CHAPTER 443

An Act to amend and reenact § 5 of Chapter 60 of the Acts of Assembly
of 1908, as amended, the chapter providing a charter for the town
of Brookneal and the section relating to election of mayor and
council and the powers of council.

[H 270]
Approved March 31, 1962

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 5 of Chapter 60 of the Acts of Assembly of 1908, as amended,
be amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 5. Town council.—First. The members of the town council shall
be elected on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen hundred and twenty-
six, and each two years thereafter until the regular municipal election in
June, nineteen hundred sixty-two, when the three candidates receiving the
highest number of votes shall serve a term of four years each and the
three candidates receiving the next highest number of votes shall serve
for terms of two years each.

At the regular municipal election to be held in June, nineteen hun-
dred sixty-four, and every two years thereafter three councilmen shall be
elected for terms of four years each.

Second. The mayor and members of the council shall take office on
the first day of September after their election. ;

Third. The town council, in addition to powers granted it by this
act, shall have all the authority and power, and be subject to all of the
duties, imposed by general laws.

Fourth. The town council, at its first regular meeting in September
of each year, shall elect a president of the council to be chosen from their
number who shall preside over its meeting during the absence or disquali-
fication of the mayor. In the absence or disqualification of the said mayor,
the president of the council shall possess and have all power and authority
which is granted to the mayor of said town by the provisions of this act
and it shall be his duty, to faithfully discharge the same.

Fifth. The town council shall meet on the first Monday night in each
month, unless it shall hereafter by ordinance prescribe otherwise, but a
regular meeting shall be held once during each month.

Sixth. The president of the council, or the mayor, or any three
members thereof, may call a special meeting at any time. Notice of such
special meeting shall be in writing and served upon all members of the
council not signing the call. Such service shall be by the sergeant and
collector or recorder and treasurer, and shall be made as other legal serv-
ice may be made in this Commonwealth. At such meeting, no business
shall be transacted unless there are a majority of all of the members of
the council present, and then only the particular business for which the
said meeting was called.

Seventh. No motion to reconsider the vote by which any bylaws,
ordinance or resolution was passed may be entertained by the presiding
officer of the council after the same shall once have been made and de-
feated, or passed, unless made by a member voting for such bylaw, ordi-
nance or resolution. No motion to reconsider shall be entertained at a
special meeting. If a special meeting has been held, no business shall be
transacted at the next regular meeting until the minutes of such special
meeting shall have been read and approved.

Eighth. Any four councilmen or any three councilmen and the
mayor shall constitute a quorum of the council.

Ninth. The council may adopt such rules and procedure for the
regulation of their meetings as they may deem proper but no tax may
be imposed, or debt contracted, or payment of money authorized, except
by an amined vote of two-thirds of the members recorded on the
journal.

Tenth. A journal of all of the proceedings of the council shall be
kept, which shall be open at all reasonable times to the inspection of any
person interested and residing in the said town. The said journal shall
be signed by the presiding officer after the same shall have been approved
in a regular or special meeting of the council, and shall also be signed by
the recorder and treasurer.

Eleventh. If any member of the council shall voluntarily and with-
out sufficient excuse, absent himself from three consecutive regular meet-
ings of the council, his office shall be declared vacant, and the vacancy
filled by the council at its next regular meeting.

Twelfth. The council shall have the custody and control of all of
the property of the town, and all the authority now granted or which may
hereafter be granted councils of towns by the general laws of this Com-
monwealth in regard to the control of the fiscal and municipal affairs of
the town, are hereby granted to the said council of the town of Brookneal.

Thirteenth. The town council may make ordinances and bylaws for
carrying into effect the provisions of this act; may prescribe fines and
other punishments for the violation of any of the ordinances or bylaws of
the town and in addition to the powers above mentioned, the said town
of Brookneal shall have the following powers:

(1) To control and manage the fiscal and municipal affairs of the
town, and all property, real and personal belonging to it, and may make
such ordinances, orders and bylaws, relating to the same as it may deem
necessary and proper.

(2) To purchase, hold, sell and convey all real and personal property
necessary for its uses and purposes.

(8) To raise annually by taxes and assessments in the said town such
sums of money as the council thereof shall deem necessary for the pur-
poses of the said town, and in such manner as the said council shall deem
expedient in accordance with the Constitution and general laws of this
State and of the United States; provided, however, that it shall impose
no tax on the bonds of the said town.

(4) To impose special or local assessments for local improvements
and enforce the payment thereof, subject, however, to the limitations pre-
scribed by the Constitution of Virginia which are in force at the time of
the imposition of such special or local assessments.

(5) To impose a tax of one dollar per annum upon each male resident
of the town who has attained the age of twenty-one years.

