voter of said town
(unless the council be of the opinion that a suitable qualified resident and
voter is not available, in which event the council may appoint a. non-
resident as trial justice.) Said trial justice, when so appointed, shall give
such bond as the council requires, and shall serve during the pleasure of
the council, and shall receive such compensation as the council shall
prescribe.

In the event of the appointment of such trial justice he shall have
during such time as he serves, and to the exclusion of the mayor, the same
powers and jurisdiction as are herein above conferred upon and vested in
the mayor as trial officer, and shall exercise the same in like manner
as they are above authorized and directed to be exercised by the mayor,
in that capacity.

There shall also be appointed one justice of the peace for the town
of Vienna, to serve at the pleasure of said council, who shall be a con-
servator of the peace, and shall have the power and authority to issue
warrants and summon witnesses involving violations of town ordinances,
but all such warrants and process shall be returnable before the mayor,
or trial justice, whichever acts as trial officer. The compensation of such
justice of the peace shall be the fees that he collects, and such as are fixed
by law for such justices.

§ 8. The council shall by ordinance fix the time of their stated meet-
ings, and they shall meet at least once a month. Special meetings may
be called at any time by the mayor or by four members of the council,
provided that all members are duly notified a reasonable period of time
prior to such meeting, and no business shall be transacted at a special
CH. 456] ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 671

meeting thereof, except that for which it shall be called, unless all mem-
bers of the council be present.

Four members of the council, and the mayor, or five members of the
council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. No vote
taken at any meeting shall be reconsidered or rescinded at any subsequent
special meeting unless at such special meeting there be as many members
of the council present as were present when such vote was taken.

The council shall have all powers and authority that is now or may
hereafter be granted to councils of towns by the general laws of this State
and by this act, 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 this State to town councils, but not herein
specified.

§ 9. The council shall have the power to control and manage the
fiscal and municipal affairs of the town and all property, real and per-
sonal, belonging to said town, and to make such ordinances, orders, and
resolutions relating to the same as it may deem necessary. And it shall
have the further power to purchase, hold, sell and convey all real and
personal property within, or without, the corporate limits, necessary for its
use and purposes.

(a). The council shall have power and authority to acquire, or other-
wise obtain control of or establish, maintain, operate, extend and enlarge
waterworks, sewage disposal plants, gasworks, electric plants, and other
public utilities within or without the limits of the town; and to acquire
within or without the limits of the town by purchase, condemnation or
otherwise, whatever land may be necessary for acquiring, locating, estab-
lishing, maintaining, operating, extending and enlarging said waterworks,
sewage disposal plants, electric plants and other utilities, and the rights
of way, rails, pipes, poles, conduits and wires connected therewith or any
of the fixtures or appurtenances thereof; promulgate and enforce reason-
able rates, rules and regulations for use of same, any or all of which rates,
rules and regulations the council may alter at any time without notice.

(b). In the event the fees, rents, or charges, charged for the use and
services of the public water system or sewage disposal system, by, or in
connection with, any real estate shall not be paid when due, interest shall
at the time begin to accrue thereon at the rate of one percent per month.
Such fees, rents, and charges, and the interest due thereon may be recovered
by the town of Vienna by action at law, or suit in equity, and shall con-
stitute a lien against the property, ranking on a parity with liens for
unpaid town or county taxes.

(c). The council shall have the power and authority to require the
owners or occupants of the real estate within the corporate limits of the
town which may front or abut on the line of any sewer or water pipe line
or conduit to make connections therewith, and to use such sewer pipes and
conduits and water furnished by the town under such ordinances and regu-
lations as the council may deem necessary to secure the proper service
thereof and to improve and secure good sanitary conditions; and shall have
the power to enforce the observance of all such ordinances and regulations
by the imposition and collection of fines and penalties, to be collected as
other fines and penalties under the provisions of this act.

