An Act to amend and reenact § 46.1-299, as amended, of the Code of Virginia, relating to devices signalling intention to turn or stop and rules therefor.
Volume 1968 Law 99
Law Body
CHAPTER 343
An Act to provide a charter for the town of Lebanon and to repeal Chapter
96, as amended, of the Acts of Assembly of 1872-78, in force February
21, 1878, which incorporated the town of Lebanon. [H 42]
Approved March 29, 1958
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
- §1. The inhabitants of the territory embraced within the present
limits of the town of Lebanon, as hereinafter defined, or as the same may
be hereafter altered or established by law, shall constitute and continue a
body politic and corporate, to be known and designated as the town of
Lebanon, and as such shall have and may exercise all powers which are
now, or may hereafter be, conferred upon or delegated to towns under the
Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia as fully and as
completely as though all such powers were specifically enumerated herein.
The territory embraced within the present limits of the town of Lebanon
is included and bounded by metes and bounds as follows:
BEGINNING at an angle point in the former corporate limits of
Lebanon, Virginia, said angle point being a stake in the property of G. H.
Dickenson; thence from the point of beginning N 80° 39’ 37” E 5650.82
feet to a point in the property of Frank Ketron; thence S 24° 31’ 25” E
2167.99 feet to a point on the east side of a private road in the Gilmer
property; thence S 70° 48’ 45” W 6208.43 feet to a point on the south bank
of Cedar Creek in the Con Fields property; thence S 76° 11’ 50” W 1318.26
feet to a point on the south bank of Cedar Creek in the Ferguson prop-
erty; thence N 31° 11’ 22” W 985.72 feet to a point in the aforementioned
Ferguson property; thence S 67° 47’ 48” W 1362.98 feet to a point in the
aforementioned Ferguson property ; thence N 09° 56’ 08” W 642.86 feet toa
point on the south bank of Cedar Creek in the aforementioned Ferguson
property; thence S 52° 53’ 37” W 5912.12 feet to a point on the east side
of State Route No. 660, said point being 15.0 feet from the center line of
the aforementioned road; thence N 44° 43’ 26” W 1217.48 feet to a point
on the south right-of-way line of Federal Route No. 19, said point being
33.0 feet from the center line of the aforementioned road; thence N 34°
51’ 53” W 2498.63 feet to a point witnessed by the corner common to the
Bundy and Garrett properties; thence N 45° 48’ 24” E 6139.56 feet to a
steel marker in the center of State Route No. 82; thence S 73° 54’ 23” E
3262.35 feet to a point witnessed by the corner common to the Russell
County School Board and Hendricks properties; thence S 82° 13’ 54” E
2033.45 feet to an angle point in the former corporate lines of the town of
Lebanon, said angle point being a stake in the lands of G. H. Dickenson,
at the beginning.
_ § 2. The administration and government of the town shall be vested
in a council composed of a mayor and six councilmen, all of whom shall be
qualified 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, nineteen hundred fifty-
eight, and every two years thereafter, all of whom shall hold office for
terms of two years from the first day of September next following their
election and until their successors shall have qualified. The mayor and
council in office on the effective date of this act shall continue in office until
expiration of their several terms and until their successors shall have
qualified.
(b) Vacancies in the office of mayor or council shall be filled for the
unexpired term by a majority vote of the remaining members.
3. The council shall fix the compensation of the mayor, members
of the council, and all appointed officers and employees of said town, at a
sum not to exceed any limitations placed thereon by the laws and Consti-
tution of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
§ 4. The council shall, by ordinance, fix the time for its regular
meetings. Special meetings shall be called by the clerk of the council upon
the written request of the mayor or three councilmen. Not less than twelve
hours written notice shall be given to the members of the council, of the
purpose, place and time of any such special meeting. Special meetings may
also be held at any time without notice, provided all members of the
council are present. No business shall be transacted at any such special
meeting which is not stated in the notice calling the same, unless all mem-
bers of the council attend the meeting or waive notice thereof in writing.
§ 5. The mayor and four members of the council, or five members of
the council shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
The council shall appoint a clerk, a treasurer and a sergeant
and may appoint a town attorney and such other officers as it deems neces-
sary or proper, prescribe their duties and functions and fix their compen-
sation. Such officers shall hold office at the pleasure of the council and shall
give such bonds as the council requires. The same person may be appointed
to fill two or more such offices, in the discretion of the council.
§ 7. The sergeant shall be a conservator of the peace, and shall have
the same powers and perform the same duties within the corporate limits
of the town and to a distance of one mile beyond the same, as are enu-
merated in Article 2 of Chapter 17, Title 15 of the Code of Virginia.
