Sec. 20-1. - Health department generally.

(a)

There is hereby established a department of public health to consist of a director of public health and such other officers and employees organized into such bureaus, divisions and other units as may be provided by ordinance or by the orders of the director consistent therewith. The council may also enter into contractual agreements with the state board of health for health services.

(b)

The department of public health shall be responsible for:

(1)

Enforcing all laws and ordinances and all lawful rules and regulations and promotion of public health and sanitation.

(2)

The protection of the inhabitants of the city from contagious, infectious and other diseases.

(3)

The abatement of nuisances detrimental to public health.

(4)

The operation of city hospitals, sanatoria and laboratories and the furnishing of medical aid and care to the indigent.

(5)

The conducting of clinics, nursing and educational services for the preservation and promotion of public health.

(6)

The collecting of morbidity and vital statistics.

(7)

Such other powers and duties as may be assigned to the department by ordinance.

Charter reference— Authority of council to create departments, § 4.02(B).

Sec. 20-2. - Appointment, qualifications and general powers of director of health.

(a)

The director of public health shall be appointed by the city manager. Such director shall be a graduate of an approved medical school and licensed to practice medicine in the state.

(b)

The director of public health, under the supervision of the city manager, shall be the head of the department of public health and shall have general management and control of the several bureaus, divisions and other units of the department.

(c)

The director of public health shall have all the powers and duties with respect to the preservation of the public health which now are or may hereafter be conferred or imposed on such director by the laws of the state, as well as all the powers and duties conferred or imposed on such director by the ordinances of the city. The director shall have power to make rules and regulations for the preservation of the public health, not inconsistent with the laws of the state and the ordinances of the city.

Sec. 20-3. - State rules and regulations for control of communicable disease.

(a)

The rules and regulations for the control of communicable disease in humans, as adopted by the state department of health on September 23, 1954, as amended, a copy of which is on file in the health department of the city, are the rules and regulations for the control of communicable disease in humans in the city and are hereby adopted and incorporated as fully as if set out at length herein, and they shall have the force and effect of law within the city.

(b)

No person shall interfere with or in any manner resist the director of public health or any agent of the health department in the enforcement of the rules and regulations adopted by this section or in discharging any duty imposed by such rules and regulations.

(c)

Any person who shall violate or disobey, or refuse, omit or neglect to comply with, any of the rules and regulations adopted by this section, or violate the provisions of subsection (b) above or any instruction or direction of the director of public health given pursuant to such rules and regulations, shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 110, § 3; Code 1961, § 21-29)

State law reference— Control of communicable diseases generally, Code of Virginia, § 32.1-36 et seq.

Sec. 20-4. - Sanitary nuisances generally.

(a)

It shall be the duty of the director of public health to have made frequent inspections of all parts of the city for the detection and abatement of sanitary nuisances. It shall be the director's duty and the director is hereby vested with authority to cause to be abated any and all conditions in the city which constitute a nuisance or are detrimental to the public health and, when necessary, to institute legal proceedings therefor and for the recovery of the expense incurred by the city in abating any nuisance.

(b)

When any person shall be in possession of any property, or have charge thereof within the city, as executor, administrator, trustee, guardian or agent, such person shall be deemed, for the purpose of this section, to be the owner of such property, and shall be bound to obey all orders of the director of public health in regard to nuisances, sanitation or other matters, so far as the same may affect such property, in the same manner, and subject to the same penalties and fines, as if such person were actually the owner of such property, and notice to such person shall be deemed to be sufficient.

(c)

Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the director of public health that there exists upon any land or premises in the city any nuisance or other offensive or unwholesome matter, it shall be the duty of the director to serve notice on the person who placed the matter or created the nuisance, or if such person cannot be ascertained, upon the renter or lessee, and if there be more than one (1) renter or lessee, then upon all the renters or lessees, of the land or premises, or if unoccupied, upon the owner thereof, to cause such nuisance to be abated or such matter to be removed from such land or premises within the period of time designated in such notice, or the same will be done by the city at the expense of such person or of the occupant or of the owner, as the case may be. When such land or premises is unoccupied, such notice shall be served upon the owner thereof, if a resident of the city, and if not, then upon the owner's agent in charge thereof. In case no such owner or occupant or other person can be found on whom to serve the notice, the director is authorized to give notice by publication for five (5) days in one (1) of the newspapers of the city.