§ 10. The council, within the limits of the constitution of this State
and in accordance with the provisions of the general laws thereof, may, in
the name of, and for the use of the town, contract loans or cause to be
issued certificates of debt, notes or bonds.

§ 11. The council shal] have the power to negotiate temporary loans,
in anticipation of taxes, for the purpose of paying current expenses of the
town; such loans to be evidenced by bonds or notes bearing interest at not
exceeding six per centum per annum; such bonds or notes shall be payable
within one year from the date of issue out of the current revenue of the
year in which same are issued. No such temporary loan shall in the aggre-
gate exceed seventy-five per cent of the previous year’s income. In the is-
suance of bonds and notes the town shall be subject to the limitations as to
amount contained in Section 127 of the Constitution of the Commonwealth
of Virginia only, and within said limitation may issue notes to raise capital
in anticipation of a bond issue to redeem same, provided said notes are re-
deemed by a bond issue within five years from date.

§ 12. Sinking Fund Provision.—(a). There shall be set apart an-
nually from the revenues of the town a sinking fund sufficient in amount to
pay the outstanding indebtedness of the town, as it matures, which by its
terms, is payable in not less than one year, and the council may, in its dis-
cretion annually from time to time, set aside such additional sinking fund
ae ay Ld deemed proper, and invest all of the sinking fund as hereinafter
set forth.

(b). All sinking funds shall be used exclusively in the payment or pur-
chase and redemption of the outstanding bonds of the town, and when such
sinking funds are not required or may not within a reasonable time be re-
quired for payment of any bond of the town, or cannot be used to advantage
in the purchase and redemption of any bonds of the town, which may be
outstanding, the same shall be securely invested in interest bearing munici-
pal, state or government bonds, or invested in any securities approved by
the general laws of the state for the investment of such funds, or deposited
in a bank on a reasonable rate of interest. Such sinking fund may be used
in the payment or purchase and redemption of all bonds of the town at the
discretion of the council.

§ 13. All bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness of the town shall
be signed by the mayor and countersigned by the town clerk, and to all
bonds the clerk of the town shall affix the corporate seal of the town and
attest the same.

§ 14. All contracts except those affecting public safety and health for
the erection of public improvements and buildings within the jurisdiction
of the town where the estimated cost thereof exceeds three hundred dol-
lars, shall be let to the lowest responsible bidder, all things considered ; and
the party to whom any contract is awarded shall give such bond as the coun-
cil may require, but in no event shall any contract be let to any member of
the town council, nor shall any member have any interest in such contract.

§ 15. The town is empowered to levy and collect taxes, on all subjects
of taxation except as restrained by the Constitution or by general law
heretofore or hereafter adopted, provided that it shall impose no taxes on
the bonds of the said town; and provided further that such levy shall not
be increased beyond the rate of two dollars on the one hundred dollar
assessed valuation of real and personal property (except as permitted by
State law for increases beyond charter limitations) without the affirmative
vote of the majority of citizens voting, as determined by a referendum held
for this purpose.

‘ § 16. The assessment of real and personal property in the town for
the purpose of municipal taxation shall be the same as the assessment for
the purpose of county taxation, but where the treasurer for the town knows
of property that has been omitted by the commissioner of revenue of the
county from his books, the treasurer of the town may by the same pro-
ceedings as are provided for county commissioners of revenue in similar
cases assess such omitted property, real or personal, for town taxation.

§ 17. All ordinances now in force in the town of Vienna, not incon-
sistent with this act, shall be and remain in force until altered, amended or
repealed by the council.
§ 18. The present elected officers of the town shall be and remain in
office until expiration of their several terms, and until their successors have
been duly elected and qualified. ;

§ 19. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this act shall for
any reason be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid
such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of the
act, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph,
or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which said judgment
shall have been rendered. .

2. This act may for all purposes be referred to or cited as the Vienna
Charter of nineteen hundred and fifty-six. ;

3. Chapter 420 of the Acts of Assembly of 1940, approved April 1, 1940,
as amended, is hereby repealed.

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