(6) To the extent permitted by the Constitution and general laws of
the State, to impose a tax on merchants, commission merchants, auction-
eers, traders, brokers, hotel keepers, boarding house keepers, keepers of
drinking or eating houses, keepers of livery stables, garages, photographic
artists of all kinds, agents of all kinds, vendors of quack or patent medi-
cines, public theatrical or other performances or shows, keepers of billiard
tables, ten pin alleys, pistol galleries, peddlers, sample merchants, public
service corporations, and any other person, firm, corporation, business or
employment, whether of like kind with any of the foregoing or not, which
it may deem proper whether such person, firm, corporation, business or
employment be herein specifically enumerated or not, and whether any tax
be imposed thereon by the State or not. As to all such persons, firms, cor-
porations, business or employment, the council may, to the extent per-
mitted by general law, lay a direct tax or may require a license tax there-
for under such regulations as it may prescribe and levy a tax thereon;
and where it is permitted by the general laws of this State, may levy both
a direct tax and a license tax thereon. But this section shall not render it
legal to conduct within the town of Brookneal any business, calling or
profession which but for this section would be illegal.

(7) The council may subject any person, firm or corporation who,
without having obtained a license therefor, shall do any act or follow any
employment or business in the town, for which a license may be required
by ordinance, to such fine or penalty, as it is authorized to impose for any
violation of its laws.

(8) To borrow money for and in the name of the town, contract
debts and cause to be issued therefor notes or bonds which, however, shall
be subject to the provisions of the Constitution and laws of this State and
to provide for the retirement of same by the creation of a sinking fund.

(9) To expend the money of the town for all lawful purposes.

(10) To establish markets in the town and regulate the same and to
enforce such regulations in regard to the keeping and sale of milk, fresh
meat, vegetables, eggs and other green groceries, and the trade of huck-
sters and junk dealers, as may be deemed advisable.

(11) To erect and keep in order all necessary public buildings, and
to establish and regulate public squares and parks in or near the town,
and may acquire by purchase, through condemnation or otherwise, the
land it may deem necessary for such uses. o

(12) To establish and maintain water works or gas works within or
without the said town; to contract with the owners of land for water and
riparian rights, for the use or location thereof, or to have the same con-
demned for the location of said works, or the pipes and fixtures thereof,
and to acquire by purchase or condemnation such quantity of the water
shed land adjacent to the intake or source of supply, as in the judgment
of the said town council may be necessary to insure a sufficient supply of
water for said town, and to protect the same from pollution; and to pro-
tect all such works, pipes, reservoirs and fixtures whether within or with-
out the town, against injury and pollution, by appropriate ordinances and
penalties to be enforced as are other ordinances of said town.

(13) To establish or acquire by purchase and to maintain and operate
within or without the corporate limits of the said town, suitable works
for the generation of electricity for illuminating or other purposes and
to supply the same to consumers in or near the town at such price and
on such terms as the council may prescribe and to that end may contract
with the owners of land and water power for the use thereof, or may
have the same condemned.

(14) To take care, supervision and control of streets, squares and
commons, and to close, extend, widen, narrow, lay off, pave, improve and
otherwise alter the streets and alleys in said town and have the streets
and alleys properly lighted and kept in good order; make or construct
Sewers or public ducts through the same or wherever else they may deem
expedient; build bridges in or culverts under the said streets and alleys;
prevent or remove obstructions or encroachments over, under or in the
same; plant shade trees along the same, and prevent the cumbering of
streets, alleys, walks, public squares, lanes or bridges in any manner what-
ever.

(15) To establish, construct and maintain sanitary sewers, sewer
lines and systems, 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 said town, all lands, rights of way, riparian and other rights and
easements necessary for the purposes aforesaid, and to charge and collect
reasonable fees or assessments or costs of services for connecting with
and using the same.

(16) To provide for the weighing of hay, fodder, oats, and shucks or
other long forage, ice, coal and live stock, and the measuring of wood and
lumber, and to that end, it may require every merchant, manufacturer or
trader in property of any description which is sold by measure or
weight to have his weights and measures sealed by such means as the
council may determine.

(17) To secure the inhabitants of the town from contagious, infec-
tious or other dangerous diseases; to establish a quarantine ground, to
provide and maintain hospitals; to compel the removal of patients to same;
to appoint and organize a board of health as provided for by the general
laws of this State; to define its duties and to grant to it the necessary
authority to effectually discharge the same.

(18) To provide in or near the town, a cemetery to be used as a burial
place for the dead; to improve and care for the same and the approaches
thereto and to charge for and regulate the use of ground therein.

(19) To compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances within
the town at the expense of the person, firm or corporation causing the
same, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon the same shall be: to
prevent or regulate slaughter houses as well as any offensive or unhealthy
business or employment therein, and to regulate the transportation of coal,
dirt and other articles through the streets and alleys of the said town.

