CHAPTER 448

An Act to amend and reenact §§ 2.04, 2.09, 3.01, 4.01, 5.01, 6.01, 6.07,

8.12, 10.04, 20.02, 24.01, 24.06, 24.08, 24.14 and 25.01, of Chapter

141 of the Acts of Assembly of 1958, approved March 8, 1958, which

provided a charter for the city of Newport News, and to further

amend such chapter by repealing §§ 16.04, 19.08, 24.02, 24.08, 24.04,
24.05, 25.02, 25.07, 27.08, 27.14 and 27.16.

fH 801]

Approved April 2, 1968

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 2.04, 2.09, 3.01, 4.01, 5.01, 6.01, 6.07, 8.12, 10.04, 20.02,
24.01, 24.06, 24.08, 24.14 and 25.01, of Chapter 141 of the Acts of As-
sembly of 1958, approved March 8, 1958, be amended and reenacted as
ollows:

§ 2.04. Power to Make Regulations for the Preservation of the
Safety, Health, Peace, Good Order, Comfort, Convenience, Morals and
Welfare of the City and Its Inhabitants——In addition to the powers
granted by other sections of this charter the city shall have the power
to adopt ordinances, not in conflict with this charter, or prohibited by
the general laws of the Commonwealth, for the preservation of the safety,
health, peace, good order, comfort, convenience, morals and welfare of
its inhahitants and among such powers, but not in limitation thereof, the
city shall have power:
(a) To provide for the prevention of vice, immorality, vagrancy and
drunkenness; prevention and quelling of riots, disturbances and dis-
orderly assemblages; suppression of houses of ill fame and gambling
places; prevention of lewd and disorderly conduct or exhibitions; and
prevention of conduct in the streets dangerous to the public.

(b) To regulate the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings
and other structures and the plumbing, electrical, heating, elevator, esca-
lator, boiler, unfired pressure vessel, and air conditioning installations
therein, for the purpose of preventing fire and other dangers to life and

(c) To provide for the protection of the city’s property, real and
personal, the prevention of the pollution of the city’s water supply, and
the regulation of the use of parks, playgrounds, playfields, recreational
facilities, landings, docks, wharves, canals, airports, and other public
property, whether located within or without the city. For the purpose
of enforcing such regulations all city property wherever located shall
be under the police jurisdiction of the city. Any member of the police
force of the city or employee thereof appointed as a special policeman
shall have power to make arrests for violation of any ordinance, rule or
regulation adopted pursuant to this section and the Municipal Court shall
have jurisdiction in all cases arising thereunder within the city and the
county court of the county wherein the offense occurs shall have juris-
diction in all cases arising thereunder without the city.

(d) To grant or authorize the issuance of permits under such terms
and conditions as the council may impose for the use of streets, alleys, and
other public places of the city by railroads, street railways, buses, taxi-
cabs and other vehicles for hire; prescribe the location in, under or over,
and grant permits for the use of, streets, alleys and other public places for
the maintenance and operation of tracks, poles, wires, cables, pipes,
conduits, bridges, subways, vaults, areas and cellars; require tracks, poles,
wires, cables, pipes, conduits and bridges to be altered, removed or re-
located either permanently or temporarily; charge and collect compensa-
tion for the privileges so granted; and prohibit such use of the streets,
allevs and other public places of the city, and no such use shall be made
of the streets, alleys or other public places of the city without the consent
of the council.

(e) To prevent any obstruction of or encroachment over, under or in
any street, alley, sidewalk or other other public place, provide penalties for
maintaining any such obstruction, or encroachment; remove the same and
charge the cost thereof to the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of
the property so obstructing or encroaching, and collect the sum charged
in any manner provided by law for the collection of taxes; require the
owner or owners or the occupant or occupants of the property so ob-
structing or encroaching to remove the same; pending such removal charge
the owner or owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching com-
pensation for the use of such portion of the street, alley, sidewalk or other
public place obstructed or encroached unon the equivalent of what would
be the tax upon the land so occupied if it were owned by the owner or
owners of the property so obstructing or encroaching, and. if such re-
moval shall not be made within the time ordered, impose penalties for each
and every day that such obstruction or encroachment is allowed to continue
thereafter: authorize encroachments upon streets, alleys, sidewalks or
other public places, subiect to such terms and conditions as the council
may prescribe. but such authorization shall not relieve the owner or
owners, occupant or occupants of the property encroaching, of any liabil-
itv for newligence on account of such encroachment; and recover possession
of -nv ctreet. alley. sidewalk or other public place or any other property
of the city by suit or action in ejectment.
(f) To determine and designate the route and grade of any railroad
to be hereafter laid in said city; to restrain and regulate the rate of
speed of locomotive engines and of cars upon railroads in said city; to
grant franchises to railroads and other corporations through, along, and
under the streets of said city upon such conditions as the council may
determine; and to require the establishment of all necessary railroad
crossings within said city. In the event, however, the city and the rail-
road company involved are unable to agree on the necessity for the con-
struction of any underpass or overpass structure, or the plans and speci-
fications for and method or manner of construction thereof, or the portion
of the work, if any, to be done and the share of the cost of such project,
if any, to be borne by each, § 56-366.2 of the Code of Virginia of 1950,
as amended, shall apply.

