Hetul Bhakta DBA Budget Inn v. Texas Department of Transportation and Ballenger Construction Company

CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMay 11, 2015
Docket04-15-00297-CV
StatusPublished

This text of Hetul Bhakta DBA Budget Inn v. Texas Department of Transportation and Ballenger Construction Company (Hetul Bhakta DBA Budget Inn v. Texas Department of Transportation and Ballenger Construction Company) 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
Hetul Bhakta DBA Budget Inn v. Texas Department of Transportation and Ballenger Construction Company, (Tex. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

■_ —i o Electronically Filed 3/30/2015 2.59:37 PM Noe Guerra Jr.. District Clerk Brooks County, Texas Reviewed ByVanessa Martinez

CAUSE NO. 1I-04-15888-CV

HETUL BHAKTA D\B\A BUDGET INN § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF

§ VS $ BROOKS COUNTY, TEXAS § TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF § TRASNPORTATION AND § BALLENGER CONSTRUCTION § COMPANY, INC. § 79TI[ JUDICIAL DISTRICT

NOTICE OF APPEAL

Plaintiff HetuI Bhakla D\B\A Budget Inn files his notice of appeal of the trial court's

Final Judgment granting of the Texas Department of Transportation's Plea to the Jurisdiction.

Respectfully submitted,

^2 V. GONZALEZ & ASSOCIATES. P.C. 121 North 10th Street McAllcn. Texas 78501 Telephone: (956) 630-3266 — -\3 Facsimile: (956) 630-0383 - — - ■— :- -S " . ■. liv:-'.v- AloY.shix Paler Thaddeus. Jr. ALOYSIUS PETER THADDEUS, JR. V;:: S Slate Bar No. 198 19500 ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF

Notice of Appeal Page 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

The above and forgoing document has been served on all attorneys of record in

accordance with the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure on this the 16"' day of March 2015.

Via Facsimile: (512) 472-3855 Susan Bonnen Office ofthe Attorney General Transportation Division P.O. Box 12548 Austin. Texas 78711-2548

VIA TAX: 214) 363-9979 Steve Snelson Atlorney at Law Gerstle. Minissalc & Snelson. l.LP 5005 Greenville Avenue. Suite 200 Dallas. 1X75206

/s/ Alovsius I'cler Thac/ckus, Jr. AI.OYS1US PETER THADD1£US. JR.

Notice of Appeal Page 2 Electronically Filed 3/6/2015 3 53 02 PM Noe Guerra Jr., District Clerk Brooks County. Texas

Reviewed By Vanessa Martinez

CAUSE NO. 11-04-15888-CV

HETUL BHAKTA d/b/a BUDGET IN THE DISTRICT COURT INN, § § Plaintiff, § 5 vs. § 79th JUDICIAL DISTRICT § TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF § TRANSPORTATION AND § BALLENGER CONSTRUCTION § COMPANY, INC. § § Defendant. BROOKS COUNTY, TEXAS

AGREED FINAL JUDGMENT

On the _ _ day gpiarcn ^ 2015 came on to be heard the above styled and numberec

cause. Plaintiff, iletul Bhakta d/b/a Budget Inn appeared by and through his attorney of

record Aioysius Peter Thaddcus, Jr. Defendant, Ballenger Construction Company, [nc.

("Ballenger Construction") appeared by and through its attorney of record Steve Snelson.

The parties announced they had resolved the disputed matters between them and have

agreed on the entry of this judgment. The Texas Department of Transportation did noi

appear having already been dismissed by the court through an interlocutory Order. After

considering the pleadings on file with the Court, the Court finds the following:

I. Pursuant to the agreement between thfl Plaintiff and Ballenger Construction the

Court finds that Plaintiff sustained damages to Plaintiffs motel located in Falfurrias,

Brooks County, Texas as a result of multiple flooding incidents arising out of the

construction upgrade of U.S. Highway 281\lnterstate Highway 69C. As part of the

settlement the insurance carrier on behalf of Ballenger Construction agreed to pay for

damages to the properly that was not paid for through any payment by the Federal

Emergency Management Agency ("FEMA"). Under the terms of the settlement agreement

the Plaintiff and Ballenger Construction agreed to settle claims for the Plaintiffs alleged

losses of: motel rental income; demolition labor costs; loss of furnishings for carpet, beds.

Agresii Final Judgment Hage chairs, dressers and other motel furniture that were damaged result of the various flooding

events.

