S.L. 1977-84

1977 SESSION

CHAPTER 84

HOUSE BILL 281

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF BELVILLE IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

Section 1. The inhabitants and the area described in Section 2 of this act shall be and constitute a body politic and corporate under the name of the Town of Belville, and shall be vested with all the powers, functions, rights, privileges and immunities conferred upon municipalities by the Constitution and laws of the State of North Carolina, and specifically Chapter 160A of the General Statutes.

Sec. 2. The corporate boundaries of the Town of Belville shall be as described herein until changed in accordance with law:

Lying and being in Brunswick County and beginning at a point, the intersection of the Southern R/W line of the four lane U. S. 74-76 and the R/W line of the new N. C. Highway 133; thence from the said beginning point Southeast along the R/W line of the new N. C. Highway 133 about twenty-four hundred feet to the southeast corner of the A. N. Williams property; thence in a due east direction to the center of the Brunswick River; thence in a Northerly direction along the center of the Brunswick River to the Southern R/W line of the old U. S. 74-76 Highway; thence in an Easterly direction along the Southern R/W line of this Highway to the intersection with the Southern R/W line of the new four lane U. S. 74-76; thence in a westernly direction along the Southern R/W line of the four lane U. S. 74-76 to the point of beginning.

Sec. 3. The first governing body of the Town of Belville shall be a board of commissioners composed of four members, who are hereby appointed as follows: John Boney, B. N. Gallaway, Marshal Tinsley, and Joe Keisler, who shall serve until the first municipal election to be held in November 1977.

The first mayor shall be John Long, who shall serve until the first election in November 1977. In the event a vacancy occurs in the office of mayor or commissioner prior to the first election, the remaining members of the board of commissioners shall appoint a qualified voter and resident of the town to serve until the first election for municipal officers.

Sec. 4. The regular municipal election shall be held in November 1977, and biennially thereafter for the election of a mayor and the members of the board of commissioners. The election shall be nonpartisan and decided by simple plurality and held at the time specified in G.S. 163-279(a)(1).

The municipal elections shall be held and conducted by the county board of elections and the town shall reimburse the county board of elections for the cost thereof except the first election required to be held herein. The elections shall be conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions of Articles 23 and 24 of Chapter 163 of the General Statutes of North Carolina, except as otherwise provided herein.

Sec. 5. In the 1977 municipal election and biennially thereafter, the mayor shall be elected for a term of two years. In the 1977 municipal election the two candidates for commissioner receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of four years, and the two candidates receiving the next highest number of votes shall be elected for a term of two years. Thereafter as the term of each member of the board of commissioners expires, his successor shall be elected for a term of four years.

Sec. 6. The mayor shall not have a vote on matters before the board of commissioners but shall have the right to vote only when there are equal numbers of votes in the affirmative and in the negative by the members of the board.

Sec. 7. The territory within the corporate limits and its citizens and property, shall be subject to municipal taxes levied by the town for the fiscal year 1977-1978, and subsequent years. The town may obtain from Brunswick County, and the county shall provide upon request, a record of property within the corporate limits which was listed for taxes as of January 1, 1977.

Sec. 8. This act shall become effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 14th day of March, 1977.