CHAPTER 120

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 4.10, 4.16, 7.06 and 10.04 of Chapter
116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1948, providing a charter
for the City of Richmond, and §§ 4.01, 5-1.4, 6.19, 12.07 and 19.22 of
said chapter as subsequently amended, ‘relating to procedure for pass-
ing ordinances, including ordinances authorizing bond issues; power
of investigation; restrictions on actions for damages against the city;
salaries and allowances for members of the council; competitive bid-
ding for purchases of and contracts for supplies, materials and equip-
ment and construction of capital improvement projects; and quarters
for and sessions of municipal courts; and to add a section to said
chapter relating to the use of buildings or structures acquired or con-
structed for municipal purposes, numbered 2.08.2. rH 811]

Approved February 28, 1964

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 4.10, 4.16, 7.06 and 10.04 of Chapter 116 of the Acts of the
General Assembly of 1948 be amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 4.10. Procedure for passing ordinances.—An ordinance may be
introduced by any member or committee of the council or by the city
manager at any regular meeting of the council or at any special meeting
when the subject thereof has been included in the notice for such special
meeting or has been approved by the unanimous consent of all the mem-
bers of the council. Upon introduction it shall receive its first reading and
a time, not less than seven days after such introduction, and place shall
be set at which the council or a committee thereof will hold a public hear-
ing on such ordinance, provided that the council may reject any ordinance
on first reading without a hearing thereon by vote of six members. The
hearing may be held separately or in connection with a regular or special
meeting of the council and may be adjourned from time to time. It shall
be the duty of the city clerk to cause to be published in a daily newspaper
of general circulation published in the city, not later than the * fifth day *
before the public hearing on the proposed ordinance a notice containing
the time and place of the hearing and the title of the proposed ordinance.
It shall also be his duty * not later than the fifth day before the public
hearing to cause its full text to be printed or otherwise reproduced, as the
council may by resolution direct, in sufficient numbers to supply copies to
those who individually request them, or, if the council shall so order to
cause the same to be published as a paid advertisement in a newspaper
of general circulation published in the city. It shall further be his duty to
place a copy of the ordinance in a file provided each member of the council
for this purpose. A proposed ordinance, unless it be an emergency ordi-
nance, shall be read a second time and may be finally passed at a regular
meeting of the council following the introduction of the ordinance and
after the conclusion of the public hearing thereon. If on its second reading
an ordinance, other than an emergency ordinance, be amended as to its
substance it shall not be passed until it shall be reprinted, reproduced or
published as amended and a hearing shall be set and advertised and all
proceedings had as in the case of a newly introduced ordinance.

§ 4.16. Power of investigation.—*

(a) The council, or any committee of members of the council when
authorized by the council, shall have power to make such investigations
relating to the municipal affairs of the city as 1t may deem necessary, and
shall have power to investigate any or all departments, boards, commis-
sions, offices and agencies of the city government, including the school
board, and any officer or employee of the city, concerning the performance
of their duties and functions and use of property of the city.

(b) The city manager and the heads of all departments, and all
boards and commissions whose members are appointed by the council, the
deputy director of finance, the collector of city taxes, the license inspector,
the budget officer and the auditor of municipal accounts shall have power
to make such investigations in connection with the performance of their
duties and functions as they may deem necessary, and shall have power
to investigate any officer or employee appointed by them or pursuant to
their authority concerning the performance of duty and use of property
of the etty.

(c) The council, or any committee of members of the council when
authorized by the council, the city manager, the heads of departments, and
boards and commissions whose members are appointed by the council, the
deputy director of finance, the collector of city taxes, the license inspector,
the budget officer and the auditor of municipal accounts, in an investiga-
tion held by any of them, may order the attendance of any person as a
witness and the production by any person of all relevant books and papers.
Any person, having been ordered to attend, or to produce such books and
papers, who refuses or fatls to obey such order, or who having attended,
refuses or fails to answer any question relevant or pertinent to the matter
under investigation shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon
conviction shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars
or imprisonment in jail not exceeding thirty days, either or both. Every
such person shall have the right of appeal to the hustings court of the city
of Richmond. The investigating authority shall cause every person who
violates the provision of this section to be summoned before the judge of
the police court for trial. Witnesses shall be sworn by the person presiding
at such investigation, and they shall be liable to prosecution or suit for
damages for perjury for any false testimony given at such investigation.

§ Procedure for passing ordinances authorizing bond issues.—
The procedure for the passage of an ordinance authorizing the issuance of
bonds shall be the same as for the passage of any other ordinance, except
that no such ordinance shall be passed as an emergency ordinance and that
six affirmative votes shall be necessary for its adoption. No ordinance
authorizing a bond issue shall take effect until the thirty-first day after its
publication as hereinafter provided. Within * five days after the passage
of a bond ordinance the city clerk shall cause the same to be published once
in a daily newspaper of general circulation published in the city together
with a notice in substantially the following form:

NOTICE

The bond ordinance published herewith has been finally passed and
the thirty day period of limitation within which a suit, action or proceed-
ing questioning the validity of such ordinance can be commenced as pro-
vided in the city charter has begun to run from the date of this publication.

