CHAPTER 77
An act to amend the charter of the town of Mt. Pleasant, in Cabarrus county, ratified January twenty-first, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact:
SECTION 1. That the town of Mt. Pleasant, in Cabarrus county, be and the same is hereby incorporated by the name and style of the Town of Mt. Pleasant, and under such name is hereby invested with all the privileges, immunities , franchises, property and all other rights heretofore belonging or in any wise appertaining to the town of Mt. Pleasant, and in that name may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, acquire and hold property, real or personal, for the use of the town as its board of commissioners may deem necessary or expedient. The boundaries of said town shall be as follows, to-wit: Beginning at a stake in Cross street, thence north four degrees, east sixty-four poles and four links; thence north one and one quarter degrees, west one hundred and fifty-three poles to a white oak on east side of street, thence east seventy-four poles to a stake; also from W. O. West’s fifty-one poles to a stake. Again, beginning at stake in Cross street, thence running south twenty-eight poles, thence south ten degrees, east fifty-two poles, thence south four degrees, west thirty-eight poles, to where the road leads off to Daniel Barrier’s, thence south fifteen degrees, west fourteen poles to a slate rock near the west side of the road, thence east seventy-one and one-half poles to a stake; also from said slate rock west fifty-three and one half poles to a stake. Again, from said stake in Cross street sixty-four degrees east seventy –two poles to a stake in middle of street near Cook’s barn, thence north nine and three quarters degrees west and three hundred and seventeen degrees west to the stakes called for at seventy-four poles and seventy-one and one-half poles respectively from Main street. Again, beginning a stake Cross street, thence north fifty-three degrees, west sixty-three poles and nineteen links to northwest corner of the graveyard, thence due north and south to the stakes called for at fifty-one and fifty-three and one-half poles respectively from Main street.
SEC. 2. The officers of said town shall consist of a mayor and five commissioners, who shall be styled the board of commissioners, to be elected by ballot on the first Monday in May in each and every year, (or such other day as may be designated by the general law of the state for municipal elections). A constable and secretary and treasurer to be chosen by the board of commissioners immediately after its organization, to hold one year.
SEC. 3. The board of commissioners of said town shall have authority to assess and collect annual taxes for municipal purposes on all persons and property within the corporate limits which are taxed for state and county purposes: Provided, that the basis between persons and property shall be the same as established by the constitution of the state, and taxes so assessed and collected shall not exceed twenty cents on the hundred dollars of property and sixty cents on the poll.
SEC. 4. That the board of commissioners of the town may pass all ordinances they deem necessary for the good government, quiet, peace, health and safety of the town, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the state.
SEC. 5. That the violation of any ordinance of the town shall be a misdemeanor, but the punishment thereof shall not exceed a fine of fifty dollar or imprisonment for thirty days.
SEC. 6. That the mayor of said town, within the limits thereof, shall have and exercise the true jurisdiction and powers which are now or may hereafter be conferred by the laws governing cities and towns. And the constable or marshal of said town shall within the corporate limits thereof have and exercise all the authority, rights and powers which are now or may hereafter be conferred by law on constables, including the right and authority to arrest any person without warrant who commits a breach of the peace or violates a town ordinance in the presence of such constable or marshal.
SEC. 7. The town constable shall collect and pay over to [the] secretary and treasurer all taxes imposed by the board of commissioners, all fines and costs when execution is issued to him for that purpose, and return the same in due time to the secretary and treasurer. He shall see that the ordinances of the town are enforced and report all breaches thereof to the mayor. He shall preserve the peace of the town by suppressing all disturbances in his presence and apprehending offenders and taking them before the mayor, or if they are intoxicated or in any way not in a condition to be brought before the mayor, he may confine them there until they are in a condition to be brought before the mayor. He shall execute all process directed to him by the mayor within the limits of the said town, and in execution of this duties he may call to his aid such assistance as he may deem necessary, and whenever the board of commissioners may deem it necessary they may appoint as many additional constables as they see proper. He shall have the same fees for his service as are allowed the sheriff for similar services, and such additional compensation as the board of directors may allow.
SEC. 8. The secretary and treasurer shall act as the clerk of the board of commissioners and of the mayor’s court. He shall keep minutes of the proceedings of all trials before the mayor, of all fines imposed, preserve the books, papers and all articles committee into his hand from any and all sources whatever belonging to said town, pay the same out upon the order of the board of commissioners, signed by the mayor, and at the expiration of his term of office shall turn over to his successor all books, paper, money and other property belonging to said town, and for his services he shall receive such compensation as the board may allow.
SEC. 9. That the secretary and treasurer, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall enter into bond conditional upon the faithful performance of his duties in the sum of four hundred dollars payable to the state of North Carolina, with surety to be approved by the board of commissioners, and the town constable shall enter into a like bond before entering upon his duties. And the board of commissioners shall institute suit in the name of the “Town of Mt. Pleasant”, upon the relation of the state of North Carolina for any violation of said bonds.
SEC. 10. That the mayor shall have power to commit any offender who is sentenced to imprisonment for misdemeanor or violation of the town ordinances, or for contempt of the mayor’s court, or upon failure to pay fine and costs, to the common jail of the county, and the sheriff or jailer shall receive such persons as are committed by the mayor, and shall charge the same fees as in cases of other prisoners, or the mayor shall have the power, under such rules and regulations as the board of commissioners may adopt, to require any person who fails to pay fines and costs to work on the streets of the town till the fines and costs are paid; and the town constable is authorized to use a call and chain upon persons working the streets.
SEC. 11. That all fines and penalties imposed for violations of the town ordinances shall be paid over to the secretary and treasurer, and shall be expended for the improvement of the streets of the town or for the necessary expenses of the town.
SEC. 12. That the commissioners shall have power from time to time to open out any new streets within the limits of said town by paying the owners through whose land the said streets may run the damages, if any there be: Provided, that if the said commissioners and the owners of said cannot agree as to the price of the same, it shall be left to three disinterested persons to be selected as follows: the commissioners shall select one and the owner of the land one, and the two thus selected shall select the third man, and these persons thus selected shall assess the damages; and if the owner of the land will not select a man, then the commissioners shall select two men, and the two thus selected shall select a third, and the three thus selected shall assess the damages to the land: Provided further, that either party being dissatisfied with the decision of the persons thus selected, by giving bond for payment of costs, may appeal to the superior court.
SEC. 13. That the present mayor, commissioners and other officers of Mt. Pleasant shall hold said offices with all the powers, privileges, rights and responsibilities which this charter and other former charter conferred until their successors are elected and qualified.
SEC. 14. That in addition to the rights, franchises and immunities conferred by the foregoing sections, the town of Mt. Pleasant shall have and be subject to all the provisions contained in Battle’s Revisal, chapter one hundred and eleven; not inconsistent with this act.
SEC. 15. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratification.
In the general assembly read three times, and ratified this 3rd day of March, A. D. 1883.