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ACROSS SESSIONS
- Subject Index: Since 1995
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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2011 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 1, §§ 2 and 3, as amended, and §§ 6, 7, 9, 14, 19, and 22 of Chapter 57 of the Acts of Assembly of 1947, Extra Session, are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 1. The inhabitants of the territory embraced within the
present limits of the town of Rich Creek, 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 Rich Creek, 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 completely
as though all such powers were specifically enumerated herein. The territory
embraced within the present limits of the town of Rich Creek is described by
metes and bounds as follows:
Beginning at an iron pin on the bank of New River and
running north eighty degrees and thirty-five minutes east four hundred and
thirty-eight and four-tenths feet to an iron pin on the right of way of the
Virginian Railway Company, at or near Mile Post three hundred and twenty,
thence north sixty-three degrees and seventeen minutes east two hundred and
eighty-three and two-tenths feet to a stake; thence north ninety degrees east
two hundred and twelve and eight-tenths feet to a stake; thence north
sixty-three degrees and twenty-five minutes east two hundred and thirty-eight
feet and two-tenths feet to a stake; thence north seventy-four degrees and
twenty-five minutes east one hundred and ninety-two feet to an iron pin, set in
the Cold Spring Branch, thence north seven degrees and thirty-five minutes east
one hundred and thirty-two and nine-tenths feet to an iron pin, thence with the
line of Kirby Brothers north twenty-two degrees and forty-five minutes east six
hundred feet to an iron pin on the lands of Lula Gwinn; thence through the
lands of Lula Gwinn, Obed Pennington and Lula Gwinn, north twenty-eight degrees
and twenty-five minutes east two thousand, one hundred, twenty-three and
four-tenths feet to an iron pin, thence north sixteen degrees and forty-five
minutes west eighty-six and four-tenths feet to a stake; thence north two
degrees and no minutes east ninety-eight feet to a stake, thence north fifteen
degrees and fifty minutes east four hundred feet to a stake on the lands of
Ella Shumate; thence north twenty-seven degrees and fifty minutes east one
hundred and thirty feet to a stake on the lands of Ella Shumate; thence north
thirty-eight degrees and thirty-five minutes east four hundred and twenty feet
to a stake on the lands of Ella Shumate; thence north forty-eight degrees and
fifty-five minutes east one hundred and fifty feet to a stake; thence north
twenty-three degrees and twenty-five minutes east four hundred and thirty-five
feet to a stake in the lands of Mary Adair, thence north four degrees and
twenty-five minutes east one hundred and sixty-five feet to a stake in said
lands; thence north twenty-eight degrees and forty minutes east three hundred
feet to a stake in said lands; thence north thirty-seven degrees and fifty
minutes east three hundred feet to a stake in said lands; thence north two
degrees and twenty-five minutes east two hundred feet to a stake in said lands;
thence north six degrees and fifteen minutes west one hundred and thirty-seven
feet to a stake in said lands; thence north thirty-nine degrees and fifty-five
minutes west two hundred feet to a stake in said lands; thence north forty-six
degrees and thirty-five minutes west two hundred and ninety-three feet to a
stake in said lands; thence north fifty-one degrees and fifty minutes west two
hundred and ninety feet to a stake set on the right of way of U. S. Highway two
hundred and nineteen; thence along the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company
main line south fifty-one degrees and thirty-eight minutes west one thousand,
two hundred, sixty-eight and three-tenths feet to an iron pin set in the lands
of A. A. and H. H. Adair; thence through the lands of J. C. Davis, W. R.
Wilson, M. A. Ferguson, W. J. Gwynn, Margaret Morrison, W. L. Carr, and Mattox
and Craig, crossing Rich Creek north forty-five degrees and thirty-five minutes
west three thousand, seven hundred and fifty-five feet to an iron pin; thence
south sixty-five degrees and six minutes west two thousand, nine hundred,
twenty-one and four- tenths feet through the lands of C. E. Duncan, Myrtle
White, L. J. Wilkerson and C. N. Williams to an iron pin; thence south four
degrees and five minutes east four hundred and fifty-two feet to an iron pin on
bank of New River near an electric light pole of the Virginian Railway Company
at or near the bank of New River, thence running along the bank of New River
with the lands of E. P. Lane, Ella Shumate, Lula Gwinn, Mary Adair and G. W.
Shumate to the point of beginning, containing five hundred and twenty-one
acres, more or less. The present boundaries of the town are as recorded
in the Clerk’s office of the Circuit Court of Giles County, Virginia, in the
Common Law Order Book 7, at Pages 151 through 153, or as the same may be
hereafter altered as provided by law.
