AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND RE-ENACTING SECTIONS 441, 442, 443, 444,
<br />AND 445 OF THE CITY CODE OF 1932.
<br />BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of Charlottesville that the following
<br />sections of the City Code of 1932, namely, Section 141, entitled "Fire Departments -
<br />Control and Supervision"; Section Li 42, entitled, "Fire Company"; Section 11+3, entitled
<br />"Chief - His duties and powers"; Section 1.44, entitled "Eligibility and oath of Chief
<br />and Assistant"; and Section 445, entitled "Foreman of Fire House, his duties, etc.",
<br />be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:
<br />SEC. 441. A. EMPLOYEES - ELECTION.
<br />All foremen, drivers, enginemen and other persons in the employ of the
<br />Fire Department shall be elected by the City Council at its September meeting,
<br />for such term and at such salary as the Council may determine. In the event
<br />of a vacancy the P;iayor shall fill the same by appointment, the apointee to
<br />serve until the next regular meeting of the Council, when said vacancy shall
<br />be filled as above provided. Such persons shall perform such duties as may be
<br />required by the Fire Chief or his assistants, and he shall make such recommenda-
<br />tions to the Council regarding said employees as will promote the efficiency
<br />of said Department.
<br />SEC. 442. A. FIRE DEPARTIViET1T - COMPANY.
<br />The Fire Department of the City shall be composed of a volunteer organization
<br />known as the "Charlottesville Fire Company", and such persons as may be employed
<br />by the Council for the Department. Such department so organized shall be under
<br />the direction and control of an officer to be styled the chief of the Fire
<br />Department and one assistant chief, who shall be subject to the control and
<br />direction of the Mayor and City Council. The election of the chief and his
<br />assistant, together with such other officers as said company may deem necessary,
<br />shall be held at its regular meeting in August of each year, or as soon there-
<br />after as practicable, and their term of office shall commence on the first day
<br />of September next following. The names of the officers thus chosen by said
<br />Company shall be presented to the Council at its next regular meeting for con-
<br />firmation. In case the Council refuses to confirm said chief and other officers,
<br />said Company shall forthwith elect other persons in place of those whom the
<br />Council refused to confirm, and submit their names to the Council at its next
<br />regular meeting. In case the Fire Company shall fail to report the names of
<br />persons to fill the positions of chief and assistant of the Fire Company, as
<br />provided above, the Council shall appoint such officers, and they shall hold
<br />their respective positions and be subject to the regulations herein prescribed.
<br />SEC. .$43. A. CHIEF - HIS DUTIES AND POWERS.
<br />The chief, or in his absence, the assistant chief, shall have control over
<br />all members of the Fire Department while in service at fires, and may for in-
<br />subordination thereat, suspend any member from service for such a period as he
<br />may deem proper with the privilege of appeal to the Company at its next regular
<br />meeting. Said chief and assistant and the Police Officers of the City, shall
<br />exclude from, and prevent the interference of all persons at buildings and grounds
<br />adjacent thereto, during a fire and no person, except City officials and employees
<br />in the discharge of their duties, shall have the right to enter within the ropes
<br />surrounding such fire, except owners of property thereat, or such other persons as
<br />may obtain permission of the chief or his assistant. Said officers shall have
<br />the authority to to>:e into custody all persons persisting in any interference
<br />with the wor'-, of the Fire Company; and upon conviction such person shall be
<br />fined not .less than $5.00 nor more than 110.00. It shall be the duty of the
<br />chief, or whoever shall act as such, to '_seep a record of all fires, their place
<br />and time of occurrence, and shall ascertain if possible, the cause of such fire,
<br />the amount of insurance, if any, and actual loss, and ma=re report thereof to the
<br />City Manager for each month by the tenth of the next month. He shall make such
<br />reports to the State Commissioner of Insurance as may be required of him by state
<br />law. Said chief shall deliver to his successor in office records pertaining to
<br />the Fire Department which may be in his control.
<br />(a) For the purpose of which the Department exists, the chief shall have full
<br />supervision of all apparatus pertaining to the Fire Department.
<br />(b) All orders deemed necessary by the Council for the good of the Department
<br />shall be issued through the chief or his assistant, to the employees or subordinates;
<br />but if the chief or his assistant refuses or neglects to communicate such orders by
<br />posting or otherwise as the Council may direct, then the Council may cause its
<br />orders to be issued and enforced in such manner as it may direct.
<br />(c) Any charges preferred in writing against a member of the Fire Company for
<br />non-performance of duty shall be brought before the Fire Company for action at
<br />its next meeting not less than ten days after such charges are preferred; the action
<br />of the Fire Company in the premises must be referred to the Council at its next
<br />regular meeting for confirmation or further investigation or ;proceedings therein.
<br />In the event of failure to refer the decision of the Company as above provided the
<br />Council may proceed with the investigation de novo.
<br />SEC. 444. A. ELIGIBILITY AND OATH OF CHIEF AND ASSISTANT.
<br />No person shall be eligible to the office of chief who shall not have been an
<br />active member of the Fire Department for three years. No person shall be eligible
<br />to the office of assistant chief who shall not have been an active member of the
<br />Fire Department for at least one year. The Chief of the Fire Department and the
<br />assistant chief shall, before entering upon the discharge of their duties as such,
<br />take an oath as prescribed for all other officers, to faithfully perform the duties
<br />of the office to which they have been elected, and to carry out and perform such
<br />duties as may be required by the Mayor or Council.
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