(g) To regulate the operation of motor vehicles and exercise control
over traffic in the streets and parking areas of the city and provide
penalties for the violation of such regulations, provided that ordinances
or administrative regulations adopted by virtue of this subsection shall
not be inconsistent with the provisions of Title 46, as amended, of the
Code of Virginia of 1950. All fines imposed for the violation of such ordi-
nances and regulations shall be paid into the city treasury.

(h) To regulate, in the interest of public health, the production,
preparation, distribution, sale and possession of milk, other beverages
and foods for human consumption, and the places in which they are pro-
duced, prepared, distributed, sold, served or stored; regulate the con-
struction, installation, maintenance and condition of all water and sewer
pipes, connections, toilets, water closets and plumbing fixtures of all
kinds, regulate the construction and use of septic tanks and dry closets, *
and the sanitation of swimming pools and lakes; provide for the removal
thereof; compel the use of sewers, the connection of abutting premises
therewith, and the installation in such premises of suitable sanitary facili-
ties; regulate or prohibit connections to and the use of sewers; provide
for the quarantine of any person afflicted with a contagious or infectious
disease, and for the removal of such person to a hospital or ward specially
designated for contagious or infectious diseases; inspect and prescribe
reasonable rules and regulations, in the interest of public health, with
respect to private hospitals, sanatoria, convalescent homes, clinics and
other private institutions, homes and facilities for the care of the sick, of
children, the aged and the destitute; and make and enforce all regulations
necessary to preserve and promote public health and sanitation and protect
the inhabitants of the city from contagious, infectious or other disease.

(i) To regulate cemeteries and burials therein, prescribe the records
to be kept by the owners of such cemeteries, and prohibit all burials except
in a public burying ground.

(j) To regulate or prohibit the exercise of any dangerous, offensive
or unhealthful business, trade or employment, and the transportation of
any offensive or dangerous substance.

(k) To regulate the light, ventilation, sanitation and use and occu-
pancy of buildings heretofore or hereafter constructed, altered, remodeled
or improved, and the sanitation of the premises surrounding the same.

(1) To regulate the emission of smoke, the construction, installation
and maintenance of fuel burning equipment, and the methods of firing and
stoking furnaces and boilers.

(m) To compel the removal of weeds from private and public prop-
erty and snow from sidewalks; the covering or removal of offensive,
unwholesome, unsanitary or unhealthy substances allowed to accumulate in
or on any place or premises; the filling in to the street level of the portion
of any lot adjacent to a street where the difference in level between the
lot and the street constitutes a danger to life and limb; and raising or
draining grounds subject to be covered by stagnant water; the razing
or repair of all unsafe, dangerous or unsanitary public or private build-
ings, walls or structures which constitute a menace to the health, safety
and morals of the occupants thereof or the public; and to compel the
abatement or removal of any and all other nuisances whatsoever. If after
such reasonable notice as the council may prescribe by ordinance the
owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the property or premises
affected by the provisions of this subsection shall fail to abate or obviate
the condition or nuisance, the city may do so and charge and collect the
cost thereof from the owner or owners, occupant or occupants of the
property affected in any manner provided by law for the collection of taxes.

(n) To regulate or prohibit the manufacture, storage, transportation,
possession and use of explosive or inflammable substances and the use
and exhibition of fireworks and discharge of firearms.

(o) To regulate or prohibit the making of fires in the streets, alleys
and other public places in the city and to regulate the making of fires on
private property.

