City of Terrell v. McFarland

766 S.W.2d 809, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 3414, 1988 WL 150286
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 30, 1988
Docket05-87-01385-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 766 S.W.2d 809 (City of Terrell v. McFarland) 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
City of Terrell v. McFarland, 766 S.W.2d 809, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 3414, 1988 WL 150286 (Tex. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinions

BAKER, Justice.

The City of Terrell, Texas, appeals from an adverse judgment in a breach of contract suit brought by Lee McFarland. The city has raised nine points of error. We overrule points one through seven and sustain points eight and nine which concern McFarland’s award of attorney’s fees and postjudgment interest on those fees. We reform the trial court’s judgment by deleting the attorney’s fees awarded McFarland and the postjudgment interest on those fees; and, as reformed, we affirm the judgment.

The facts are disputed. The trial was hotly contested. McFarland alleged that he requested the city council to approve a reimbursement of a fifty percent pro rata [811]*811refund of his costs for constructing water and sewer lines to his property. He contended that the city council, by official vote, agreed to such a refund if anyone later tied onto the lines built by McFarland. The city, on the other hand, argued that there was no council vote and there was no contract. McFarland contended that a letter signed by the city manager and the mayor, addressed to McFarland, is written evidence of the contract. In pertinent part, the letter states:

In consideration of the construction of these lines at your expense, and the ownership becoming vested in the City of Terrell, this letter evidences the agreement by the City to collect from any person who elects to connect to such lines a prorata share of your total cost of construction according to city ordinances. This amount will be refunded to you.

The minutes of city council meetings do not reflect a vote on an agreement. The agendas of council meetings do not indicate that a refund was to be discussed. A tape recording of the August 11,1981, city council meeting produced at trial by the city had obvious gaps in it and did not contain any evidence of a vote for a refund. Testimony by witnesses regarding any vote on a refund was conflicting.

The case was submitted to the jury in one question. The question asked:

Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that in the summer of 1981 the Terrell City Council voted to collect for Lee McFarland a 50% pro rata refund for the cost of line installation in the event another tied onto said line?

The jury answered unanimously, “We do.”

In its first two points of error, the city asserts that there is no evidence of a contract and that there is no evidence that the city council voted to collect a fifty percent refund. In ruling upon “no evidence” points, we consider only the evidence and inferences tending to support the jury finding, disregarding all evidence and inferences to the contrary. Alm v. Aluminum Co. of America, 717 S.W.2d 588, 593 (Tex.1986). The record reflects that there is evidence supporting the jury’s finding. The letter referred to above is some evidence that there was an agreement or contract. Among those who testified that there was an agreement entered into by a vote of the city council were McFarland, Jim Gordon, a contractor who did work for McFarland, and Odise Mash-burn, a city councilman during the summer of 1981. The same three witnesses also testified that McFarland was to be refunded fifty percent of his costs or that a pro rata share meant fifty percent of his costs. We overrule points one and two.

In its third point of error, the city contends that the evidence is factually insufficient to support the jury’s finding that the city council voted to collect a fifty percent refund for McFarland. The city filed a Motion to Modify Judgment which the trial court considered, in substance, as a motion for new trial. In its motion, the city did not raise the factual insufficiency argument that it now asserts on appeal. The city has waived any error regarding factual sufficiency. See TEX.R.CIY.P. 324(b)(2); Garrett v. Standard Fire Insurance Co., 541 S.W.2d 635, 638 (Tex.Civ.App.—Beaumont 1976, writ ref’d n.r.e.). We overrule the city’s third point of error.

The city contends in its fourth point of error that the trial court erred in entering judgment for McFarland because the alleged contract was illegal. Illegality as a defense must be affirmatively pleaded unless the illegal nature of the document sought to be enforced is apparent from the plaintiff’s pleadings. Lewkowicz v. El Paso Apparel Corp., 625 S.W.2d 301, 303 (Tex.1981); see TEX.R.CIY.P. 94. An examination of the city’s pleadings reveals that the defense of illegality was not specifically pleaded. A careful reading of McFarland’s pleadings, including the letter relied on and attached thereto, furnishes no facial indication that the alleged contract is illegal. Moreover, in its motion for directed verdict, the city stated that “[i]t is not the City’s position that the contract was illegal but simply that a contract was not entered into.” We overrule the city’s fourth point.

[812]*812In its fifth point of error, the city contends that the trial court erred in not submitting a question purportedly requested by the city. The question is filed as part of the record in this case, but there is no indication that the city requested its submission. Also, the record does not indicate that the city obtained a ruling on its alleged request. Rule 276 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure provides that when a question is requested and refused, the judge must endorse on the question “Refused” and sign it officially. When the record does not reflect that this was done, no error is shown even though the question may appear in the transcript. Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance Co. v. Newton, 638 S.W.2d 75, 80 (Tex.App.—Dallas 1982, writ ref’d n.r.e.); see TEX.R.CIV.P. 276. We overrule the city’s fifth point.

The city argues in its sixth point of error that the trial court erred in submitting Special Issue Number 1 to the jury. The city objected that the reference in the question to the summer of 1981 was too broad in scope. The short answer to this objection is that the summer of 1981 is consistent with McFarland’s pleadings and the evidence at trial. The city also requested that the words “pro rata” be removed from the question. McFarland’s pleadings alleged that “pro rata” meant fifty percent in the context of this case. There was evidence at trial that “pro rata” meant fifty percent. The letter relied on by McFarland contained the term “prorata.” Therefore, no error is shown. See TEX.R.CIV.P. 278.

The city further objected to the jury question because of a distinction between service line connections and main line extensions. The city regards this distinction as crucial because it contended at trial that city ordinances authorized a refund only in cases of service line connections. The city engineer testified that the connections to McFarland’s lines were main line extensions. This testimony was uncontradicted. It will be assumed here that the city objected to the question’s failure to make this distinction even though the city’s objection is by no means clear in this regard.

In his Fourth Amended Petition, McFarland does not plead the distinction between service line connections and main line extensions that the city regards as so important. McFarland merely alleges that the lines connected to his lines are within the city ordinance definition of service lines.

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City of Terrell v. McFarland
766 S.W.2d 809 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
766 S.W.2d 809, 1988 Tex. App. LEXIS 3414, 1988 WL 150286, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-terrell-v-mcfarland-texapp-1988.