(Signed) ————_—_—____________—_-
City Clerk

§ 10.04. Restrictions on actions for damages against city.—(a)
Whenever in any action, suit or proceeding against the city any person,
firm or corporation may be liable or responsible with the city, such person,
firm or corporation shall, upon motion of the city, be joined as a defend-
ant with the city and whenever there is a judgment, order or decree rend-
ered against or affecting the city and any person, firm or corporation is
so joined the court shall determine which of the defendants is primarily
liable or responsible.

(b) No action shall be maintained against the city for injury to any
person or property or for wrongful death alleged to have been sustained by
reason of the negligence of the city or of any officer, employee or agent
thereof, unless a written statement by the claimant, his agent, attorney
or representative, of the nature of the claim and of the time and place at
which the injury is alleged to have occurred or been received shall have
been filed with the city attorney, or with the mayor, or city manager, with-
in sixty days after such cause of action shall have accrued, except that when
the claimant is an infant or non compos mentis, or the injured person dies
within such sixty days, such statement may be filed within one hundred
and twenty days, or if the claimant be compos mentis during the said sixty-
day period but is able to establish by clear and convincing evidence that
due to the injury sustained for which a claim is asserted that he was phys-
tcally or mentally unable to give such notice within the sixty-day neriod,
then the time of giving notice shall be tolled until the claimant suf ficiently
recovers from said injury so as to be able to give such notice. Neither the
city attorney nor any other officer, employee or agent of the city shall have
authority to waive the foregoing conditions precedent or any of them.

2. That §§ 4.01, 5-1.4, 6.19, 12.07 and 19.22 of Chapter 116 of the

Acts of the General Assembly of 1948, as amended by Chapter 246 of the

Acts of 1950, Chapter 64 of the Acts of 1954, Chapter 130 of the Acts of

at and Chapter 185 of the Acts of 1958, be amended and reenacted as
OWS:
§ 4.01. Composition of council.—The council shall consist of nine
members elected as provided in chapter 8. Effective July one, nineteen hun-
dred and sixty-four, the salary of the mayor shall be two hundred and
fifty dollars per month, and the salary of each of the other members shall
be two hundred dollars per month. * The members of the council, subject
to the approval of the council, may be allowed their actual expenses
incurred in representing the city. No member of the council shall during
the term for which he was elected and one year thereafter be appointed
to any office of profit under the government of the city.

§ 5-1.4. Competitive bidding.—

(a) Before making a purchase or contract the director shall give
opportunity for competitive bidding under such rules and regulations as
may be established by the council. All single purchases or contracts which
shall involve an expenditure of one thousand dollars or less shall, whenever
practicable, be based on three or more competitive bids which may be in-
formal, and shall be awarded to the lowest or best responsible bidder, ex-
cept as hereinafter provided. If any single purchase or contract involves
an expenditure of more than one thousand dollars it shall be made on the
basis of sealed bids after such public notice as may be prescribed by the
council. The city manager, however, shall have the power * to authorize
the director to reject any or all bids, to readvertise for bids, or to make the
purchase or contract in the open market either after the rejection of all
bids or before competitive bids have been requested.

(b) The council shall further have the power in the adoption of the
rules and regulations provided for in § 5-1.2 of this chapter to authorize
the director, with the approval of the city manager, to purchase or make
contracts for professional services and for services for which the rate or
price is fixed by a public authority authorized by law to fix rates or prices,
without recourse to competitive bidding.

(c) All sales of tangible personal property made by the director,
whenever practicable, shall be made on the basis of competitive bids after
such public notice as may be prescribed by the council in such rules and
regulations established by it, and when there has been competitive bidding
all such sales shall be made to the highest or best responsible bidder; pro-
vided, however, the director shall have authority to reject any or all bids
and to order new bidding, or, with the approval of the city manager, make
me sale to any one, whether a former bidder or not, without further bid-

ing.

(d) A record of all bids, showing the names of the bidders and the
amounts of the bids and indicating in each case the successful bidder, to-
gether with the originals of all sealed bids and other documents pertaining
to the award of contracts, shall be preserved by the director for six years
in a file which shall be open to public inspection during regular business

ours.

(e) No transaction which is essentially a unit shall be divided for the
purpose of evading the intent of this section.