(p) To regulate or prohibit the running at large and the keeping of
animals and fowl and provide for the impounding and confiscation of
any such animals or fowl found at large or kept in violation of such
regulations.

(q) To prevent cruelty to and abuse of animals.

(r) To regulate the sale of goods, wares or merchandise at auction;
regulate the conduct of pawn shops and dealers in secondhand goods,
wares and merchandise; regulate or prohibit the peddling or hawking of
any article for sale on the streets of the city; prevent fraud or deceit in
the sale of goods, wares and merchandise; require the weighing, measur-
ing, gauging and inspection of goods, wares and merchandise offered for
sale; require weights and measures to be sealed and subject to inspection;
and provide for the appointment of a sealer and one or more weight-
masters who shall perform such duties and functions as may be prescribed
by ordinance.

§ 2.09. Eminent domain.—The city is hereby authorized to acquire
by condemnation proceedings lands, buildings, structures and personal
property or any interest, right, easement or estate therein, of any person
or corporation, whenever in the opinion of the council a public necessity
exists therefor, which shall be expressed in the resolution or ordinance
directing such acquisition. The city shall have the same powers as to con-
demnation as are provided in Title 25 of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as
amended, and as are conferred on the State Highway Commissioner under
Article 5 of Chapter 1 of Title 33 of the Code of Virginia of 1950, as
amended; provided, that in case of any property owned by a corporation
having the power of eminent domain, the provisions of § 25-233 of the
Code of Virginia of 1950, as amended, shall be complied with.

In exercising the right of eminent domain, the city may make use
of the procedure prescribed by general law and as set out above or may
elect to proceed as hereinafter provided. In event that the procedure here-
inafter provided is utilized, the resolution or ordinance directing acquisi-
tion of any property, as set forth above, shall provide therein in a lump
sum the total funds necessary to compensate the owners thereof for such
property to be acquired or damaged. Upon the adoption of such resolution
or ordinance the city may file a petition in the clerk’s office of a court of
record having jurisdiction of the subject, which petition shall be signed
by the city manager and set forth the interest or estate to be taken in
the property and the uses and purposes for which the property or the
interest or estate therein is wanted, or when property is not to be taken
but is likely to be damaged, the necessity for the work or improvement
which will cause or is likely to cause such damage. There shall also be
filed with the petition a plat of a survey of the property with a profile
showing cuts and fills, trestles and bridges, if any, and a description of
the property which, or an interest or estate in which, is sought to be
taken or likely to be damaged and a memorandum showing names and
residences of the owners of the property, if known, and showing also the
quantity of property which, or an interest or estate in which, is sought
to be taken or which will be or is likely to be damaged. There shall be
filed also with said petition a notice directed to the owners of the property,
if known, copies of which shall be served on such owners or tenants of
the freehold of such property, if known. If the owner or tenant of the free-
hold be unknown or a nonresident of the State or cannot with reasonable
diligence be found in the State, or if the residence of the owner or tenant
be unknown, he may be proceeded against by order of publication which
order, however, need not be published more than once a week for two
successive weeks and shall be posted at a main entrance to the courthouse.
The publication shall in all other respects conform to §§ 8-71, 8-72 and
8-76 of the Code of Virginia.

Upon the filing of said petition and the deposit of the funds provided
by the council for the purpose in a bank to the credit of the court in such
proceedings and the filing of a certificate of deposit therefor, the interest
or estate of the owner of such property shall terminate and the title to
such property or the interest or estate to be taken in such property shall
be vested absolutely in the city and such owner shall have such interest
or estate in the funds so deposited as he had in the property taken or
damaged and all liens by deed of trust, judgment or otherwise upon said
property or estate shall be transferred to such funds and the city shall
have the right to enter upon and take possession of such property for tts
uses and purposes and to construct its works or improvements. The clerk
of the court in which such proceeding is instituted shall make and certify
a copy of the petition, exhibits filed therewith, and orders, and deliver
or transmit the same to the clerk of the court in which deeds are admitted
to record who shall record the same in his deed book and index them in
the name of the person or persons who had the property before and in
the name of the city.

If the city and the owner of property so taken or damaged agree
upon compensation therefor, upon filing such agreement in writing in the
clerk’s office of such court, the court or judge thereof in vacation shall
make such distribution of such funds as to it may seem right, having due
regard to the interest of all persons therein whether such interest be
vested, contingent or otherwise, and to enable the court or judge to make
a proper distribution of such money it may in its discretion direct inquirtes
to be taken by a special commissioner in order to ascertain what persons
are entitled to such funds and in what proportions and may direct what
notice shall be given to the making of such inquiries by such spectal
commissioner.

