PHILLIPS LEE GOLDSBOROUGH, GOVERNOR. 225

any macadam or other permanently improved road in the county
shall be presented to the Road Superintendent for his inspec-
tion, examination and endorsement before being presented to
the said County Commissioners for approval; and it shall be
unlawful for the said Board of County Commissioners to
approve or for the County Treasurer to pay such bills until
said Road Superintendent shall have approved the same in writ-
ing or shall have made a written statement of his reasons for
not approving the same, after which such bill shall be disposed
of in the discretion of said Board of County Commissioners;
provided, that the minutes of said board shall show the reasons
for ordering payment in cases where the said Road Superintend-
ent has declined to approve such bills; neither the Road Super-
intendent for Montgomery County nor any assistant under him
shall have pecuniary interest in any such contracts, and the
Road Superintendent for Montgomery County shall annually
on or before the first day of February in each year make a
written report to the said County Commissioners, covering the
following points: An inventory of the road machinery, tools
and equipment of the county, the condition of the roads of the
county and improvements that have been made in each district
in the twelve months ending December 31 of the previous year;
the amount and kind of material used in each road, with a
detailed statement of its cost, and the amount and cost of labor
on each road; and shall further make a statement of the plans
which he has submitted for bridge and road improvement in
each district. The report stall contain a concise statement of
the amount of money expended in each district for all road
work, making proper allowance where a road divides two dis-
tricts, which concise statement shall be published by the said
County Commissioners in two county papers twice during the
month of February in each year. The said Board of County
Commissioners shall not enter upon the construction or improve-
ment of any bridge or culvert, stone or other permanently
improved road or their maintenance, nor shall said board pur-
chase any machinery or equipment, road material or supplies,
nor shall said board locate any new road or relocate any old
road until after having first referred the matter of such con-
struction, improvement, purchase, location or relocation to the
said Road Superintendent and received from him a written
report and recommendation thereon, a copy of which shall have
endorsed thereon the action of said board and the reasons there-
for, if such tction of said board does not conform to the recom-
mendations of said Road Superintendent; and such reports and
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