6.19. Capital Budget.—At the same time he submits the current
expense budgets the city manager shall submit to the council a program
previously acted upon by the city planning commission, as provided in
chapter 17 of this charter, of proposed capital improvement projects, for
the ensuing fiscal year and for the four fiscal years thereafter, with his
recommendations as to the means of financing the improvements proposed
for the ensuing fiscal year. The council shall have power to accept with or
without amendments or reject the proposed program and proposed means
of financing of the ensuing fiscal year; and may from time to time during
the fiscal year amend by ordinance adopted by at least six affirmative
votes the program previously adopted by it or the means of cing
the whole or any part thereof or both, provided that the amendment
shall have been recommended by the city manager and the city planning
commission shall have reported thereon to the council and such addi-
tional funds as may be required to finance the cost of the improve-
ments are available in the general fund or in the reserve fund for perma-
nent public improvements or in the water works, gas works or electric
works renewal funds. The council shall adopt a capital budget prior to the
beginning of the fiscal year in which the budget is to take effect. No appro-
priation provided for a capital improvement purpose defined in the capital
budget shall lapse until the purpose for which the appropriation was made
shall have been accomplished or abandoned, provided the Council shall have
the power to transfer at any time any appropriation or any unencumbered
part thereof from one purpose to another on the recommendation of the
city manager. The city manager may transfer the balance remaining to the
credit of any completed project to an incompleted project for the purpose of
completing such project, provided the projects have been approved in the
adoption of a capital budget or budgets and are within the same general
purposes for which appropriations were made to finance the cost of such
projects. If no such transfers are made, the balances remaining to the
credit of completed or abandoned purposes and projects shall be available
for appropriation and allocation in a subsequent capital budget or budgets.
Any project shall be deemed to have been abandoned if three fiscal years
elapse without any expenditure from or encumbrance of the funds provided
therefor. The council shall have the power at any time to abandon or to re-
duce the scope of any project in a capital budget to the extent that funds
appropriated therefor are unexpended and unencumbered.

§ 12.07. Contracts for capital improvement projects.—Whenever any
capital improvement project is to be undertaken by the city or any depart-
ment, board, commission or agency thereof, except the school board and
the department of public utilities, it shall be the duty of the director of
public works to cause plans, specifications and estimates of cost of such
capital improvement project to be made. The school board and department
of public utilities may utilize the services of the department of public
works in preparing plans, specifications and estimates of cost for capital
improvement projects relating to their respective functions but they may,
in the discretion of the school board or director of public utilities, as the
case may be, cause such plans and specifications to be prepared by their
own employees or by architects and engineers engaged for the purpose.

the case of any capital improvement project, except one relating to
school buildings and grounds, if the estimate of cost is ten thousand dol-
lars or less it may, in the discretion of the city manager, be constructed
either by contract or by the employees of the department of public works
or the department of public utilities, as the case may be. If the estimate
of cost is more than ten thousand dollars such capital improvement project
shall, except as hereinafter provided, be constructed by contract. No con-
tract for any capital improvement project estimated to cost more than one
thousand dollars shall be let except upon sealed bids based on the plans
and specifications prepared by the department of public works or the
department of public utilities, which bids shall be advertised for, received,
opened and tabulated by the director of general services in the manner
and subject to the conditions prescribed by ordinance. The contract shall
be awarded by the director of general services to the lowest responsible
bidder, provided that the city manager * may authorize the rejection
of all bids, instruct the director of general services to readvertise for bids
with or without modification of the plans and specifications for such capital
improvement project or order the same to be constructed by the depart-
ment of public works or the department of public utilities, as the case
may be. A record of all bids, showing the names of the bidders and the
amounts of the bids and indicating in each case the successful bidder,
together with the originals of all sealed bids and other documents pertain-
ing to the award of contracts, shall be preserved by the director of general
services for six years in a file which shall be open to public inspection
during regular business hours. No capital improvement project which is
essentially a unit shall be divided for the purpose of evading the intent of
this section.

§ 19.22. Quarters for and sessions of municipal courts.—The council
shall provide suitable quarters for the several municipal courts and clerks.
The courts shall hold sessions daily at such places as the council may
direct, except on Sundays and on the days declared to be legal holidays by
§ 2-19 of the Code of Virginia; provided, however, any such court may in
the discretion of the judge thereof be closed on Saturdays; and provided
further, any such court may hold a session on any legal holiday when in
the opinion of the court the holding of the session is necessary to dispatch
the business of the court, and the provisions of § 2-20 of the Code of
Virginia with respect to any act done at such session shall be applicable
thereto. The council may provide for vacations, sick leaves and leaves of
absence for the municipal judges and other court officials.

3. That Chapter 116 of the Acts of the General Assembly of 1948 be
amended by adding a section thereto numbered 2.03.2 as follows:

§ 2.03.2. Use of buildings or structures acquired or constructed for
municipal purposes.—In addition to the powers granted by other sections
of this charter, the city shall have the power to permit any building or
structure acquired or constructed for any municipal purpose, or any part
thereof or any space therein, which ts not needed for such purpose, to be
used for private purposes upon such terms and conditions as shall be pre-
scribed by the council until such building or structure or part thereof or
space therein is needed for a municipal purpose, when in the opinion of
the council it 1s deemed proper todoso.

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