If the city and the owner cannot agree upon the compensation for
the property taken or damaged, if any, upon the filing of a memorandum
in the clerk’s office of said court to that effect, signed by either the city
or the owner, the court shall appoint commissioners provided for in Title
25 of the Code of Virginia, and all proceedings thereafter shall be had
as provided in Title 25 or Title 33 of the Code of Virginia insofar as they
are then applicable and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this
section, and the court shall order the deposit in bank to the credit of the
court of such additional funds as appear to be necessary to cover the
award of the commissioners or shall order the return to the city of such
funds deposited that are not necessary to compensate such owners for
property taken or damaged.

§ 3.01. Election and terms of councilmen.—* * * There shall be a
general counctlmanic election on the second Tuesday in June, nineteen
hundred seventy, at which time there shall be elected a council of seven
members who shall be elected at large by the qualified voters of the city,
three of whom shall be elected for terms of two years each and four of
whom shall be elected for terms of four years each. The seven candidates
receiving the highest number of votes in the city shall be declared elected,
and of the seven so elected the three receiving the lowest number of votes
in the nineteen hundred seventy election shall serve the two year terms
and the four receiving the highest number of votes in said election shall
serve four year terms. The seven member council so elected shall take
office on the first day of July, nineteen hundred seventy, and thereafter
there shall be a general councilmanic election every two years, held on
the second Tuesday in June, with the candidates receiving the highest
number of votes being declared elected and with the terms of councilmen
elected at such elections beginning July one following their election and
continuing for a term of four years.

_ The council shall be a continuing body and no measure pending before
tt shall abate or be discontinued by reason of the expiration of the term
of office or the removal of the members of the body or any of them.

§ 4.01. Composition; compensation of councilmen and mayor; ap-
pointment of council member to office of profit.—The council shall consist
of seven members elected as provided in Chapter 3. Councilmen shall re-
ceive the sum of one hundred dollars per month as compensation for their
services and the mayor shall receive the sum of one hundred twenty-five
dollars per month, provided however, that councilmen taking office on
July one, nineteen hundred seventy and each councilman taking office
thereafter, shall receive the sum of two hundred dollars per month as
compensation for their services and the mayor of the city taking office
on July one, nineteen hundred seventy and each mayor taking office
thereafter shall receive the sum of three hundred dollars per month. No
member of the council shall during the term for which he was elected and
oue year thereafter be appointed to any office of profit under the govern-
ment of the city.

§ 5.01. Establishment of position of City Manager; to be chief
executive officer; provision for Assistant City Manager or Assistant City
Managers; appointment, term and qualifications; residence requirements.
—There shall be a City Manager who shall be the chief executive officer
of the city and shall be responsible to the council for the proper admin-
istration of the city government. He shall be appointed by the council for
an indefinite term. He shall be appointed * solely on the basis of his execu-
tive and administrative qualifications, with special reference to his actual
experience in or knowledge of accepted practice in respect to the duties
of his office.

There may be one or more Assistant City Managers as authorized

the council. Such Assistant City Manager, or Assistant City Managers,
8 be appointed by and responsible to the City Manager.

At the time of * appointment, the City Manager or his assistant or
assistants, if any, * need not be a resident or residents of the city or the
Commonwealth, but during * the tenure of their respective offices they *
shall reside within the city.

§ 6.01. Fiscal year; definition of “budget year.” —The fiscal year of
the city government shall be established by ordinance. Such fiscal year shall
also constitute the * budget and accounting year. As used in this charter,
the term “budget year” shall mean the fiscal year for which any particular
budget is adopted and in which it is administered.

6.07. Appropriation and additional tax ordinances.—At the same
time that he submits the general fund budget, the City Manager shall
present to the council a general appropriation ordinance. The appropri-
ation ordinance shall be based on the general fund budget but need not
be itemized further than by departments and the major operating units
thereof, and by courts, bureaus, boards, commissions, offices and agencies
submitting separate budget estimates, and by the principal object of
expenditure. At the same time the City Manager shall also present any
ordinance or ordinances altering the tax rate on real estate and personal
property or levying a new tax or altering the rate of any other tax neces-
sary to balance the general fund budget as hereinbefore provided. Nothing
contained herein shall prohibit the adoption of an ordinance altering the
tax rate on real estate or personal property or the levying of a new tax
or altering the rate or any other taz, at a time other than when the gen-
eral fund budget and general appropriation ordinance is presented to
council, when necessary for the efficient operation of the city. The hearing
on the budget plan as a whole, as provided in this section shall constitute
the hearing on all ordinances * presented at the same time the budget
is presented.