§ 2. The administration and government of the town shall be
vested in a council which shall consist of six members, five of whom shall be
denominated the councilmen and one to be denominated the mayor, all of whom
shall be residents and qualified voters of the town. Each councilman may
receive a salary for his services as such, the amount thereof to be fixed by
the council, but in no event to be in excess of one thousand dollars per year
each for the councilmen and mayor. The council may determine the annual
salary of its members by ordinance or resolution in accordance with the Code of
Virginia. Council members shall receive their actual and necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties of office.
§ 3. The councilmen and the mayor shall be elected by the
qualified voters of the town on the first Tuesday in May 1990. The mayor
and the two councilmen receiving the greater number of votes shall serve
four-year terms; the remaining three councilmen shall serve two-year terms.
Thereafter, the terms of the mayor and councilmen shall be for a four-year
term. Elections shall be held in May of every even-numbered year. The persons
elected shall serve until their successors have been elected, qualify and
assume office. Pursuant to § 24.2-222.1 of the Code of Virginia and
notwithstanding the provisions of § 24.2-222 of the Code of Virginia, the
election of town council and the mayor elected in May shall be held on the
general election date in November of odd-numbered years, beginning in November
2013, and biennially thereafter, in accordance with the following cycles: (i)
the election for the town council seats filled by the council election of May
2008 shall be held on the November 2011 general election date and every four
years thereafter; and (ii) the election for the town council seats and the
office of mayor filled by the council election of May 2010 shall be held on the
November 2013 general election date and every four years thereafter.
In accordance with the provisions of subsection D of § 24.2-222.1 of the Code of Virginia, members of town council elected at the May general elections in 2008 and 2010 shall have their terms of office shortened by six months but shall continue in office until their successors have been elected at the November general election and have qualified to serve.
§ 6. The council shall appoint a sergeant who shall qualify
as provided by law, and give bond in such amount as the council requires. 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 were formerly had and performed by
constables. He shall perform such other duties and receive such compensation as
the council prescribes, and shall hold office during the pleasure of the
council. There shall not be a town sergeant in the town.
§ 7. The mayor 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, and 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 trial justices. 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 trial justices for similar services, and
such fees, 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
disposition thereof; provided that the council may, at any time it deems the
same expedient, appoint a police justice for the town, who shall be a resident
and qualified voter of the town, shall give such bond as the council requires,
shall serve during the pleasure of the council, and shall receive such
compensation as the council prescribes.
In the event of the appointment of such police justice, he
shall have, during such time as he serves, and to the exclusion of the mayor,
the same powers and jurisdiction as are hereinabove conferred upon and vested
in the mayor, and shall exercise the same in like manner as they are above
authorized and directed to be exercised by the mayor. Except as
otherwise authorized by law, a member of council or the mayor elected or
appointed after May 1, 2011, shall not be eligible during his or her tenure of
office as such member, or for one year thereafter, to any compensated town
employment. If appointed by the council to a board or commission, he or she may
be compensated as a member.
§ 9. The town is empowered to acquire, establish, enlarge, maintain and operate such water works and systems as the council deems necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate supply of water to consumers 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, provided that the rates charged consumers without the corporate limits shall not be less than, nor more than double, the rates charged consumers within the town for similar services, any or all of which rates the council may alter at any time without notice except for the notice required by the Code of Virginia.
The council may discontinue serving water to any consumer who defaults in payment for such service within the time prescribed by the council for the payment thereof, for so long as such default continues.
§ 14. 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 subdivision of lands within the corporate
limits of the town or within two miles thereof; and to require
that plats of all such subdivisions shall, after having been approved by the
council as hereinafter provided, be recorded in the clerk's office of Giles
County; and the term "subdivision," when and as used in this
charter, means the division of a tract of land into two or more lots, with appropriate
streets and alleys, and with the intention on the part of the owner of the
land, of developing the same, or making it available for development by others,
for residential and business purposes.
§ 19. Town manager. -- (a) 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 some knowledge of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. He
need not, when appointed, be a resident of the town, or of the State of
Virginia, but shall during his term of office, 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, provided that no
order of suspension or removal shall be made 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, suspending or removing the town manager, shall be final. The
council may place the control and supervision of the police force of the town
under either the mayor or the town manager. The town manager shall serve
without definite term.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this charter, the town manager may, with the consent of the council, appoint or employ, and remove or discharge, 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 all their respective details, in an economical and satisfactory 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, and he shall be accountable to the council only.
§ 22. The charter herein is in lieu of and a complete substitute for the charter of the town of Rich Creek granted by the circuit court of the county of Giles on April 17, 1946, and as enacted and amended by the General Assembly in 1947, Ex. Session, c. 57; in 1970, c. 210 (§§ 2, 3); in 1973, c. 81 (§§ 2, 3); and in 1990, c. 37 (§ 3).
2. That § 20 of Chapter 57 of the Acts of Assembly of 1947, Extra Session, is repealed.