Virginia HB 1050: Chatham, Town of; amending charter, updating or removing outdated provisions.

Bill Text

2026 SESSION

INTRODUCED

26102031D

HOUSE BILL NO. 1050

Offered January 14, 2026

Prefiled January 14, 2026

A BILL to amend and reenact §§ 3 through 6, as severally amended, of Chapter 480 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942, which provided a charter for the Town of Chatham in Pittsylvania County, and to amend Chapter 480 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942 by adding a section numbered 15.1, relating to town powers and town council.

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Patron—Phillips

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Referred to Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns

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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §§ 3 through 6, as severally amended, of Chapter 480 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942 are amended and reenacted and that Chapter 480 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942 is amended by adding a section numbered 15.1 as follows:

§ 3. Powers of the Town of Chatham.

In addition to the powers elsewhere mentioned in this charter and powers conferred by general law, and the Constitution, the said Town of Chatham shall have the following powers:

(1) To raise revenue as hereinafter provided, in accordance with this charter and the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

(2) To impose special and local assessments for local improvements as hereinafter provided in accordance with general laws of this Commonwealth.

(3) To contract debts, borrow money, and make and issue evidences of indebtedness.

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

(5) To acquire by purchase, gift, devise, condemnation or otherwise, property, real or personal, or any estate therein, within or without the town, for any purpose of the town; and to hold, improve, sell, lease, mortgage, pledge or otherwise dispose of the same or any part thereof, including any property owned by the town.

(6) To establish markets in the town and regulate the same, and to enforce such regulations in regards to the keeping and sales of fresh meat, vegetables, eggs, and other green groceries and the trade of hucksters and junk dealers as may be deemed advisable.

(7) To own, operate and maintain water works and to acquire in any lawful manner in any county of the Commonwealth, such water, lands, property rights, and riparian rights as the council of the said town may deem necessary for the purpose of providing an adequate water supply to the said town and piping and conducting the same; to lay, erect and maintain all necessary mains and service lines, either within or without the corporate limits of the said town, for the distribution of water to its customers and consumers, both within and without the corporate limits of the said town and to charge and collect water rents therefor; to erect and maintain necessary dams, pumping stations and other works in connection therewith; to make reasonable rules and regulations for promoting the purity of its said water supply, and for protecting the same from pollution; and for this purpose to exercise full police powers and sanitation patrol over all land comprised within the limits of the water shed, tributary to any such water supply wherever such lands may be located in this Commonwealth; to impose and enforce adequate penalties for the violation of any such rules and regulations; and to prevent by injunction any pollution or threatened pollution of such water supply, and any and all acts likely to impair the purity thereof, and to carry out the powers herein granted, and said town may exercise within the Commonwealth all powers of eminent domain provided by the laws of the Commonwealth.

(8) To acquire by gift, purchase, exchange or by right of exercise of the power of eminent domain within this Commonwealth, lands or any interest or estate in lands, rock quarries, gravel-pits, sand pits, water and water rights, and the necessary roadways thereto, either within or without the town, and to acquire and install machinery and equipment, and build the necessary roads or tramways thereto, operate the same for producing material required for any and all purposes of the town.

(9) To provide in or near the town lands to be used as burial places for the dead; to charge for and to improve and care for and regulate the use of the ground therein; to cooperate with any nonprofit corporation or society in the improvement and care of burial places and approaches thereto; and to provide for the perpetual upkeep and care of any plot or burial lot therein, and the said town is authorized to take and receive sums of money by gift, bequest, or otherwise, to be kept invested, and the income thereof used in and about perpetual upkeep and care of the said lot or burial plot, for which the said donation, gift or bequest shall have been made; and said town is further empowered to subdivide any such land acquired as burial places for the dead into lots and to sell or otherwise dispose of the same to person or persons, and to contract with such person or persons, either at the time of sale or other disposition of said lot or lots, or at any other time, for temp