§ 8.12. Contracts for city improvements.—Any city improvement
costing more than one thousand dollars, except where such improvement
is executed directly by a city department, shall be executed by contract.
All such contracts for more than * five thousand dollars shall be awarded
to the lowest responsible bidder, or if the council should so determine, to
such bidder whose bid is more acceptable to the public interest, after
such public notice and competition as may be prescribed by ordinance,
provided the City Manager shall have the power to reject all bids and
advertise again. Alterations in any contract may be made when authorized
by the council upon the written recommendation of the City Manager.

§ 10.04. * Filing of statement of Claim prerequisite to maintenance
of action for damages against city.—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, agent or employee thereof, unless a written state-
ment 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 chief executive, within 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 * party dies within such sixty days,
such statement may be filed within one hundred and twenty days, or if
the complainant be compos mentis during the said sixty-day period but is
able to establish by a clear and convincing evidence that due to the injury
sustained for which a claim is asserted that he was physically or mentally
unable to give such notice within the sixty-day period, then the time for
giving notice shall be tolled until the claimant sufficiently recovers from
said injury so as to be able to give such notice. Neither the city attorney
or any other officer, employee or agent of the city shall have authority to
waive the foregoing conditions precedent or any of them.

§ 20. Basis of assessment of real estate for taxation.—Such
assessment or reassessment shall be made on the same basis as real estate
is required to be assessed under the provisions of the Code of Virginia,
except that such assessments or reassessments shall be made annually and
the assessments and reassessments so made shall have the same effect as
if they had been made under the provisions of the said Code of Virginia,
provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall prevent the assess-
ment or reassessment of real estate at more frequent intervals when so
authorized by the Code of Virginia.

§ 24.01. Designation of Courts of Record.—There shall be for the *
city * three Courts of Record to be known as the Corporation Court of
the * city of Newport News, the Circuit Court * of the * city of Newport
News, and the * Hustings Court of the * City * of Newport News; and
such additional courts of record as may be provided by the General Assem-
bly of Virginia.

§ 24.06. Transfer of civil and criminal matters for final disposition
in Courts of Record.—The judge of any court of record of the * city, on
his motion may transfer for final disposition to any other court of record
of such city having jurisdiction, any * matter pending in the Court of
the Judge making such transfer. *

§ 24.08. Appointment by judges of the Courts of Record.—The
judges of the several courts of record * shall act en banc in making
appointments to fill vacancies occurring in any office in the city which are
filled or to be filled by the judge of a court of record, and, in case of
disagreement, the vote of a majority of such judges shall be binding; pro-
vided, * however, when the office filled or to be filled 1s Clerk of a Court
of Record, the appointment to fill such vacancy shall be made solely by
the judge, or judges, when the office is clerk of more than one court of
the court or courts in which said vacancy exists. Notwithstanding any of
the provisions of this section, each judge of a court of record shall, for
his court, have power to make appointments of guardians ad litem and
receivers and any other appointments incident to the trial, hearing or dis-
position of any judicial proceeding pending therein.

§ 24.14. City Sergeant; duties and compensation.—* The City Ser-
geant * or one of his deputies shall attend the terms of the * Courts * of
Record of the City and shall act as the officer thereof, and shall perform
such other duties as may be prescribed by law, * or ordained by * council,
and shall receive such compensation and fees therefor as allowed by
general law.

§ 25.01. Designation of clerks of courts of record.—* There shall be
a clerk of the Corporation Court. There shall be a clerk of the Hustings
Court who shall also be the clerk of the Circuit Court. Each clerk shall be
elected by the qualified voters of the city on the first Tuesday after the
first Monday in November of the last year of the term for which he was
elected or appointed for a term of eight years to commence on the first
day of February of the year following his election.

2. That §§ 16.04, 19.03, 24.02, 24.03, 24.04, 24.05, 25.02, 25.07, 27.08,
27.14 and 27.16 of Chapter 141 of the Acts of Assembly of 1958, approved
March 3, 1958, be, and said sections are hereby, repealed.

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