CHAPTER 5

An Act to amend and reenact § 8, as amended, of Chapter 194 of the Acts
of Assembly of 1984, approved March 27, 1984, which provided a new
charter for the town of Lawrenceville, Virginia, so as to provide that
the town may levy taxes to meet obligations imposed by certain bond

issues.
[S. B. 4]
Approved February 2, 1956

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 3, as amended, of Chapter 194 of the Acts of Assembly of 1934,
approved March 27, 1934, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 3. In addition to the powers mentioned in section one hereof, the
town of Lawrenceville shall have the following powers:

i To raise annually, by taxes and assessments in said town, on
all such property, real and personal, as is now or may be subject to taxa-
tion by towns by the revenue laws of this Commonwealth, such sums of
money as the council thereof shall deem necessary for the purposes of said
town, in such manner as said council shall deem expedient in accordance
with the Constitution of this State and of the United States; provided that
the tax on said real and personal estate shall not exceed in any one year
one dollar on every hundred dollars value thereof; and provided further
that for the payment of principal and interest of all bonds hereafter issued
by the town a sufficient ad valorem tax may be levied annually upon all
locally taxable property in the town, without limitation of rate or amount.

Second. To impose special or local assessments for local improve-
ments and to enforce payment thereof, subject to such limitations pre-
scribed by the Constitution and laws of Virginia as may be in force at the
time of the imposition of such special or local assessments.

Third. To contract debts, borrow money and make and issue evidences
of indebtedness.

Fourth. To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.
Fifth. 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 of the purposes thereof; and to hold, improve, sell, lease,
mortgage, the same or any part thereof, including any property now owned
by the town.

Sixth. To construct, maintain, regulate and operate public improve-
ments of all kinds, including municipal and other buildings, grounds and
structures necessary or appropriate for the use and proper operation of the
various departments of the town.

Seventh. 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 said town may deem
necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate water supply to said
town and of piping or conducting the same; to lay all necessary mains and
service lines within and without the corporate limits of said town; to erect
and maintain all necessary mains and service lines within and without the
corporate limits of said town; to erect and maintain all necessary dams,
pumping stations and other works in connection therewith; to make
reasonable rules and regulations for promoting the purity of its said water
supply and for protecting the same from pollution, and for this purpose to
exercise full police powers and sanitary patrol over all lands comprised
within the limits of the water shed tributary 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.

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

Ninth. To establish, impose and enforce the collection of water, light
and sewerage rates and rates and charges for other services, products, or
conveniences operated or furnished by the town; and the said council may
prescribe a different rate to be paid for such services and conveniences
rendered to users or consumers without the corporate limits from the
charges made to those within the corporate limits of said town.

Tenth. To establish, enter, open, widen, extend, grade, improve, con-
struct, maintain, light, sprinkle and clean public highways, streets, alleys,
parkways and parks, and to alter or close the same; to regulate the use of
all such highways, parks and public grounds; to prevent the obstruction of
such streets and highways; to require any railroad company operating a
railroad at the place where any highway or street is crossed within the town
limits to erect and maintain at such crossing any style of gate deemed
proper, and keep a man in charge thereof or keep a flagman at such cross-
ing during such hours as the council may require in accordance with the
general law of the State, and to regulate the length of time such crossings
may be closed due to any operations of the railroad; to regulate the opera-
tion and speed of all cars and vehicles upon said streets and highways, as
well as the speed of all engines, cars and trains or railroads within the
town; to permit or prohibit poles and wires for electric, telephone and
telegraph purposes to be erected and gas lines to be laid in the streets and
alleys, and to prescribe and collect an annual charge for such privileges
CH. 5) ACTS OF ASSEMBLY 13

hereafter granted; to require the owner or lessee of any electric light,
telephone or telegraph pole or poles or wires now in use or hereafter
erected to change the location or move the same.

Eleventh. To acquire by gift, purchase or by the exercise of the power
of eminent domain within this State, Jand or any interest or estate in
lands, rock quarries, gravel pits, sand pits, water and water rights and the
necessary roadways thereto, either within or without the town, and acquire
and install machinery and equipment and build the necessary roads or
tramways thereto and operate the same for the purpose of producing
materials required for any and all purposes of the said town.

Twelfth. To establish, construct, and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer
lines and cisterns and to require the abutting property owners to connect
therewith and to establish, construct, maintain and operate sewerage dis-
posal plants and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or with-
out the town, all lands, rights of way and other rights and easements neces-
sary for the purposes aforesaid, and to charge and collect reasonable fees
or assessments or costs of service for connecting with and using the same.

Thirteenth. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution of Virginia
and of this charter to grant franchises for public utilities.

Fourteenth. To collect and dispose of sewerage, offal, ashes, garbage,
carcasses of dead animals and other refuse and to make reasonable charges
therefor ; to acquire and operate reduction or other plants for the utilization
or destruction of such materials or any of them, and to contract for and
regulate and collect for the disposal thereof and to require and regulate
the disposal thereof. .

