Virginia § 21-312 - Examination; preliminary report

§ 21-312. Examination; preliminary report

The board of viewers shall proceed, as soon as practicable, to examine the land described in the petition and other land if necessary, to locate properly such improvement or improvements as are petitioned for, along the route described in the petition, or any route answering the same purpose, if found more practicable or feasible, unless previously surveyed by United States or other engineer and may run levels such as may be necessary to determine the elevation of the several parts of the district, and shall make and return to the clerk of the court of the county, within sixty days, unless, either before or after the expiration of the period, the time shall be, for good cause shown, extended by the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, a written report, signed by the members of the board or by the majority, thereof, which shall in the case of drainage, set forth:

(a) Whether the proposed drainage is practicable or not;

(b) Whether it will benefit the public health or any public highway or be conducive to the general welfare of the community;

(c) Whether the improvement proposed will benefit the lands sought to be benefited;

(d) The character of the lands and their probable value after the proposed drainage has been completed;

(e) Whether or not all the lands that are benefited are included in the proposed drainage district; and naming the owners thereof and the approximate acreage of each which they estimate will be affected. They shall also file with this report a map of the proposed drainage district, showing the location of the ditch or ditches or other improvements to be constructed and the lands that will be affected thereby, and such other information as they may have collected that will tend to show the correctness of their findings.

Code 1919, § 1743; 1920, p. 607; 1926, p. 609.