[Acts of 2008, ch. 346; amended 3-4-2008]
The inhabitants of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia, within the boundaries as now established or hereafter established in the manner provided by law, shall continue to be a body corporate and politic by name, the City of Fredericksburg, and under that name shall have perpetual succession; may use a corporate seal; contract and be contracted with; may sue and be sued; may acquire from any source real and personal property within or without its boundaries for any municipal purpose set forth in this charter, and if not set forth in this charter for any purpose permitted by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in fee simple or lesser interest or estate, by purchase, grant, gift, donation, devise, bequest, lease, or condemnation and may sell, lease, mortgage, pledge, hold, manage, regulate the use and management of, control, and dispose of such property as its interests may require and, except as prohibited by the Constitution of Virginia or restricted by this charter, the City of Fredericksburg shall have all municipal powers, functions, rights, privileges, and immunities of every name and nature whatsoever.
The City of Fredericksburg may lease as lessee all or a portion of the lands, buildings, and improvements utilized for courthouses, including suitable space and facilities to accommodate the various courts and officials thereof, clerk's office and record room, and appurtenant facilities such as parking facilities.
The city shall have the power to furnish all local public service, to purchase, hire, construct, maintain, and operate or lease public utilities and to acquire by condemnation or otherwise, within or without the city limits, land and property necessary for such purpose. The city shall have full and complete powers to operate any public utility it now owns or may hereafter acquire, so as to enjoy for its citizens fully and completely, all benefits to be derived therefrom.
The powers of eminent domain set forth in Tit. 33.1, Tit. 15.1 [15.2], and Ch. 1.1 (§ 25-46.1 et seq.) of Tit. 25 of the Code of Virginia and all acts amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, mutatis mutandis, are hereby conferred upon the City of Fredericksburg.[1] Certificates issued pursuant to such sections may be issued by the City Council, signed by the city manager and countersigned by the city treasurer. Such certificates shall have the same effect as certificates issued by the Commonwealth Transportation Commissioner pursuant to his authority and may be issued in any case in which the city proposes to acquire property of any kind by the exercise of its power of eminent domain for any lawful purpose.
[1]
Editor's Note: The statutes cited have been transferred to various sections of Code of Virginia, Title 15.2.
The enumeration of particular powers by this charter shall not be held or deemed to be exclusive but, in addition to the powers enumerated herein, implied hereby or appropriate to the exercise hereof, it is intended that the City of Fredericksburg shall have, and may exercise, all powers which, under the Constitution of Virginia, it would be competent for this charter specifically to enumerate. All powers of the city, whether express or implied, shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by this charter, or if not prescribed herein, then in the manner provided by ordinances of the Council.
The city shall have and may exercise all the powers granted to cities and set forth in Tit. 15.1 [15.2] of the Code of Virginia, specifically including but not limited to §§ 15.1-837 [15.2-1100] through 15.1-907 [15.2-1126], as in force on the effective date of this charter and as hereafter amended. In addition thereto, the city shall have and may exercise all other powers which it now has or may hereafter be conferred upon or delegated to cities under the Constitution and laws of the Commonwealth and all other powers pertinent to the conduct of the city government, the exercise of which is not expressly prohibited by the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth and which in the opinion of the Council are necessary or desirable to promote the general welfare of the city and the safety, health, peace, order, comfort, convenience, morals, trade, commerce, and industry of the city or its inhabitants. No enumeration of particular powers in this charter shall be held exclusive or a limitation upon any general grant of power, but shall be construed and held to be in addition to any general grant of powers.
The boundaries of the City of Fredericksburg shall be as defined in Chapter 481 of the Acts of Assembly of 1942, and as defined in Chapter 624 of the Acts of Assembly of 1952, and as enlarged by court orders or decrees recorded in Book 182, page 537 and following in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the City of Fredericksburg.