Fred Berlanti & Son, Inc. v. Borough of Manheim Authority

93 F. Supp. 437, 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2346
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 22, 1950
DocketCiv. No. 8011
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 93 F. Supp. 437 (Fred Berlanti & Son, Inc. v. Borough of Manheim Authority) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fred Berlanti & Son, Inc. v. Borough of Manheim Authority, 93 F. Supp. 437, 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2346 (E.D. Pa. 1950).

Opinion

BARD, District Judge.

On May 3, 1948 the plaintiff, Fred Berlanti and Son, Inc. (hereinafter called Berlanti) acquired a judgment against the defendant, Borough of Manheim Authority, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (hereinafter called Authority) for $21,178.27 with 4% interest on $16,473.30 from Maith 7, [439]*4391946, and on $4,704.97 from November 1, 1945. To collect this judgment the plaintiff attached the defendant’s property in the possession of the Keystone National Bank of Manheim, Pennsylvania (hereinafter called Bank), and had the Bank brought in as garnishee. This case is now before me on the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment against the garnishee.

The Authority was organized pursuant to the Municipality Authorities Act of 1935, as amended,1 and owns the sewage system in and about the Borough of Manheim. The Borough, however, operates the system under a lease agreement with the Authority.

The Authority decided to install and had partially constructed a modern sewage disposal system in Manheim. To pay for the cost of completing its construction, the Authority in 1944 authorized a $500,000 bond issue.

On September 1, 1944 the Authority entered into a perpetual trust agreement with the Bank whereby the Authority sold, assigned, transferred set over and pledged to the Bank as trustee, its successors and assigns, all right, title and interest of the Authority in and to the sewer lease with the Borough of Manheim.

In addition to the covenants usually found in such an instrument, the Authority covenanted in Article II to deliver the bonds to the Bank, and in Article III to construct the new sewer system.

On September 13, 1944 Berlanti entered into a contract with the Authority for completing the construction of the sewer system. On September 21, 1944 the trust indenture was filed with the Recorder of Deeds in Lancaster County.

The judgment in favor of Berlanti against the Authority, which was entered earlier in this action, was for $16,473.30 balance due on that construction contract, $457.50 balance due on a contract of March 12, 1945 to load and haul surplus fill, and $4,247.47 balance due on a contract of July 30, 1945 to replace macadam road which was torn up by the construction of the sewer system.

From the sale of the bonds the Bank realized $500,534.70. In accordance with the terms of the trust agreement, $191,913.95 was used to pay the prior outstanding obligations and bonds of the Authority, and $283,363.21 was used to pay some of the construction costs of the sewer system.

The Bank now has on hand a balance of $25,257.54 left from the sale of the bonds and rental income from the lease amounting to $9,973.75, which has been segregated by the Bank as follows:

Sale of Rental Bonds Income
'Construction Fund $ 3,132.54
Reserve Fund 20,000.00 $1,200.00
Improvement and Retirement Fund 2,125.00 950.00
Bond Fund 7,823.75
$25,257.54 $9,973.75

The foregoing discussion outlines the material facts, all of which are undisputed. The outcome of this case now hinges on the determination of the legal questions involved in interpreting the trust agreement. Therefore, the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment may be decided on its merits.

There is no bar to the plaintiff’s recovery on the basis of governmental immunity. No statute has been called to my attention which exempts the Authority’s property from attachment. The Authority is not a governmental sub-division, and even if it were, the construction of a sewage disposal system would be a proprietary not a governmental function. Cf. Williams v. Samuel et al., 332 Pa. 265, 2 A.2d 834; Ringwalt v. Atglen Borough, 49 Pa.Super. 517.

Nor does the fact that the money is now held by a trustee as security for the beneficiaries, the bondholders, bar the plain[440]*440tiff’s recovery. The right of the bondholders to this security is limited by the terms of the trust agreement.

The first basic issue raised by this case is whether the plaintiff can reach the proceeds remaining from the sale of the bonds in order to satisfy his judgment.

From studying the trust agreement as a whole, I think that the $25,257.54 remaining from the sale of the bonds is subj ect to attachment by the plaintiff.

The proceeds from the sale of the bonds were to be deposited with the Bank, and were to be used to pay off the remaining indebtedness from the prior bond issues of 1940 and 1942, and the balance was to be put in the Construction Fund. Trust Indenture, 3rd Whereas Clause; Article II,' Section 3.

Article IV of the agreement established the Construction Fund. Section 2 thereof provides that, “The Moneys in the Construction Fund shall be held by the Trustee [Bank] in trust and applied to the payment of the cost of completing the construction of the sewer system in accordance with and subject to the limitations of this Article, and, pending such application, shall be subject to a lien and charge in favor of the holders of the bonds issued and outstanding under this Indenture * * * until paid out as herein provided.” (Emphasis added).

In Section 4 of Article IV the Bank is charged with the duty “to transfer [from the Construction Fund] to the Reserve Fund * * * the amount * * * provided in Section 3 of Article V, hereof.” This latter provision directs the Bank to transfer and deliver to the Reserve Fund $20,000 immediately upon the execution and delivery of the trust indenture.

Section 7 of Article IV provides that after the construction of the sewer system has been completed, “any balance in the Construction Fund not reserved for the payment of any remaining part of the cost of said construction of the sewer system * * * shall be transferred to and become part of the Improvement and Retirement Fund * * *»

Interest and principal of the bonds were to be paid only out of any and all income derived from the sewer system. 4th Paragraph of Bond.

The bondholders had a lien against the money in the Construction Fund only pending the application of this money to the payment of the costs of construction. Article IV, Section 2. The bondholders’ security was the trust agreement. 2nd Paragraph of Bond.

The obvious intent of the Authority was to use the proceeds from the sale of the bonds, first, to pay off the existing bonded indebtedness of the Authority, and second, to pay the cost of constructing the new sewer system.

After the provision establishing the Construction Fund had been set forth in the bond and trust agreement, the Authority then proceeded (1) to authorize the transfer of $20,000 from the Construction Fund to the Reserve Fund, and (2) to authorize the transfer of the final balance in the Construction Fund from that fund to the Improvement and Retirement Fund.

The foregoing, all of which was of record when the bonds were sold, leads me to conclude that the Authority originally intended all the proceeds from the sale of the bonds which remained after the prior bond issues were retired should be used, if necessary, to pay the cost of construction.

1.

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Bluebook (online)
93 F. Supp. 437, 1950 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fred-berlanti-son-inc-v-borough-of-manheim-authority-paed-1950.