Artco-Bell Corp. v. City of Temple

603 S.W.2d 384, 1980 Tex. App. LEXIS 3787
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 6, 1980
DocketNo. 13158
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 603 S.W.2d 384 (Artco-Bell Corp. v. City of Temple) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Artco-Bell Corp. v. City of Temple, 603 S.W.2d 384, 1980 Tex. App. LEXIS 3787 (Tex. Ct. App. 1980).

Opinion

SHANNON, Justice.

The opinion of this Court handed down on July 16,1980, is withdrawn, and the following opinion replaces it.

This is an appeal from an order granting summary judgment in a municipal tort case. Appellant Artco-Bell Corporation sued ap-pellee City of Temple in the district court of Bell County in negligence for damages to its truck resulting from that vehicle’s collision with a tree limb hanging over a city street.

Appellant pleaded that on April 16, 1979, its truck hit a large tree limb overhanging North Third Street in Temple. Appellant claimed, “[t]he tree was growing on [appel-lee’s] right of way and the limb extended out over the street at a dangerously low height.”

Appellant alleged that: (1) appellee had a proprietary duty to maintain its streets and sidewalks in a reasonable safe condition for public use or, alternatively, (2) that Tex. Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6252-19 § 14(12) im[386]*386posed a duty upon appellee to warn appellant of a special defect, the low hanging tree limb.

Appellee filed a motion for summary judgment based upon two grounds: (1) that appellant’s “Notice of Property Damage” dated June 12, 1979, and filed with the City of Temple was not verified as required by Art. III, § 13 of the City Charter, and (2) that appellant never gave notice, in writing or otherwise, to the mayor or city manager of any dangerous condition existing at the location in question as mandated by Art. III, § 12 of the City Charter. Appellee’s position was, accordingly, that because appellant’s claim did not comply with the City Charter’s notice provisions, appellant could not maintain suit against appellee.

After hearing, the district court entered summary judgment that appellant take nothing.

Appellee’s summary judgment proof is defective in the following respect: although a certified copy of the notice provision of the City Charter was attached to appellee’s first amended original answer, no copy of the said charter provision, certified or otherwise, was attached to the motion for summary judgment. The certified copy of the charter provision attached to the answer is not summary judgment proof, but instead is a part of the pleading. A motion for summary judgment must be supported by its own summary judgment proof. Hidalgo v. Surety Savings & Loan Ass’n, 462 S.W.2d 540 (Tex.1971).

Nonetheless, appellant waived the defect in appellee’s summary judgment proof by not “placing the problem” before the district court in response to the motion for summary judgment. Westchester First Ins. Co. v. Alvarez, 576 S.W.2d 771 (Tex. 1978); Carter v. Gerald, 577 S.W.2d 797 (Tex.Civ.App.1979, writ ref’d n. r. e.). Further, appellant makes no complaint on appeal of the summary judgment proof defect.

This Court will affirm the summary judgment upon the basis that appellant failed to comply with Art. Ill, § 13 of the charter of the City of Temple. Article III, § 13 provides, in part, as follows:

“ARTICLE III
Section 13. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES: Before the City of Temple shall be liable for damages for personal injuries of any kind, or for injuries to or destruction of property of any kind, the person injured, or the owner of the property injured or destroyed, or someone in his behalf, shall give the City Manager notice in writing of such injury or destruction, duly verified, within sixty (60) days after the same has been sustained, . stating in such written notice when, where and how the injury or destruction occurred, and the apparent extent thereof, the amount of damage sustained, the amount for which claimant will settle, the actual residence of the claimant by street and number at the time the claim is presented, and the actual residence of such claimant for six (6) months immediately preceding the occurrence of such injuries or destruction, and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom he relies to establish his claim . ” (Emphasis added.)

It is undisputed that appellant did not comply with the charter provision. Appellant’s president wrote appellee’s manager an unverified letter on April 24, 1979, notifying him of the April 16 collision. On June 12, 1979, appellant’s counsel sent the city manager an unverified letter notifying him of the April 16 collision.

By two points of error, appellant claims that appellee’s duty to maintain the streets is a governmental function. Appellant’s argument is that the low hanging tree limb constituted a special defect within the contemplation of the Texas Tort Claims Act, Tex.Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. art. 6252-19 § 14(12). Because the Tort Claims Act controls, the argument continues, the only notice requirement to be met is that provided by § 16 of that Act, and appellant’s letters of April 24 and June 12 complied with that notice requirement. Appellant’s points are [387]*387overruled. It is settled that the maintenance of streets is a proprietary function of a city. Turvey v. City of Houston, 602 S.W.2d 517, 23 Tex.Sup.Ct.J. 447 (1980); City of Austin v. Daniels, 335 S.W.2d 753 (Tex.1960); Crow v. City of San Antonio, 301 S.W.2d 628 (Tex.1957); City of Austin v. Schmedes, 279 S.W.2d 326 (Tex.1955). The notice provisions in § 16 of the Tort Claims Act have no application to this case since § 18(a) of the Act provides that the Act shall not apply to any proprietary function of a city.

Appellant claims by its third point that it substantially complied with the notice provisions of the charter by meeting all the purposes of the notice provision.1 Appellant’s argument is contrary to the holdings of many Texas cases. Should verification be required by the charter or ordinance, the notice must be verified to be effective, and such requirement is held to be a matter of substance and not form. City v. Deshotel, 585 S.W.2d 846 (Tex.Civ.App.1979, no writ); Bowling v. City of Port Arthur, 522 S.W.2d 270 (Tex.Civ.App.1975, no writ); Cooper v. City of Abilene, 416 S.W.2d 562 (Tex.Civ.App.1967, no writ); Carrales v. City of Kingsville, 393 S.W.2d 952 (Tex.Civ.App.1965, no writ). Appellant’s third point of error is overruled.

By two points of error appellant claims that: (1) appellee waived the verified notice requirement, and (2) appellee was estopped from denying the sufficient of the notice given.

Appellant filed no response to the motion for summary judgment setting out the defenses of waiver and estoppel. Texas R.Civ.P.

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603 S.W.2d 384, 1980 Tex. App. LEXIS 3787, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/artco-bell-corp-v-city-of-temple-texapp-1980.