CHAPTER 283 AN ACT TO REPEAL THE PRESENT CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF LINCOLNTON AND ALL AMENDMENTS TO SAID CHARTER, AND TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF LINCOLNTON, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: ARTICLE I. Name, Rights, and Liabilities.
Section 1. That the municipality herein incorporated as town of Lincolnton shall, in addition to those granted by this charter, have all of the rights and powers conferred upon incorporated cities and towns by chapter seventy-three (sections two thousand nine hundred and fifteen to three thousand and eleven, inclusive) of the Revisal of one thousand nine hundred and five, except as such rights and powers may be added to, modified, changed, or extended by the provisions of this act.
Section 1. No contract shall ever be made which binds the town to pay for personal service to be rendered for any stated period of time except as otherwise herein provided, but all contracts involying personal service shall be restricted to the doing of some particular act or thing, and upon its completion no further liability shall exist on the part of the town, nor shall the town of Lincolnton, or any one acting for it, make any contract for supplies for current use for any department of the town for a longer period of time than twelve months, and so far as practicable all supplies purchased for the use of any or all the departments of said town shall be made or let upon competing prices therefor.
Section 1. The water-works and sewerage department shall embrace all property rights and obligations of the town of Lincolnton in respect to water-works and sewerage, and shall, in so far as practicable, be administered as an entity. To that end all contracts, records, and muniments of title pertaining thereto shall be assembled and carefully preserved, and account shall be kept of its assets, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements separate and distinct from the accounts of any other department or branch of the town government.
Section 1. The town shall have power to provide for the organization, equipment, maintenance, and government of fire companies and the fire department, and to this end may hold and use the fire equipment or other apparatus and property now owned by the town and used in the extinguishment of fires; and in its discretion may provide for a paid fire department, and for this purpose may create such offices and employees with such compensation as to the council may seem right and proper: Provided, the organization and government of fire companies or fire department shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this article.
Section 1. The town of Lincolnton shall have power, by ordinance duly passed, to regulate burial-grounds, crematories, and cemeteries, and to prevent burial within the town limits, if deemed advisable or if found necessary to protect the public health, and to condemn and close burial-grounds and cemeteries in the thickly settled portions of the town. The town of Lincolnton shall have power to acquire land and grounds inside or outside of the town limits, by purchase, gift, or otherwise, to be devoted and used for the purpose of a public and private cemetery, and to pass such suitable regulations concerning the burial of the dead in such cemetery or in the cemeteries now owned by the town, and make such charges for the burial of the dead therein as may be deemed proper by the town council; and the said town shall have power to appropriate private property lying within or without the town limits to be used and devoted for cemetery purposes, as herein stated, by condemnation proceedings brought for such purpose, and in all such cases the proceedings had to condemn shall conform to provisions hereinbefore contained for condemnation of land for streets in article six hereof.
Section 1. The town of Lincolnton shall have power by ordinance duly passed to establish and maintain the town police department, prescribe the duties of policemen and regulate their conduct ; and (a) To permit, forbid, or regulate theaters, halls, dance houses, moving picture shows, circuses, and other public amusements, and to suppress the same whenever the preservation of order, tranquillity, public safety, or good morals may demand. (0b) To suppress gambling houses and to punish keepers and patrons thereof, to punish all persons who play cards or games of chance of any kind for gain, and to punish persons who sell lottery tickets or who advertise lottery drawings or schemes and results of drawings of lottery. (c) To regulate, control, and prohibit the keeping and management of house or any building used for the storage of gunpowder and other combustible explosives or dangerous materials within the town, and to regulate the keeping and conveying of the same, and to authorize and regulate the laying of pipes and the location and construction of houses, tanks, reservoirs, and pumping stations for the storage of oil and gas. (d) To define nuisances and prevent and abate the same, whether on public or private property, and to abate such nuisances by summary proceedings, and to punish the authors or keepers thereof by penalties, fine, or imprisonment. (e) To regulate, restrain, and prohibit the running or going at large of horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, and all other animals and fowls of whatever description, and to authorize the distraining and impounding and sale of same for the cost of the proceedings and the penalty incurred, and to order their destruction when they cannot be sold, and to impose penalties on the