2. Therefore, as a result of the settlement between Plaintiff and the payment thai has

been made on behalf of Ballenger Construction and received by Plaintiff, the Court hearby

orders that Plaintiff take nothing from Bailenger Construction.

3. The Court also finds that Plaintiff brought claims of inverse condemnation,

nuisance and negligence against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Plaintiff alleged that three to four separate flooding events at his Falfurrias motel resulted

from actions of the State of Texas acting through TxDOT during the highway

reconstruction. Plaintiff further alleged that the manner in which TxDOT conducted the

highway reconstruction caused the flooding events which shut down plaintiffs business

for long periods of time. Plaintiff lastly alleged that these flooding events constituted .1

constitutional taking of real property in violation of the Texas State Constitution resulting in inverse condemnation by the State of Texas of the Plaintiffs property. The Court after

considering the motion and arguments of counsel, and evidence admitted granted TxDOTs

Plea to the Jurisdiction and by interlocutory Order dismissed the Plaintiff's claims agains:

TxDOT. As the interlocutory' Order was never severed it will become final once this Agreed final Judgment is signed by the Court.

4. Therefore, this judgment is final and disposes of all claims and all parties, and is appealable.

March 9 SIGNED FOR ENTRY on .2015.

JIjDGE PRESIDING AGREED.

Afavsius Peter Thtudleits, Jr. Sieve Snelson ALOYSIUS Pf£TIiR THADDEUS, JR. Steve Snelson Attorney for the Plaintiff Attorney for Ballengcr Construction Co.

Agreed Final Judgment Page 2 United States Po^OffefcUuJE CHRIS"" I TX 7S4 1 O2 APR 2O15 P ' Rerrmrnr>~&n—'

• Sender Please print your name, address, and ZIP+4 in this box

RECEIVED APR 0 « ZQ15

VICENTE G0HZ4 LEZ V GONZALEZ SASSOCIATES in NORTH TEfHH HCALLEH,TEXAS 78SQ!

O S

SENDER: COMPLETE THIS SECTION COMPLETE THIS SECTION ON DELIVERY

Pnnt;w name and Mg, on .S.erse □ Agent ■ IS S ,r ""rel™ "ls««•» you C. DaleofDeliVsr

S' enIer del>ve(y address below: D No

3.

D

2, Article Number Fee) Yes

102595-02-1.1.J 540 j

U.S. Postal Service™ CERTIFIED MAIL™ RECEIPT

IT IT •a Postego m

CenillcB Fao nj

r~i Relum Rocefp! Fee Poslmaid lercdorsainent Requiied) Hare a Hcililciea Dglivery Fea a (Enir'orsemenl RequirGd) rr

Tolal Poslago s Fees rH

PS Form 3800. flugusl 20D6 See Reverse lor Instructions 5/6/2015 Re: Hetul Bhakla Appeal - Hilda Caldweil

Re: Hetul Bhakta Appeal

Peter Th

Thu4/9/2015 4:33 PM

Inbox

To Vanessa Martinez ;

C:HMaCaldwell;

Thank you . We will gel that check to you as soon as we can.

Aloysius Peter Thaddeus, Jr. Attorney and Counselor at Law Law Offices of V. Gonzalez & Associates L.P. 121 North Tenth Street McAllen, Texas 78501 956.630.3266 956.630.0383

From: Vanessa Martinez

Sent: Thursday, April 9, 2015 4:29 PM

To:PeterTh

Subject: Hetul Bhakta Appeal

Mr.Thaddeus,

I'm emailingyou to inform you of the cost to prepare the clerk's record, he total cost wiH be $346.00. If you could please mail us a check to pay for this as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me.

Vanessa Martinez, Brooks County Deputy Clerk Civil/Criminal Division P.O. Box 534 100 East Miller Falfurrias, Texas 78355 (361)325-5604 x 161

htlps: tort I ook. offi ce365.com/owa/projectiona5px 1/2 aQ2015 Re: Haul Bhakta Appeal - Hilda CalAvell

Facsimile (361) 3^5-5679

tittpsl/'outioc*.office365.ccni/cv/a'prciecliori.aspx 2/2 4/10/2015

BROOKS COUNTY DISTRICT COURT "346.00

Three Hundred Forty-Six and 00/100"*****""""*

BROOKS COUNTY DISTRICT COURT

HETUAL BHAKTA APPEAL 11 -04-15888CV

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Hetul Bhakta DBA Budget Inn v. Texas Department of Transportation and Ballenger Construction Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hetul-bhakta-dba-budget-inn-v-texas-department-of-transportation-and-texapp-2015.