CHAPTER 107

An Act to provide a new charter for the town of Hamilton, Virginia, and
to repeal Chapter 107 of the Acts of Assembly, 1874-75, approved
February 18, 1875, which incorporated such town. TH 253]

53

Approved February 25, 1958

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. § 1. The inhabitants of the territory comprised within the present
corporate limits of the town of Hamilton, Virginia, are hereby declared to
be a body politic and corporate and as such shall have perpetual succession,
may sue and be sued, contract and be contracted with, and may have
a corporate seal which it may alter, renew or amend at its pleasure.

§ 2. The town of Hamilton shall contain the same area and have the
same boundaries as were set forth in Chapter 107 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1874-75, approved February 18, 1875, entitled “An Act to incorporate
The Town of Hamilton, in the County of Loudoun”.

§ 3. The officers of the town shall consist of a mayor, six councilmen
and a recorder, all of whom shall be electors of the town, and they shall be
elected for terms of two years in the manner provided by law, and before
entering upon the duties of their respective offices shall take the prescribed

§ 4. Whenever, from any cause, a vacancy shall occur in the office
of the mayor or councilmen, the same shall be filled by the Council at its
next regular meeting from the qualified electors of the town, and an entry
of such election shall be made of record.

§ 5. The mayor and four councilmen, or in the absence of the mayor,
five councilmen, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

§ 6. The council shall appoint such officers and employees as the
council may deem necessary, all of whom shall hold office at and during the
pleasure of the council, 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. The same
person may be appointed to fill two offices at the discretion of the council.

§ 7. The mayor shall be the chief executive officer of the town and
shall be ex officio conservator of the peace within the town and within a
mile of its corporate limits, and shall within the same exercise all of the
powers that are vested in a mayor as judge of a police court under the
general laws. He shall have supervisory control and may appoint special
police officers when necessary. He shall have authority to issue criminal
warrants for the arrest of any person or persons for violation of any of
the ordinances or resolutions of the town; he shall have the power to hear
and determine cases involving violations of the town ordinances and may
impose such penalty as may be provided in such ordinance upon any person
convicted of such violation as provided by law. He shall from time to time
recommend to the council such measures as he deems needful for the
welfare of the town; he shall have power to suspend all town officers for
misconduct in office or neglect of duty until the next regular meeting of
the council thereafter, or until a special meeting is called for that purpose,
and he shall receive a compensation for his services, to be fixed by the
council, which compensation when fixed shall not be increased or decreased
for any term of office for which he shall have been elected. He, when
present, shall preside over all meetings of the council with no power to
vote except in case of a tie, and shall perform such other duties as shall
be from time to time imposed upon him by the council not inconsistent with
the provisions herein contained or the general laws of the Commonwealth.

