City of Norman v. Van Camp

1922 OK 294, 209 P. 925, 87 Okla. 182, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 259
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedOctober 3, 1922
Docket10426
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1922 OK 294 (City of Norman v. Van Camp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Norman v. Van Camp, 1922 OK 294, 209 P. 925, 87 Okla. 182, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 259 (Okla. 1922).

Opinion

MILLER, J.

This action was .commenced in the district court of Cleveland county by G. W. Van Camp and approximately one hundred others, as plaintiffs, against 'the city of Norman, a municipal corporation, L. S. Lindsay, its mayor, and certain other city officials, including the city clerk and members 'of the city council, and F. P. McCormick, a paving contractor, to test the validity of ordinance No. 264 in the city of Norman and to secure an injunction against said city officials and its agents to prevent them from issuing o and delivering bonds for the *183 cost of improvements in street improvement district, No. 3, and to prevent the city clerk from certifying any special assessments under said ordinance to the treasurer of Cleveland county, and for damages against F. P. McCormick, the paving contractor in said street improvement district No. 3, for a breach of contract.

A jury was waived and the case was tried to the court, which resulted in a judgment in favor of the plaintiffs, decreeing said ordinance No. 264 to be null and void and perpetually enjoining the defendants, their successors, agents, servants, and employes, from enforcing or attempting to enforce said ordinance. From this judgment the defendants appeal, and appear here as plaintiffs in error. The facts upon which this case rests are concisely set forth in the brief 'of plaintiffs in error as follows:

“On February 18, 1910, the mayor and city council entered into a contract with F. P. McCormick for the paving and otherwise improving 'of a portion of the streets and public highways of the city, designated as street improvement district No. 3. Thereafter a board of appraisers was appointed to apportion the costs of said improvements under said contract ‘to the different lots situated within sa*id improvement district as provided by law. On September 27, 1910, the mayor and city council met for the purpose of considering .the report of the board of appraisers, and at said time passed assessing ordinance No. 148. This ordinance was held invalid by the district court of Cleveland county, in an action brought attacking it. on the ground .that it did not receive the required number of votes of members of the city council. Thereafter, and 'on the 13th day of July, 1913, a new assessing ordinance was proposed by the contractor, F. P. McCormick. A suit was again brought by the owners of property liable to assessment to enjoin the passage of the proposed ordinance, same being ordinance No. 217, on the ground that said ordinance, attempted to require property owners to pay interest on the installments levied, from the date of the approval of the appraisers’ report, which was some three years prior to July, 1913. The trial court sustained 'the position of the property owners and enjoined the passage of .the ordinance, from which judgment the city appealed. This court sustained the lower court, same being the ease of City of Norman v. Allen, 47 Okla. 74, 147 Pac. 1002. Thereafter, and on December 18, 1914, the city attempted to pass another assessing 'ordinance, same being ordinance No. 249. An injunction suit was likewise filed to prevent the operation iof this ordinance. This suit was not tried, but the city later passed another assessing ordinance, the same being ordinance No. 264, the ordinance involved in this action, by which ordinance No. 249 was repealed. While ordinance No-. 217 was. being considered, and before the suit was filed to enjoin its passage was brought, F. P. McCormick, the contractor, brought suit against the city of Norman, its officers and agents, for damages on the theory of negligence in not passing a proper assessing ordinance, taking as his measure of damages the amount due him under his paving contract, with interest thereon. This action by F. P. McCormick was brought in the federal court for the Western district of Oklahoma, and was pending during all of 'the time of the litigation in the state court.of the case decided by this court, hereinbefore referred to. The decision of this court in the case of City of Norman v. Allen was rendered on March 30, 1916, but judgment was not rendered in .the action in the Federal court until the 13th day of November, 1916. By the judgment of the federal court F. P. McCormick was given a judgment against the city of Norman for the sum of $79,485.40, with interest at 6% from the 10th day of April, 1916, and the city of Norman was directed ■to cause a new appraisement of the property liable to assessment for the cost of improvement in improvement district No. 3 to be made, which appraisement should include the interest accrued on 'the original appraisement, and to pass a new assessing ordinance assessing the original cost of said improvements plus said accrued interest. Thereafter, the city of Norman passed assessing ordinance No. 264, the ordinance in question in this action, in compliance with the judgment of the federal cour.t, no appeal having been taken therefrom. On a trial of this case in the lower court the lower court declared ordinance No. 264 void and of no force and effect, and perpetually enjoined the city of Norman,'its officers and agents, from enforcing or attempting to enforce said ordinance.”

During the progress of the trial of the case the following stipulation of facts was agreed .to:

“It 'is hereby stipulated and agreed between the parties hereto that ordinance No. 264 involved in this action follows the judgment of the federal court in the case of McCormick v. City of Norman, and that it includes the interest on the 'original assessment from the date of the passage of the original assessment ordinance down to and including the date of the passage of the ordinance in controversy.”

The plaintiff in error sets out several as- ' signments of error, but discusses them all under the following proposition:

“The judgment of the federal court was binding upon the defendants in error, and was and is a bar to the action brought by them to enjoin the enforcement of ordinance No. 264.”

We do not agree with the contentions of the plaintiff in error. The only authority the clity of Norman had. for entering into the contract 'for paving tih.e streets was by *184 virtue of chapter 10 of article 12, Revised Laws of Oklahoma, 1910. Each and all of the sections of said article 12, in so far as applicable, constituted a part of the contract, whether incorporated In the contract or not, and governed the rights of all of the parties, the property owners affected, as well as the city and the contractor.

Section 630 of said article 12' provides that the assessments shall be made payable in ten equal installments. Section 632 provides when the said installments shall be due and payable. Section 633 provides conditions under which any property owner shall have the option to pay his entire assessment without interest. That part of said section 633 reads as follows:

“The ordinance shall provide that the owners of the property so assessed shall have the privilege of paying the amounts of their respective assessments, without, interest, within 30 days from the date of the passage of such ordinance. * * *”

This section of the statute governs the rights 'Of the parties, and lit was not repealed by the judgment of the federal court. In City of Norman v. Allen, 47 Okla. 74, 147 Pac. 1002, supra, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the syllabus read:

“2.

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Bluebook (online)
1922 OK 294, 209 P. 925, 87 Okla. 182, 1922 Okla. LEXIS 259, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-norman-v-van-camp-okla-1922.