City of Tyler v. FOWLERR FURNITURE CO.

831 S.W.2d 399, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1176, 1992 WL 99351
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 6, 1992
Docket12-90-00181-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 831 S.W.2d 399 (City of Tyler v. FOWLERR FURNITURE CO.) 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 Tyler v. FOWLERR FURNITURE CO., 831 S.W.2d 399, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1176, 1992 WL 99351 (Tex. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

JACKSON B. SMITH, Jr., Retired Justice. 1

Appellee, Fowler Furniture Company, filed this suit against the City of Tyler, Appellant, alleging negligence by the city in not properly maintaining or repairing an existing storm drainage system, and failing to provide or maintain adequate barriers along or around that system. The city asserted governmental immunity and denied any negligence. The trial court held, as a matter of law, that the city did not have governmental immunity, and based on jury findings of negligence, causation, and damages, the trial court entered judgment for Fowler Furniture in the sum of $458,-760, and prejudgment interest of $184,670.

The undisputed facts show that in the early morning hours of April 5, 1986, the City of Tyler experienced a heavy rainfall wherein it received between 5.52 and 6.67 inches of rain in various parts of the city. Flooding occurred, and the Fowler Furniture Company was inundated. During this same period of time, two automobiles were washed into an open culvert in the city’s existing storm drainage system.

The storm drainage system had been in existence for 40 to 50 years in 1986, when the incident made the basis of this suit occurred. Originally, the system had been a rock-lined creek. During those 40 to 50 years, structures, including Fowler Furniture, had been built over the system so that the system had become intermittently underground (box culvert) in some places and open in other places such as the open culvert in which the two automobiles had come to rest. The system and open culvert involved afforded drainage for the streets and surrounding area in which Fowler Furniture was located.

In September 1981, the City had a heavy rainfall of 3.2 inches. During that rainfall, flooding had occurred, and an automobile had washed into the same open culvert that is involved in the present suit.

After the 1981 rainfall incident, Tyler assistant city engineer, Dr. Keith Williams, notified the city of the problems and dangers of the open culvert. He recommended that guard posts or railings be installed to prevent automobiles or other debris from being washed into the open culvert storm drainage system. The cost to install the posts or railings would have been a few hundred dollars. No action was taken on Dr. Williams’ recommendation.

The facts concerning what caused the 1986 flood at Fowler Furniture and the amount of damages sustained by Fowler Furniture as a result of the flooding were disputed, hotly contested, and were submitted to the jury for resolution.

In its first point of error, the City asserts that the trial court erred in denying its motion for partial directed verdict because the City’s alleged negligence in failing to provide or maintain adequate barriers along and around the existing storm drainage system involves a governmental function and the city is immune from liability when acting in its governmental capacity.

It has long been established that a municipal corporation functions in a dual capacity. At times, it functions in its proprietary capacity as a private corporation, and at other times, it functions as an arm of the government. Dilley v. City of Houston, 148 Tex. 191, 222 S.W.2d 992, 993 (1949).

In Dilley, the Texas Supreme Court enunciated two basic rules to determine the liability or non-liability of a municipality for its actions:

(1) When a municipal corporation acts in its private capacity, for the benefit only of those within its corporate limits, and *402 not as an arm of the government, it is liable for the negligence of its representative. (citations omitted)
(2) A municipal corporation is not liable for the negligence of its agents and employees in the performance of purely governmental matters solely for the public benefit, (citations omitted)

Id.

Furthermore, in Dilley, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its prior holding that the construction, operation, and maintenance of a storm sewer by a city is not a purely governmental function. See City of Amarillo v. Ware, 120 Tex. 456, 40 S.W.2d 57, 60 (Tex.Comm’n App.1931, opinion adopted).

The City of Tyler maintains that the word “maintain,” as used in Special Issue No. 1 submitted to the jury, means “keep in a state of repair.” The foregoing sentence is an example of how the meaning of the word “maintain” varies, depending on the context in which it is used. Our reference dictionary lists numerous definitions for the word maintain, one of which is “to provide for.” See Websters Third Int’l Dictionary (1976 ed.). As a definition of the word “maintain,” was not given in the charge to the jury, an examination of Special Issue No. 1 is necessary to determine the meaning of the word “maintain” as used therein.

Special Issue No. 1

Do you find from a preponderance of the evidence that the City of Tyler was negligent in regard to the following:

I. Failing, if it did, to properly maintain and/or repair the existing storm drainage system serving the area where Fowler Furniture Company, Inc.’s business was located;

II. Failing, if it did, to provide or maintain adequate barriers along and around the existing storm drainage system at the arch culvert at or near the intersection of Elm and Fannin Streets at the railroad crossing;

(I) Answer: Maintain/Repair No

(II) Answer: Barriers Yes

We note that the word “maintain" is used in both questions submitted to the jury. In the first question, the word “maintain” is used in this context, “maintain and/or repair.” In the second question, the word “maintain” is used in the context as follows: “to provide or maintain.” In the first question, it appears that the jury, when considering the phrase “maintain and/or repair,” agreed with the City of Tyler’s position; that is how can a city maintain or repair barriers that are not in existence. Thus, when the words maintain and repair were associated, the jury found the city not negligent. It appears that in this context, the jury considered maintained to mean “keep in a state of repair.”

It also appears that when the word “maintain” was associated with the word “provide” in the second question, the jury considered the word “maintain” to mean to “provide,” and the jury found that the city was negligent.

We find nothing inconsistent or conflicting in the jury’s answers when considering how the word “maintain” was used in each of the questions.

As heretofore stated, the evidence shows that the storm drainage system had been in existence for 40 to 50 years. During this period, it had changed, by various modifications and improvements, from a rock-lined creek bed, to a partially enclosed underground system. We find nothing in the evidence that would require the city council of Tyler to act in its governmental capacity to install guard posts or railings to prevent debris from washing into the open culvert.

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Bluebook (online)
831 S.W.2d 399, 1992 Tex. App. LEXIS 1176, 1992 WL 99351, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-tyler-v-fowlerr-furniture-co-texapp-1992.