Adelman v. Onischuk

135 N.W.2d 670, 271 Minn. 216, 1965 Minn. LEXIS 719
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedMay 18, 1965
Docket39569, 39608
StatusPublished
Cited by24 cases

This text of 135 N.W.2d 670 (Adelman v. Onischuk) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adelman v. Onischuk, 135 N.W.2d 670, 271 Minn. 216, 1965 Minn. LEXIS 719 (Mich. 1965).

Opinions

[218]*218Nelson, Justice.

Appeals from an order and the judgment entered pursuant thereto enjoining the Lower Minnesota River Watershed District (hereinafter referred to as the District) from proceeding further in carrying out a planned improvement of a portion of the Minnesota River.1

Plaintiffs commenced this action on February 21, 1964, contending that the Minnesota Watershed Act, Minn. St. c. 112, was unconstitutional and seeking an injunction permanently enjoining the District from proceeding with a project to improve the Minnesota River channel. The action also sought to enjoin the Dakota County auditor and commissioners from transferring funds to the treasurer of the District. The District .filed a cross-claim against the Board of County Commissioners and the county auditor of Dakota County asking that they be ordered to pay it funds to meet Dakota County’s share of the total cost of the channel-improvement project.

The order and judgment appealed from declared the statute to be unconstitutional, and the District to have no legal existence, and granted the injunctive relief requested. The relief sought by the District on appeal is a reversal of the order and judgment with directions to enter findings and judgment that the Minnesota Watershed Act is constitutional, that the District is authorized to proceed with the improvement project, and that the Dakota County board and auditor should pay to the treasurer of the District the balance of the funds due for the channel-improvement project.

It is clear that the primary purpose in the establishment of the District is to improve the navigability of the lower Minnesota River and that the immediate benefactors of such improvement would be those industrial corporations which currently use the river for commercial [219]*219navigation. These corporations now must employ dredging firms to maintain stretches of the river, which are otherwise too shallow for commercial vessels, at proper depths. If the improvement is carried out as planned, those now using the channel for industrial purposes will be relieved of that burden since the United States Government has indicated that it will maintain the river once the initial improvement is made.

The Minnesota Watershed Act was enacted in 1955 to permit the development of an integrated program for the use of water. The legislature broadly declared the purpose of the act to be “the protection of the public health and welfare and the provident use of the natural resources” of the state. Minn. St. 112.34, subd. 1.

Section 112.36 of the act provides that a watershed district may be established by the Minnesota Water Resources Board for any or all of several purposes, including (1) control or alleviation of damage by flood waters; (2) improvement of stream channels for drainage, navigation, or any other public purpose; (3) regulating the flow of streams and conserving the waters thereof; (4) diverting or changing watercourses in whole or in part; and (5) providing and conserving water supply for domestic, industrial, recreational, or other public úse.

It is clear from the foregoing that the act provides for the establishment of multiple-purpose watershed districts in order to develop and manage uniform and integrated programs of water use in separate areas. The first step in establishing a watershed district is the filing of a nominating petition signed by at least one-quarter of the freeholders of the proposed district or, alternatively, a petition from at least one-half of the counties in the proposed district. § 112.37. The Water Resources Board must then review the merits of the proposal at a public meeting, after which it may either approve or disapprove. §§ 112.38, 112.39. Should the Water Resources Board approve the establishment of the district, it is then required to appoint a board of managers who will become responsible for the administration of the district. §§ 112.39, 112.43.

The managers are to develop an overall plan, make it known to local governmental units, and present it for review to the Water Re[220]*220sources Board at another public hearing. § 112.46. Thereafter any projects to implement the plan must be proposed by a petition. § 112.48. However, improvements financed by either the Federal or state government need not be initiated by petition. § 112.69, subd. 2.

When such a petition is filed, the managers are required to obtain necessary surveys and plans for construction of the proposed improvement and an engineer’s report concerning it. § 112.49. They also appoint appraisers who determine the benefits or damages to lands affected by the proposed improvement. § 112.50. The managers can order construction only after a public hearing. § 112.54. The act provides for notice of such hearings by publication and also by mail to persons affected by a particular project. § 112.53.

The board of managers has the powers necessary to deal with problems of water use. To permit Federal participation in local watershed projects, the managers may cooperate or contract with any Federal agency. They may also acquire by purchase, gift, or by eminent domain, any necessary personal or real property and may Contract for any construction project authorized under the act. § 112.43.

The act provides how an aggrieved taxpayer may obtain judicial review of actions taken thereunder. He may obtain review of decisions by the Water Resources Board establishing a district or confirming an overall plan in the district court of a county in which part of the watershed district is situated. § 112.792. If a board of managers authorizes a project, the taxpayer may appeal to the Water Resources Board and may obtain review of its decision in the district court. §§ 112.791, 112.792. Any confirmation of an appraisers’ report may be challenged by a taxpayer through a direct appeal to the district court to review the amounts of benefits or damages determined. § 112.80, subd. 1.

The record shows that the first attempt by the Water Resources Board to establish a watershed district for the lower Minnesota River was held void in 1958 by the District Court of Hennepin County for failure to give proper notice of the hearing set for the purpose of establishing a district. Legislative acts followed amending the Minnesota Watershed Act to assure landowners sufficient notice of hearings [221]*221of the Water Resources Board for consideration of nominating petitions and of the hearings of the board of managers in a particular watershed district. L. 1959, cc. 240, 241, 245, 246; L. 1961, c. 601, §§ 13 and 14. Thereafter the county boards of Hennepin, Scott, Ramsey, Dakota, and Carver Counties petitioned the Water Resources Board to create the District, and the Water Resources Board considered the several petitions on December 16, 1959. Notice of that meeting was published in legal newspapers in all counties in the proposed district on November 26 and December 3, 1959. Notice of the hearing was also mailed to the county auditor of each county affected and to the chief executive officer of the affected municipalities. No objectors to the proposed district appeared at the meeting and by an order dated March 23, 1960, the Water Resources Board ordered the creation of the District and appointed its first Board of Managers. Although a right of appeal to the district court was provided to any person aggrieved by the order establishing the District under § 112.792, no appeal was taken by anyone.

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Bluebook (online)
135 N.W.2d 670, 271 Minn. 216, 1965 Minn. LEXIS 719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adelman-v-onischuk-minn-1965.