(d)

Any such person creating or any such occupant, or the owner of such land or premises, if unoccupied, who shall fail to cause such abatement or the removal of such matter within the time specified in such notice, shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor and each day such nuisance or matter shall be permitted to remain upon such land or premises, after the expiration of the time specified in the notice, shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense under this section.

(e)

If such nuisance or matter remains on any such land or premises after the expiration of the time specified in the notice, the director of public health shall cause the same to be abated or removed therefrom, at the expense of the person causing the condition, or of the occupant or owner of such land or premises, as the case may be, and such expense shall be collected as fines are collected, or by suit or other legal procedure instituted by the city attorney when a statement of the expense has been furnished the attorney by the director of public health. The director of public health shall furnish the city attorney with a statement of expense in all such cases.

(Ord. No. 257, §§ 2—4; Code 1961, §§ 21-1—21-3)

State law reference— General authority of city to compel abatement or removal of nuisances, Code of Virginia, § 15.2-1115.

Sec. 20-5. - Use of water from open wells or springs; condemnation of unsafe wells, springs, etc.

It shall be unlawful for the owner thereof to use or permit others to use, for drinking purposes, the water from any open well or spring existing within the corporate limits of the city, and the director of public health is empowered to condemn and close any well, spring, cistern or pond which, in the director's opinion, constitutes a menace to the health of the neighborhood in which it exists. Any person violating this section shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

(Ord. No. 257, § 9; Code 1961, § 21-8)

Cross reference— Water supply, Ch. 42.

Sec. 20-6. - Expectorating in public places.

(a)

No person shall spit, expectorate or deposit any sputum, saliva, mucus or any form of saliva or sputum upon the floor, stairway or any other part of any theater, public hall, church or other public building, or upon the floor or any other part of any public conveyance in the city, or upon any sidewalk abutting on any public street, alley or lane in the city.

(b)

Any person violating any provision of this section shall be guilty of a Class 4 misdemeanor.

(c)

Printed copies of this section shall be posted conspicuously in all public places, buildings, theaters, and the like.

(Ord. No. 257, § 5; Code 1961, § 21-4)

State law reference— Similar provisions, Code of Virginia, § 18.2-322.

Sec. 20-7. - Use of common drinking cups.

(a)

The use of a common drinking cup or other vessel in any public place in the city is hereby prohibited. Instead of such common cups, there shall be provided either sanitary drinking cups, which shall not be used more than once, or bubbling fountains, so constructed that the lips of the person using them will not come in contact with any part of the fountain. The term "common," for the purpose of this section, shall be construed to mean "used by more than one (1) person."

(b)

Any person violating this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not less than one dollar ($1.00) nor more than ten dollars ($10.00).

(Ord. No. 257, § 6; Code 1961, § 21-5)

Sec. 20-8. - Use of common towels.

(a)

It shall be unlawful for any person to place, furnish or keep in place, in any hotel, office building, railway train, railway station, factory, workshop, public or private school, or public lavatory or washroom, any towel for the common public use, or for use by employees in such establishments, and no person in charge or control of any such place shall permit in such place the use of a common towel, intended or reasonably available for common use by more than one (1) person, without being laundered after such use.

(b)

Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars ($5.00) nor more than fifty dollars ($50.00); provided, that no towel shall be deemed to be a common towel, or towel intended or available for common use, if it is a towel arrangement which has been approved by the state department of health.

(Ord. No. 257, § 7; Code 1961, § 21-6)

Secs. 20-9—20-18. - Reserved.