. The mayor in addition to his other duties shall be a conservator
of the peace, and shall, unless and until a police justice is appointed as
hereinafter provided, have power to issue warrants and summon witnesses ;
have exclusive original jurisdiction to try cases involving violations of
town ordinances, or the collection of town taxes or assessments, or any
other form of debts owing to the town; and shall have like powers in the
matter of collecting fines and costs imposed by him, as are vested by law
in the judges of county courts. The fees and costs in connection with such
cases shall be the same as are authorized by law to be charged, taxed and
collected by county courts for similar services, and such fees or costs and
all fines collected by the mayor shall be promptly paid by him into the
town treasury, unless the council by ordinance directs some other dis-
position thereof. The council may, by resolution duly adopted, appoint any
one of its members vice mayor to act in the place and stead of the mayor
in the trial and disposition of any warrant charging a violation of a town
ordinance, in the event of the mayor’s absence, sickness or disqualification.
The council may appoint a police justice for the town, who shall be a
ualified voter of the town, shall give such bond as the council requires,
shall serve at the pleasure of the council, and shall receive such compen-
sation as the council prescribes.
Such police justice shall have, during such time as he serves, and to
the exclusion of the mayor, the same powers and jurisdiction as are here-
inabove conferred upon and vested in the mayor, and shall exercise the
same in like manner as they are above authorized and directed to be exer-
cised by the mayor in that capacity.
§ 9. The Judge of the Circuit Court of Russell County may appoint
one or more persons as justices of the peace for the town, who shall have
power to issue warrants, commit persons to jail and to admit to bail
persons charged with violation of the ordinances of the town. The term of
the office of the justices of the peace shall be at the pleasure of the Judge
of the Circuit Court of Russell County. No justice of the peace who
receives a salary from the town, as a justice of the peace, shall receive
any fee for admitting any person to bail or for any services whatever
rendered by him in any criminal case. The council shall have the authority
to fix the compensation of justices of the peace appointed hereunder.
§ 10. The town is empowered to acquire, establish, enlarge, main-
tain and operate such water works and systems as the council deems neces-
sary for the purpose of providing an adequate supply of water to con-
sumers within the corporate limits of the town and within such adjacent
territory as the council deems it expedient or proper to serve, at such
rates as the council prescribes.
The town may discontinue serving water to any consumer who de-
faults in payment for such service within the time prescribed by the
council for payment thereof, for so long as such default continues.
§ 11. The town is empowered to establish, construct, enlarge, and
maintain such sanitary sewer lines and systems as the council deems neces-
sary or expedient, and to require owners or occupiers of real estate within
the corporate limits of the town, which fronts or abuts on any such sewer
line, to make connection with and use the same; and shall have power to
assess and collect reasonable fees and rates for making sewer connections
and for sewer service. Sewer service may be discontinued for default in
payment for such service within the time prescribed by the council for
payment thereof, for so long as such default continues.
§ 12. In the event the fees, rents or charges, charged for the use
and service 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 accrue thereon at the rate of not more than one per cent per month.
Such fees, rents and charges, and the interest due thereon may be recovered
by the town of Lebanon by action at law, or suit in equity, and shall con-
stitute a lien against the property, of equal dignity as liens for unpaid town
or county taxes.
§ 18. Subject to the provisions of § 25-233 of the Code of Virginia,
the town is empowered to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, prop-
erty, real or personal, or any interest or estate therein, either within
or without its corporate limits, for any of its proper purposes, in-
cluding that of providing playgrounds, parks, golf courses and other
recreational facilities, and to make reasonable charges for the use of such
facilities, and to otherwise handle and deal with such properties in such
manner as the council deems proper or expedient; and shall have power to
acquire by condemnation or otherwise, rights of way from the town to
any property acquired by it under any of the provisions of this charter,
which lies without its corporate limits, and to construct and maintain upon
such rights of way, such roads or bridges as may be reasonably necessary
for the full enjoyment thereof; and shall also have power to sell such
properties or any of them, or any other property owned by the town,
whenever the council deems it expedient to do so.
§ 14. To the extent not expressly prohibited by general law, the
town is empowered (a) to control and regulate the operation of motor
vehicles carrying passengers or freight for hire upon its streets and alleys,
and to require the owners or operators of such carriers to provide and
maintain within the town, suitable terminals for the convenient loading
and unloading of passengers and freight; (b) to regulate the fares to be
charged by operators of taxicabs or other motor vehicles operating from
established stands within the town, for carrying passengers within its
corporate limits, and to require that the drivers of such vehicles be of
such moral character as conforms to standards set by the council; and (c)
to prescribe rules and regulations with respect to motor traffic of all kinds,
within the town, and the parking of motor vehicles on its streets and alleys.