Owners or keepers thereof for the violation of any ordinance or regulation of said town council; and to prevent, regulate, and control the driving of cattle, horses, and all other animals into or through the streets of the town. (f) To establish maximum rates for all kinds of transportation within the town limits and to prevent extortion; to regulate and to prohibit the blowing of whistles of railroad engines or locomotives within said limits; to preserve order and prevent noise and confusion in or about the depot on arrival and departure of trains, and to provide how and where hacks or other carriers shall stand or take their positions upon the streets adjacent or near to said depot; and to provide and fix by ordinance public stands where hacks and drays, baggage wagons, or other public carriers shall stand on the streets for the purpose of soliciting business, and to prescribe that they shall not stand, excepting when discharging or receiving passengers or freight, at any point other than those designated in the ordinance as public stands. (g) To restrain and prohibit the ringing of bells or blowing of horns, bugles, and whistles, crying of goods, or other noises, practices, or performances tending to the collection of persons on the streets or sidewalks by auctioneers and others for the purpose of business, amusement, or otherwise, except judicial sales, sales for taxes, and the like; to prohibit beggars, mendicants, or other persons of infirm or maimed bodies or suffering with diseases of any kind from soliciting alms, help, or assistance upon the streets or sidewalks of the town, and prescribe penalty by fine for nonobseryance thereof ; to regulate the use of automobiles, motor cars, motorcycles, or any other vehicles, and the speed thereof; to prescribe the proper lighting of same when used at night, and to prescribe the qualifications required of those using same upon the streets of the town, and issue permits for the use of such vehicles. (i) To prevent all boxing matches, sparring exhibitions, and punish all persons engaged therein; to prevent cock fighting and dog fighting, and to punish all persons instigating or encouraging same. -4 To prohibit and punish the abuse of animals. -7 To license, tax, and regulate trades, occupations, and professions. (k) To prohibit bawdy houses and punish keepers, inmates, and patrons thereof, and owners of buildings used for immoral purposes; to prohibit variety shows and to punish participation therein; to prohibit, prevent, and suppress assignation houses and houses of ill-fame, to determine and to declare by ordinance such inmates and keepers to be vagrants, and to provide for the punishment of such persons. -1 To control and regulate the location and use of all kinds of steam engines and steam boilers in the town, and prescribe the qualifications of persons operating and running same, and to adopt such rules and regulations in relation thereto as may seem best for the public safety and comfort. (m) To direct, control, and prohibit the laying of railroad tracks, turnouts, and switches in the streets, avenues, and alleys of the town, unless the same shall have been authorized by ordinances, and to require that all railroads, turnouts, and switches shall be so constructed as not to interfere with the drainage of the town and with the ordinary travel and use of the streets, avenues, and alleys in said town, and to construct and keep in repair suitable crossings and gates at the intersection of streets, avenues, and alleys, and suitable ditches, sewers, and culverts where the town council shall deem it necessary. -72 To make such rules and regulations in relation to butchers, bakers, and dairymen as they may deem necessary and proper; to establish and erect markets and market houses, and designate, control, and regulate market places and houses, dairies, and bakeries, whether kept within or without the town limits, from which meat, bread, or milk is offered for sale within the town limits, and to punish the owners or keepers thereof for the violation of any ordinance or regulation of the town council, by penalties, fines, and imprisonment. (o) To prohibit and punish by fine the willful introduction into the town by railroads or other carriers of paupers or persons afflicted with contagious diseases. (p) To license, tax, regulate, control, restrict, and prohibit the use of an explosion of dynamite, firecrackers, or other explosives or fireworks of any and every kind, whether included in the above enumeration or not, and the sale of same, and all noises, amusements, or other practices or performances tending to annoy persons or frighten persons or teams, and the collection of persons on the streets or sidewalks or other public places in the town, whether for purposes of amusement, business, curiosity, or otherwise. (q) To inspect the construction of all buildings in the town, and prescribe and indorse proper regulations in regard thereto, and regulate and locate or prohibit the erection of all poles in the town, and cause the same to be changed.
Section 1. The street department of the town of Lincolnton shall be composed of the town manager and such other employees as the town council may deem necessary to execute the duties of the department. The town manager shall be the executive officer of the department and shall have the direction of the other officers and employees in the department, subject to the rules and regulations prescribed by the town council.
Section 1. There shall be chosen by the town council an officer to be known as the town manager, who shall be the administrative head of the town government.