(20) To authorize and regulate the erection and construction of party
walls and fences, and to prescribe how the costs thereof shall be borne by
coterminous owners.

(21) To direct the location of all buildings for storing explosives or
combustible substances; to regulate the sale and use of gun powder, nitro-
glycerine, fireworks, kerosene oil, gasoline or other like materials; to regu-
late the exhibitions of fireworks, the discharge of fire arms and the mak-
ing of fires in streets, alleys and yards.

(22) To provide for the regular and safe construction of all buildings
of every kind and description in the town for the future, and to designate
and prescribe from time to time the parts of the town within which no
building of wood or frame construction shall be erected, and to regulate
the construction of all buildings in the said town so as to protect it against
the danger from fire.

(23) To prevent fowls and animals being kept in or running at large
in the town, and to subject the same to such taxes, regulations and con-
fiscations as it may deem necessary and proper.

(24) To prevent the riding or driving of horses or other animals;
automobiles or other vehicles of any kind at improper speeds and to pre-
vent the engaging in any kind of employment in the public streets or
alleys which is dangerous or annoying to passers-by, and to prohibit and
punish the abuse of cruelty to animals.

(25) To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants and peddlers.

(26) To make and enforce ordinances similar to the prohibition laws
of the State.

(27) To prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public peace and
good order; and to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly as-
semblages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gaming houses; to prevent
lewd, indecent and disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the town, and to
expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who have resided therein
less than one year.

(28) To prevent the coming into the town of persons having no osten-
sible means of support, or of persons who may be dangerous to the peace
and good order of the town.

(29) To regulate and control auction sales, livery stables, garages,
slaughter houses, theatrical performances or other public shows or ex-
hibitions; the hiring or use for pay of carriages, carts, wagons, drays,
automobiles and jitneys and the business of peddlers, persons selling goods
by samples; persons keeping billiard tables, ten pin alleys and pistol gal-
leries for profits and all other similar business and occupations and employ-
ments, and as to such trades, occupations and employments, and any other
of a like nature, may grant or refuse licenses as it may deem proper and
for the best interest of the said town.

(30) To make such regulations and orders as will protect its citizens
from unsafe houses or walls and to that end, it shall have the power to
cause to be condemned and taken down any such building or wall, but no
such condemnation shall be made or such house or wall be taken down until
the owner thereof, or in case of an infant or insane person, his guardian
or committee, be duly summoned before the mayor or the committee of the
council on public safety, should there be one, and allowed reasonable op-
portunity to show cause against such action.

(31) To maintain a suit to restrain by an injunction the violation of
any ordinance, notwithstanding punishment may be provided for the vio-
lation of such ordinance.

(32) To establish a chain gang or work house and require offenders
against town ordinances to work on the said chain gang or in the work
house, should it be established, and may require when any person is sen-

tenced to serve a term in jail for the violation of any ordinance or by im-

prisonment for the non-payment of any fine, he may be required to work

on the chain gang upon the streets, alleys or other public places of the
wn.

(33) To regulate stores, shops, business establishments and individual
premises in the town of Brookneal, to prohibit the sale or exposure for
sale of meat or food stuffs damaged or otherwise unfit for sale or con-
sumption; to regulate the manufacture of ice in the same town, and to
provide proper and reasonable regulations for the manufacture thereof ;
and also to provide that no ice shall be shipped into and sold in the said
town that is not manufactured in accordance with the ordinances of the
said town or any regulation enacted by the council, relative to the manu-
facture and sale of the same.

(384) To elect or appoint such committees for the various departments
of the town as it may desire from the members of the council. The com-
mittees shall be elected or appointed at the first regular meeting of the
council in September of each year, and vacancies shall be filled by the
council as they may occur.

(35) For the violation of any ordinance or by-law of the said town,
the said council may impose a fine and other punishment or jail sentence,
not in excess of the fine, punishment and jail sentence imposed for a like
offense by the laws of this State, and in case the offense is not punishable
by the laws of this State, then for the purpose of carrying out this act,
the council may prescribe for the punishment for any such offense, a fine
not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment in jail not exceeding
twelve months or both.

(386) To pass all by-laws, rules and ordinances not repugnant to the
Constitution or the laws of the State which it may deem necessary for the
good order and government 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 and their property, and to do such other
things and to pass such other laws as may be necessary or proper to carry
into effect any power, authority, capacity or jurisdiction which is or shall
be granted to or vested in the said town or in its council or the officers
thereof, or which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

(37) To acquire property for public use and ownership as provided
in Article 7 of Chapter 5.1 of Title 15.

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