City of Arkansas City v. Bruton

137 P.3d 508, 36 Kan. App. 2d 42, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 617
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJuly 7, 2006
DocketNo. 94,893
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 137 P.3d 508 (City of Arkansas City v. Bruton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Arkansas City v. Bruton, 137 P.3d 508, 36 Kan. App. 2d 42, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 617 (kanctapp 2006).

Opinion

Greene, J.:

Ronald D. and Rebecca A. Bruton (Brutons) appeal the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the City of Arkansas City in this complex litigation regarding tire scope of an easement and involving claims and counterclaims seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, together with inverse condemnation damages, as a result of the City’s improvements of a dike being [44]*44maintained across the Brutons’ property. Concluding that the easement should be construed more narrowly than did tire district court and that a genuine issue of material fact precluded summary judgment, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

Factual and Procedural Background

In 1935, the Brutons’ predecessors in interest granted the City certain rights to construct and maintain a dike across their 5.4 acre tract of realty adjacent to the Arkansas River. The instrument of conveyance stated in material part:

“[Fjirst parties hereby grant, sell, warrant and convey to second party, its successors and assign forever, a right of way and easement with the right, privilege and authority to said party of the second part, its successors and assigns to construct and maintain a dike for the purpose of protecting said city and its inhabitants from damage by flood waters coming from the Arkansas River, in, on, over, through and across the following described lands in Cowley County, Kansas ....
“It is understood and agreed that said dike is to be constructed and maintained in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by the U. S. Army Engineers, which plans and specifications have been examined and approved by first parties.”

In 2000, the City and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sought to make improvements to the dike and brought an action against the Brutons, who had purchased the realty in 1994, alleging that the Brutons “hindered and obstructed” the planned improvements and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief together with damages for delay. The Brutons counterclaimed, alleging a trespass and an unlawful taking of their land and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief together with damages.

In November 2003, the district court filed a memorandum “for the purpose of resolving tire primary legal question at issue so that the parameters of future proceedings may be more well defined.” The court recognized that this decision was “prior to all evidence being presented.” The court noted that the original dike in question “did not cover the entire 5.4 acres but ran parallel to the north side of the Arkansas River and covered approximately one-third of the 5.4 acres.” The new structure, however, is “higher and comes closer to the Brutons’ residence.” The court concluded that

[45]*45“[n]o more should be read into this opinion except the fact that evidence concerning any change in the size and shape of the dike is relevant, as the City did not have authority under the easement to malee improvements to the dike which might encroach anywhere and everywhere upon the 5.4 acres making up the entire servient estate.”

On August 16, 2004, the City filed a motion to dismiss the Brutons’ trespass claim based upon their failure to comply with K.S.A. 2005 Supp. 12-105b(d), requiring filing of written notice of claim under the Kansas Tort Claims Act. See K.S.A. 75-6101 et seq. This motion was eventually granted by the court and is not an issue of this appeal. The City then moved for summary judgment on the Brutons’ remaining claims and requested the court reconsider the prior ruling regarding its lack of “authority under the subject easement to make improvements to the dike which might encroach anywhere and everywhere upon the 5.4 acres . . . .”

On August 31, 2004, the Brutons filed their memorandum in opposition to the City’s motion for summary judgment, supported by affidavits, maps, a description of the improvement project, construction drawings of the improvements completed, and deposition excerpts from the testimony of Arkansas City’s city manager regarding the project and changes in tire physical dimensions (size and shape) of the dike after the improvements were made. In response to the Brutons’ memorandum, the City filed an extensive amended statement of uncontroverted facts in support of its motion, which included the concession that although the new structure was higher and wider, the improvements were within the language and scope of the easement. Additionally, the City noted that while riprap was added to the river side of the levee and seepage berms and borrow pits now encompassed more of the original levee structure, all tire improvements were consistent with the purpose of tire easement, which remained to “protect the city and its inhabitants from damage by flood waters coming from the Arkansas River.”

Numerous amended memoranda followed, some of which were filed after the hearing on all pending motions, with additional proposed uncontroverted factual statements and responses thereto. In total, the record on appeal contains some 10 sets of uncontroverted [46]*46facts and responses, making it difficult to ascertain which facts, if any, and in what terminology, are any such factual statements truly uncontroverted for purposes of summary judgment. In fact, it would appear that the district court “tried” this case by considering these as successive motions for summary judgment.

On May 9, 2005, the district court entered summary judgment against the Brutons, reciting 22 paragraphs of uncontroverted facts and the following material conclusions of law:

“The provision of the subject easement that states the City may ‘construct and maintain a dike for the purpose of protecting said city and its inhabitants from damage by flood waters’, standing alone, is not ambiguous. The word ‘maintain’ has a plain and generally accepted meaning. Webster’s New World Dictionary defines the word ‘maintain’ as ‘to keep or keep up; to keep in a certain condition or position, esp. of efficiency, good repair, etc.; preserve.’
“However, the provision of the easement that states ‘said dike is to be constructed and maintained in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ is ambiguous. The Brutons contend that any maintenance of ‘said dike’ must be the dike as configured and designed in 1935.
“Because this last referred-to clause of the easement is ambiguous, the court must interpret the easement’s terms in light of the apparent purpose of tire contract as a whole, the rules of contract construction and, if available, extrinsic evidence of intent and meaning. See Wittiston on Contracts, 4th Ed. § 30.7, p. 90-91. However, in tire absence of any relevant extrinsic evidence, any ambiguity is to be resolved by the court as a matter of law. Id. § 30.7, 91-92.
“It is clear that the main purpose of the easement is to protect the city and its inhabitants from flood waters.

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Related

In Re the Care & Treatment of Palmer
265 P.3d 565 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2011)
City of Arkansas City v. Bruton
166 P.3d 992 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
137 P.3d 508, 36 Kan. App. 2d 42, 2006 Kan. App. LEXIS 617, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-arkansas-city-v-bruton-kanctapp-2006.