§ 15. The town is empowered (a) to regulate the holding of shows,
carnivals, fairs and other similar public exhibitions, or to prohibit the
holding of same, or any of them, within its corporate limits; (b) except as
prohibited by general law, to impose and collect such license tax as the
council may determine for the privilege of engaging within the town in
any business, trade, profession or calling upon which the State imposes a
license tax; provided that the town may, unless expressly prohibited by
general law, impose a higher license tax on any such activity, than that
imposed by the State on the same activity.
§ 16. The town is empowered (a) to provide a building code for the
town; to provide for the orderly and safe construction of houses and other
buildings; to prescribe setback lines on designated streets; to designate
standards to be observed in the construction of dwellings and business
houses on designated streets and in designated sections; and (b) to adopt
a comprehensive plan concerning the sub-division of lands within the cor-
porate limits of the town or within two miles thereof.
§ 17. The town is empowered (a) to enact such ordinances as may
be necessary for the protection of public or private property within the
town and to prescribe penalties for violations; provided, however, that no
punishment so prescribed shall be greater than that permitted by the
general laws of the Commonwealth for like offenses; (b) to prohibit
minors from frequenting or loitering in public pool rooms, billiard parlors
or bowling alleys, and prescribe punishment therefor, and to punish the
proprietors of such places, or their agents in charge, for permitting the
same; and (c) to compel persons sentenced to confinement in jail for vio-
lations of town ordinances, to work on the streets or other public places
of the town.
§ 18. The town is empowered to prohibit encroachments upon the
streets or alleys, or upon parks or other public places of the town by any
fence, building, porch, or other projection; and any such encroachment made
without such consent shall be deemed a nuisance, which the town may
compel to be abated and removed by and through appropriate court action
va _ Psens, against which right of the town no statute of limitation
run.
§ 19. The town is empowered to permit and regulate, or to prohibit,
the erection of poles and wires for electric, telegraph or telephone service
or the laying of any kinds of pipes in the streets or alleys of the town,
and to prescribe, assess and collect annual or other periodical charges for
the doing of any such things under permits hereafter granted; and the
power to require the owners or operators of any such electric light, tele-
phone or telegraph lines to change the location of any of their poles when-
ever the council deems any such change expedient; and to require all wires
or cables carrying electric current, whether heretofore or hereafter in-
stalled, to be placed in suitable conduits, underground, in the discretion of
the council; provided that none of the powers above enumerated shall be
exercised in a manner inconsistent with the provisions of any franchise
granted by the town.
§ 20. The town is empowered to exercise all such police powers as
the council deems reasonably necessary for the promotion and protection
of the health, morals and safety of the inhabitants of the town, for the
protection of the property of the town and its inhabitants, for the preser-
vation of peace and good order, and for the general welfare; and the
council is empowered to make ordinances and by-laws for the purpose of
carrying into effect the enumerated powers conferred upon the town by
this charter, including police powers, and to prescribe punishments for
violations thereof, provided that no such punishment shall exceed the
maximum punishment prescribed by general law for a misdemeanor; and
provided further, that all ordinances, by-laws and resolutions made and
adopted by the council shall become effective thirty days after their passage,
unless a different date is specified in any such ordinance, by-laws or reso-
lution, upon which the same shall become effective.
§ 21. The council may appoint a town manager who shall be the
chief administrative officer of the town and shall be chosen solely on the
basis of his executive and administrative qualifications, and shall have
such knowledge of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering as, in the
opinion of the council, shall be requisite to the efficient discharge of his
duties. During his term of office he shall reside within the corporate limits
of the town, and shall be appointed for such term as he and the council
agree upon, not to exceed two years, but in any event, to end with the
term of the council making the appointment. The town manager may be
suspended or removed by the council for any cause it deems sufficient, pro-
vided that no suspension or removal shall be effected until after he shall
have been given at least five days’ notice in writing, stating the cause for
such suspension or removal and fixing a day when he may be heard
thereon. The action of the council in suspending or removing the town
manager shall be final. The council, in its discretion, may place the control
and supervision of the police force of the town under either the mayor or
the town manager.
Except as otherwise provided in this charter, the town manager may,
with the consent of the council, appoint or employ, and remove or dis-
charge, such officers, employees and assistants as he deems necessary to
carry on the work of such departments of the town as are committed to
him by the council in an efficient manner. The salary or compensation, and
the terms of office or employment of such officers, employees and assistants
shall be fixed by the town manager, subject to approval by the council; and
his actions in all respects shall be subject to review by the council.
§ 22. All ordinances now in force in the town of Lebanon, not incon-
sistent with this charter, shall be and remain in full force and effect until
altered, amended or repealed by the council of the town, after the effective
date of this act.
2. Chapter 96, Acts of Assembly of 1872-73, in force February 21, 1878,
and all amendments thereto, are repealed.
3. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.