Board of Education v. Green Valley Builders, Inc.

352 N.E.2d 306, 40 Ill. App. 3d 812, 1976 Ill. App. LEXIS 2848
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 30, 1976
Docket75-65
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 352 N.E.2d 306 (Board of Education v. Green Valley Builders, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Education v. Green Valley Builders, Inc., 352 N.E.2d 306, 40 Ill. App. 3d 812, 1976 Ill. App. LEXIS 2848 (Ill. Ct. App. 1976).

Opinion

Mr. JUSTICE DIXON

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from a judgment of the Circuit Court of Lake County, Illinois, entered on a jury verdict for *44,000 in favor of the Board of Education of District No. 68, the plaintiff, and against Green Valley Builders, Inc., the defendant, and also from a judgment entered by the circuit court in favor of the Board and against Green Valley on Green Valley’s counterclaim.

The Board brought suit in 1966 against Green Valley to recover money it claimed to be due under an agreement which required Green Valley to donate land for school facilities and to pay the Board *200 for each home constructed in Cooper’s Countryside Manor, a subdivision being developed by Green Valley. A counterclaim was filed by Green Valley, seeking a reconveyance of land it had donated, or a judgment for its value, on the basis that it had been donated in order to satisfy the requirements of an ordinance of the Village of Libertyville which was invalid. The case came to this court previously, following entry of an order which granted a motion of Green Valley for summary judgment. We refer to our earlier opinion (10 Ill. App. 3d 235) for a description of the allegations of the Board’s complaint, wherein it claimed to have accepted the proposal Green Valley had made by holding a referendum and providing bus service; the three letters which were attached to the complaint to show the terms of Green Valley’s offer; the answer of Green Valley, alleging that the letters represented just negotiations and that there was no acceptance of any offer; and minutes of a meeting of the Board held after receipt of the first of the three letters, intended to establish that there was no acceptance of an offer at that time.

In reversing the order for summary judgment we said: “It is entirely possible that the evidence will show that the referendum and bus service furnished by the Board had nothing to do with the proposals made by the defendant and that the three letters do not refer to a single agreement between the parties but are three separate efforts by the defendant to effectuate an agreement that never succeeded. However, it is clear from an examination of the record that a material dispute as to these factual issues exists. Accordingly, it was improper for the trial court to render judgment before the parties could submit evidence in regard to those issues and the order must be reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.” (10 Ill. App. 3d 235, 239.) We must now consider whether, in the ensuing trial on the merits, the Board offered sufficient evidence to allow a jury to find an offer, an acceptance by performance, and a unilateral contract as claimed.

We believe it cannot be doubted that the proposals outlined in the first of the three letters, dated October 15, 1958, constituted an offer. Written by Green Valley’s attorney, it said “my client offers,” and concluded by referring to the “generous offer” the client had made. Moreover, the second letter, dated April 1,1959, spoke of the making of “certain promises which we are prepared to abide by,” and used the expressions “we offered” and “our offer.” Again, the letter of December 1, 1959, spoke of “certain promises,” “previous offer,” and “our offer.” In our earlier opinion we indicated that we thought an offer had been made and apparently not rejected, when we said (10 Ill. App. 3d 235, 239), with reference to the meeting of the Board which followed receipt of the first letter: “Although the minutes clearly do not indicate that the Board accepted any offer from Green Valley or its president, neither do they unequivocally indicate that they rejected the proposal.”

It appears to us, further, that although the Board’s minutes do not show an acceptance by a promise creating a bilateral contract, yet the jury was shown evidence of acceptance by performance, creating a unilateral contract. (Weather-Gard Industries, Inc., v. Fairfield Savings & Loan Association, 110 Ill. App. 2d 13, 20.) Admitted into evidence were minutes of meetings of the Board held February 11,1957, and December 18, 1957, when requests for bus service were made by residents of the school district. On each of those occasions the requests were refused. The minutes of the earlier of those meetings explained: “A bus was not feasible at the present time.” The first of the three letters written on behalf of Green Valley, which was dated October 15, 1958, was presented at the meeting of the Board held November 12,1958. At that same meeting the matter of bus service came under discussion again, and this time the minutes reported: “Following a discussion about the school bus problem the Board agreed to invite the committee who got up a petition about a school bus to meet with the Board and get more facts as to the costs and other questions involved.” Within four months after receipt of the letter of October 15, 1958, a bus referendum had been held and bus service was being provided for the district. In the trial of this case the jury inquired: “Does it matter whether the School Board accepted the contract through an action accidentally or deliberately?” The court answered: “The School Board by their action must have intended to accept the offer, if any.” The jury must therefore have concluded that the referendum and the bus service were intended to constitute an acceptance of Green Valley’s offer and were not a mere coincidence. Even where the facts are admitted or undisputed but a difference of opinion as to the inference that may be legitimately drawn from them exists, it is primarily for the jury to draw the inference. (La Salle National Bank v. Wieboldt Stores, Inc., 60 Ill. App. 2d 188, 205-06.) It was not necessary for the inferred intent to have been spelled out in the Board’s minutes, because section 10 — 7 of The School Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1975, ch. 122, par. 10 — 7) requires that a record be kept of a board’s “official acts” but not necessarily the purposes intended to be accomplished by such acts. We believe the jury’s inference from the facts and circumstances should not be disturbed.

The proposal contained in the letter of October 15,1958, did not provide for both a gift of land for a school and a gift of money for transportation. Money was to be given for transportation only if the Board refused or declined to accept the gift of land for a school. The Board had a choice to make between building a school and providing bus service, and it chose the latter. Although there were no recitals in the minutes that the Board refused or declined to accept the offer of land on the terms set forth in the letter of October 19,1958, before it proceeded to call a referendum and to provide bus service, we think the jury could reasonably have inferred that the Board’s provision of transportation was its election to accept the offer of money.

The second letter written on behalf of Green Valley, dated April 1,1959, said that it had made certain promises, including the dedication of land for school or park purposes and the donation of money to the School Board, in consideration of the rezoning of its land by the County of Lake and in consideration of the approval and acceptance of certain subdivision plats.

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352 N.E.2d 306, 40 Ill. App. 3d 812, 1976 Ill. App. LEXIS 2848, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-education-v-green-valley-builders-inc-illappct-1976.