Fifteenth. To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances
within the town or upon property owned by the town beyond its limits
at the expense of the person or persons causing the same, or of the owner
or occupant on the ground or premises whereon the same may be, and to
collect said expense by suit 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, and 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 business within the
said town, the keeping of hogs or other animals, poultry or other fowl
therein, or the exercise of any dangerous or unwholesome business, trade
or employment therein; to regulate the transportation of all articles
through the streets of the town; to compel the abatement of smoke and
dust, and prevent unnecessary noise, to regulate the location of stables and
the manner in which they shall be kept and constructed; to regulate the
location, construction, and operation and maintenance of billboards and
generally to define, prohibit, abate, suppress, and prevent all things detri-
mental 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 sidewalks in front thereof to keep the same clean and
sanitary, and free from all weeds, filth, unsightly deposits, ice or snow.

Sixteenth. The council may, in its discretion, appoint a board of health
for the town and invest it with authority for the prompt and efficient
performance of its duties.

Seventeenth. To inspect, test, measure, and weigh any commodity or
article of consumption for use within the town, and to establish, regulate,
license, and inspect weights, meters, measures and scales.

Eighteenth. To extinguish and prevent fires, and to establish, regu-
late and control a fire department or division; to regulate the size, heights,
materials and construction of buildings, fences, walls, retaining walls and
other structures hereafter erected in such manner as the public safety and
conveniences may require; to remove or require to be removed or recon-
structed any building, structure or addition thereto, which by reason of
dilapidation, defect of structure, or other causes, may have become danger-
ous to life or property, or which may be erected contrary to law; to es-
tablish and designate from time to time fire limits, within which limits
wooden buildings shall not be constructed, removed, added to, enlarged, or
repaired, and to direct that any or all future buildings within such limits
shall be constructed of stone, natural or artificial, concrete, brick, iron or
other fireproof material; and may enact stringent and efficient laws for
securing the safety of persons from fires in halls and buildings used for
public assemblies, entertainments or amusements.

Nineteenth. To charge and to collect fees for permits to use public
facilities and for public service and privileges. The said town shall have
the power and right to charge a different rate for any service rendered or
convenience furnished to citizens without the corporate limits from the
rates charged for similar service to citizens within the corporate limits.

Twentieth. To prevent any person having no visible means of sup-
port, paupers, and persons who may be dangerous to the peace and safety
of the town, from coming to said town from without the same; and also
to expel therefrom any such person who has been in said town less than
twelve months.

Twenty-first. To provide in or near the town, lands to be used as
burial places for the dead; to improve and care for the same and the ap-
proaches thereto and to charge for and regulate the use of ground therein;
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 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 shall have been made.

Twenty-second. To exercise full police powers and establish and
maintain a department or division of police.

Twenty-third. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and street
beggars; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assem-
blages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling houses; to prevent and
punish lewd, indecent and disorderly exhibitions in said town; and to expel
therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who have not resided therein as
much as one year. .

Twenty-fourth. To license and regulate the holding and location of
shows, circuses, public exbitions, carnivals and similar shows or fairs, or
prohibit the holding of the same or any of them within the town or within
one mile thereof ; to require every owner of a motor vehicle residing in the
said town, on a date to be designated by the council, to annually register
such motor vehicle and obtain a license to operate the same by making
application to the treasurer of said town, or such other person as may be
designated by the council of the town to issue said license, and to require
said owner to pay an annual fee therefor, to be fixed by the council, but said
license shall not exceed the amount charged by the State on said machine.

Twenty-fifth. To make and enforce ordinances, not in conflict with
the laws of this State, to regulate, control license and/or tax the manu-
facture, bottling, sale, distribution, transportation, handling, advertising,
possession, dispensing, drinking and use of alcohol, brandy, rum, whiskey,
gin, wine, beer, lager beer, ale, porter, stout, and all liquids, beverages and
articles containing alcohol obtained by distillation, fermentation or other-
wise.

Twenty-sixth. 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
industries of the town; or its inhabitants.

Twenty-seventh. To prescribe any penalty for the violation of any
town ordinance, rule, or regulation or of any provision of this charter, not
exreoding five hundred dollars or twelve months’ imprisonment in jail, or

Twenty-eighth. To prohibit and punish mischievous, wanton, or
malicious damage to school and public property as well as private property.

Twenty-ninth. To prohibit and punish minors from frequenting,
playing in, or loitering in any public poolroom, billiard parlor, or tenpin
alley, and to punish any proprietor or agent thereof for permitting same.

Thirtieth. To pass and enforce all by-laws, rules, regulations and
ordinances which it may deem necessary for the good order and govern-
ment 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 or 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 power,
authority, capacity, or jurisdiction, which is or shall be granted to or vested
in said town, or in the council or officers thereof, or which may be neces-
sarily incident to a municipal corporation.

The town of Lawrenceville may maintain a suit to restrain by injunc-
tion the violation of any ordinance, notwithstanding punishment may be
provided for the violation of such ordinance.

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