CHAPTER 221

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 16 of Chapter 406 of
the Acts of Assembly of 1956, approved March 30, 1956, bewng the
charter of the town of Vienna in Fairfax County, relating, respec-
tively, to the territorial limits, administration and government of the
town, provisions for certain town officers, duties, functions and powers
of the mayor, powers and duties of the council, and assessments for
taxation and to repeal § 14, relating to conditions under which town
contracts may be let. CH 312]

Approved March 9, 1960

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 16 of Chapter 456 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1956, approved March 30, 1956, be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 2. The territory embraced within the * town of Vienna is * that
territory in the county of Fairfax, * Virginia, as established in Chapter
456 of the Acts of Assembly of 1956 as modified by the final order of the
Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia, recorded in the Common Law
Order Book No. 89, page 99. .

§ 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) * On the second Tuesday in June, 1960, there shall be held a town
election at which there shall be elected by the qualified electors of the
town at large, six councilmen and a mayor. The three councilman candt-
dates receiving the highest number of votes shall serve for terms of three
years and the three candidates receiving the next highest number of votes
shall serve for terms of two years.

In the town election to be held on the second Tuesday in June, nine-
teen hundred sixty-two, and in every year thereafter, three councilmen
shall be elected for terms of two years each.

The term of office for the mayor shall continue to be for a period of
two years. Terms of office for both the mayor and all councilmen s
begin on the first day of September next following his or their election.

The council shall be a continuing body and no measures pending be-
fore such body, or any contract or obligation incurred, shall abate or be
discontinued by reason of the expiration of the term of office or removal of
any of its members.

(b) Vacancies in the council shall be filled within * forty-five days,
for the unexpired term, by a majority vote of the remaining members;
subject, 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 Common-
wealth of Virginia; provided, however, that where a vacancy shall occur
more than eighteen months prior to expiration of the term, such vacancy
shall be filled by a majority vote of the remaining members only until a
successor shall have been chosen by the qualified electors of the town and
shall have qualified as provided by law. In the town election to be held on
the second Tuesday in June next following the occurrence of such vacancy
there shall be elected by the qualified electors of the town a member of the
council to fill each such vacancy for the unexpired term. The term of office
of any councilman so elected shall begin on the first day of July nezt fol-
lowing his election.

. The council shall appoint a clerk, a treasurer, a town sergeant
and such other officers and employees including policemen as the council
may deem necessary or proper, all of whom shall hold office at and during
the pleasure of the council, subject to the power of the mayor to dismiss
or suspend them as provided in § 6 hereof, 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 re-
moved by that or a succeeding council. The same person may be appointed
to fill two offices at the discretion of the council.

§ 6. 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 and all
employees including policemen, whether elected or appointed, are faith-
fully 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, subject to the right of the
council to reinstate such officers * and employees, including policemen, by
a majority of the council present and voting.

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 employees
of said town, at a sum not to exceed any limitations placed by the laws and
Constitution of the State of Virginia; provided that the salary of the
mayor shall not be fixed at an amount greater than one thousand dollars
a year and the salary of each member of council shall not be fixed at an
amount greater than six hundred dollars a year.

§ 7. * The town court shall be known as the Municipal Court of the
town of Vienna, and shall have original jurisdiction in the trial of all
cases involving the violation of town ordinances, and in the collection of
taxes or assessments, or other forms of debt owing to the town.

Jurisdiction of the said Court in civil matters shall be as provided in
Section 16.1-77 of the Code of Virginia, and in criminal matters as pro-
vided in Section 16.1-124 of the Code of Virginia.

There shall also be appointed not more than three justices of the
peace for the town of Vienna, to serve at the pleasure of said council, who
Shall be conservators of the peace, and shall have the power and authority
to set and accept bonds, issue warrants and summon witnesses involving
violations of town ordinances, but all such warrants and process shall be
returnable before the Municipal Court. The compensation of such justices
of the peace shall be the fees which are fixed by law for such justices.

§ 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, but
insofar as such power of condemnation is exercised as to lands of a public
service corporation, § 25-233 shall be applicable, or otherwise, whatever
land may be necessary for acquiring, locating, establishing, 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 reasonable 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 recov-
ered by the town of Vienna by action at law, or suit in equity, and shall
constitute a hen 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
regulations 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 regu-
lations by the imposition and collection of fines and penalties, to be col-
lected as other fines and penalties under the provisions of this act.

(d) The council shall have the authority if it so chooses, to delegate
in writing to a duly appointed town manager such of its powers and duties
as are not forbidden by State law to be delegated, and may withdraw any
such delegation of power or duties at its discretion; the mayor shall have
like authority in relation to his powers and duties.

§ 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
proceedings as are provided for county commissioners of revenue in
similar cases assess such omitted property, real or personal, for town
taxation.

Where the treasurer for the town knows of property that has been
erroneously assessed in the town of Vienna by the Commissioner of Rev-
enue of the County of Fairfax from his books, the treasurer of the town
may by the same proceedings as are provided for county commissioners
of revenue in similar cases release such erroneous assessments from the
town of Vienna taz rolls.

2. That § 14 of Chapter 456 of the Acts of Assembly of 1956, approved
March 30, 1956, is repealed.
8. An emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.