§ 8. The council shall have power: to lay off, open, curb and pave
streets, alleys, walks, and gutters for the public use in the town, and
improve and light the same and have them kept in good condition, free
from obstructions of any kind; to regulate the width of sidewalks on the
streets and vacate and discontinue streets; to lay off public grounds and
provide and contract for and take care of all buildings necessary for the
use of said town; to establish and regulate markets of said town, and pre-
vent injury or annoyance of the public or individual from anything dan-
gerous, offensive or unwholesome; to protect places of divine worship; to
abate or cause to be abated anything which shall constitute a nuisance; to
regulate the keeping of gunpowder and other combustibles; to provide in
and near the town places for the burial of the dead, and regulate inter-
ments therein; to regulate building of houses or other structures, and
the making of division fences, and the drainage of lots by proper means;
to make regulations for preventing danger or damage from fire; to provide
for the poor of the town; to appoint and publish the places for holding the
town elections; to establish rules for the transaction of its business, and
for the government and regulation of its body; to provide for the appoint-
Ment and the continuance of all committees thereof, together with the
powers of authority of same; to promote the general welfare of the town,
and to protect the property of persons therein; to preserve peace and good
order thereof; to provide for a town guard; to appoint and order out a
patrol for the town in like manner, and for like purposes within the same
as may be done by circuit courts according to law; to require and take from
all town officers bonds with such securities and in such penalty as it may
deem necessary for such officer to execute such bonds, such bonds to be
made payable to the town in its corporate name and conditioned for the
faithful discharge of the duties of the respective officers, all of which
bonds shall be held in custody of the mayor; to provide for the erection,
control, regulation or prohibition of gasworks, electric light works, water-
works, sewerage and other public utilities authorized by law; and to regu-
late, control and manage same; to prohibit the pollution of water used in
said town; and to provide offstreet parking facilities under control of the
town. The town shall have and may exercise all powers which are now or
may hereafter be conferred upon or delegated to towns under the Constitu-
tion and the laws of the Commonwealth and all other powers pertinent to the
conduct of a town government, the exercise of which is not expressly pro-
hibited by said Constitution and laws, and which in the opinion of the
council are necessary or desirable to promote the general welfare of the
town and the safety, health, peace, good order, comfort, convenience and
morals of its inhabitants as fully and completely as though such powers
were specifically enumerated in this charter, and no enumeration of par-
ticular powers in this charter shall be held to be exclusive but shall be
held to be in addition to this general grant of powers.

§ 9: In addition to the powers granted by other sections of this
charter, the town shall have power to raise annually by taxes and assess-
ments in the town such sums of money as the council shall deem necessary
to pay the debts and defray the expenses of the town, in such manner as
the council shall deem expedient, subject to the general law of the Com-
monwealth. In addition to, but not as a limitation upon, this general grant
of power, the town shall have power, subject to the general law of the
Commonwealth, to levy and collect ad valorem taxes on real estate and
tangible personal property and machinery and tools; to levy and collect
taxes for admission to or other charge for any public amusement, enter-
tainment, performance, exhibition, sport, or athletic event in the town,
which may be added to and collected with the price of such admission or
other charge; to levy on and collect taxes from purchasers of any public
utility service, which taxes may be added to and collected with the bills
rendered purchasers of such service; to establish, impose and enforce
water and sewerage rates and rates and charges for garbage and refuse
collection and disposal, parking lots or other services, products or con-
veniences, operated, rendered or furnished by the town; to require licenses,
prohibit the conduct of any business or profession without such a license,
require taxes to be paid on such licenses in respect of all businesses and
professions which cannot be reached by the ad valorem system. To make
appropriations, subject to the limitation imposed by this charter, for the
support of the town government and any other purposes authorized by
this charter and not prohibited by the laws of the Commonwealth.

§ 10. For the promotion of health, safety, morals, comfort, property
and the general welfare, the town is empowered to provide by ordinance
for the adoption of a master plan dividing the area of the town into two
or more districts, establish setback building lines, regulate and restrict
the location, construction, reconstruction, alteration and repair or use of
buildings and other structures and their height, area, and bulk and per-
centage of lot to be occupied by buildings or other structures and the trade,
industry and other specific uses of the premises in such districts, and adopt
building, plumbing, electrical and other codes to carry these purposes into
e
§ 11. 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 debts, notes or bonds.
_ §.12. The council shall 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 a
rate not exceeding six per cent per annum, such bonds or notes being pay-
able within one year from the date of issue, and payable out of current
revenue in the year in which the same are issued.

§ 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 purposes of county taxation. Where the treasurer of 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.

_ § 14. All ordinances now in force for the town of Hamilton not
inconsistent with this act shall be and remain in force until altered,
amended or repealed by the council.

_ § 15. The present elected officers of the town shall be and remain
in office until the expiration of their several terms, and until their succes-
sors have been duly elected and qualified.

§ 16. If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this act shall,
for any reason, be adjudicated 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. Chapter 107 of the Acts of Assembly of 1874-75, approved February
18, 1874-75, is repealed.
3. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.