Hire v. Board of County Commissioners

175 N.E.2d 326, 87 Ohio Law. Abs. 259, 16 Ohio Op. 2d 169, 1960 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 210
CourtAllen County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedJuly 14, 1960
DocketNo. 46848
StatusPublished

This text of 175 N.E.2d 326 (Hire v. Board of County Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Allen County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hire v. Board of County Commissioners, 175 N.E.2d 326, 87 Ohio Law. Abs. 259, 16 Ohio Op. 2d 169, 1960 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 210 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1960).

Opinion

Dull, J.

This is an action for a declaratory judgment. The action was brought by the Auditor of Allen County, Ohio, as plaintiff with the Board of Commissioners of Allen County, Ohio, named as defendants (hereinafter referred to as the Commissioners). A taxpayer of Allen County, Ohio, filed his petition as an intervenor. The matter was heard on the pleadings, testimony and the evidence.

By a resolution adopted July 23, 1958, the Commissioners decided to submit the question of a bond issue to the electors. This resolution read in part: “BE IT RESOLVED, and hereby determined by the Board of County Commissioners of Allen County, Ohio, that it is necessary for the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition of land and equipment and the construction of facilities for a new north-south runway and the replacement of the existing East-West runway and the improvement of existing facilities of the Allen County Airport, to issue and sell SEVEN HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, ($725,000.00) of bonds of said County.”

Then at the general election of November 4, 1958, there was submitted to the electors of Allen County this question of issuing bonds of the County “for the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition of land and equipment and the construction of facilities for a new north-south runway and the replacement of the existing east-west runway and the improvement of existing facilities of the Allen County airport, in the sum of Seven Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($725,-' 000.00).” At the election the bond issue carried by the requisite legal majority of 55%. Thereafter the Commissioners by resolution adopted January 15, 1960, authorized the issuance of the bonds “for the purpose of providing funds for the acquisition of land and equipment and the construction of facilities for a new north-south runway and the replacement of the existing East-West runway and the improvement of existing facilities of the Allen County Airport in the sum of Seven Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($725,000.00).”

The bonds were advertised and sold and are now outstanding having been paid for by the purchasers. The funds from the sale of the bonds have been deposited in the requisite bond fund [261]*261and have been invested in government securities pending their disbursement.

A resolution adopted by the Commissioners on January 15, 1960, provided that $165,000.00 of the proceeds of the bond issue were to be used for the acquisition of real estate or easements. This sum was to be matched by federal funds making approximately $330,000.00 available for the acquisition of a site. No attempt to appraise or acquire any real estate or easements at the site of the Lima Airport on Baty Boad (Allentown Boad) —the only existing airport facilities in Allen County, but privately owned except for a strip of land owned by Allen County —was made by the Commissioners until sometime after January 1, 1960, when the bonds were sold. The reason for this delay, according to the testimony, was the uncertainty as to the availability of matching federal funds until after that date. Thereafter, appraisals were made at the Baty Boad site and negotiations for purchase were entered into with certain of the property owners. As a result of such proceedings, the appraised and estimated value of the 23 parcels of land it would be necessary to buy in fee simple was in excess of $500,000.00. No appraisals of the 26 flight easements for a “clear zone” it would be necessary to buy because of the dwellings located in the area were placed in evidence, although there were estimates in excess of $100,000.00. The costs of such easements would be an additional cost of land acquisition at the Baty Boad site. A resolution adopted on May 27, 1960, by the Commissioners abandoned the Baty Boad site because of the excessive cost ©f land acquisition and proposed a site in Perry Township for the airport. This resolution contained this statement: Due to the reluctance of land owners to sell at a price that would enable the County Commissioners to proceed with an Allen County Airport at the Allentown Boad Site the Airport Advisory Committee recommends to the County Commissioners that they exercise the option and acquire land for the proposed Perry Township Site No. 4, said site being shown on Plat and Airport Survey, dated April 15,1958, by the Engineering Firm of Clyde Williams and Associates, Indianapolis, Indiana.

“It was further moved that, if all technical data is in order and that if the engineering firm of Clyde Williams and Asso[262]*262ciates will terminate tbe present agreement on the Allentown Road site in a fair and equitable settlement to the satisfaction of the County Commissioners, that they be further engaged for the engineering at the proposed Perry Township site.” Options have been obtained on the necessary acreage for the location of the airport at the Perry Township site which, if timely exercised, would enable the Commissioners to stay within the allocated sum of $330,000.00 ($165,000.00 from bond issue proceeds plus $165,000.00 from matching federal funds) for land acquisition. A zoning certificate permitting construction of an airport has been obtained from Perry Township. Further, the Perry Township site located in an area of farm land and requiring the removal of only one tar paper shack for a “clear zone” has the tentative approval of the federal authorities for use as an airport. However, the Baty Road site has had definite approval by the federal authorities for use as an airport and a so called Master Plan has been prepared for it. Matching federal funds are now available for the construction of an airport in Allen County, Ohio.

The key question presented by these proceedings is: Do the Allen County Commissioners have the power to use the proceeds of the bond issue to locate the proposed airport at a site other than the Baty Road Site?

The language contained in the resolution of the Commissioners of July 23, 1958, the ballot submitted to the voters of Allen County in the election of November 4, 1958, and the resolution of the Commissioners of January 15,1960, are practically the same. This language clearly indicates that the proposed airport was to be located at the Baty Road site and nowhere else. Further, according to the testimony, in the promotion and publicity relative to the bond issue campaign prior to the election of November 4, 1958, the Baty Road site was the only one stressed either directly or by implication. It was not until May 27, 1960, that by resolution of the County Commissioners that the Baty Road site was abandoned and a new site proposed in Perry Township. A map of six possible airport sites had been prepared prior to the passage of the bond issue of 1958.

The powers of the Commissioners are contained in Section 307.20, Revised Code:

[263]*263“The board of county commissioners, in addition to its other powers, shall have the same authority, subject to the same limitations, with respect to airports, landing fields, and other air navigations facilities as is conferred upon municipal corporations by Sections 719.01 and 717.01, Revised Code.”

Section 719.01, Revised Code, provides in part:

“Any municipal corporation may appropriate, enter upon, and hold real estate within its corporate limits:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 N.E.2d 326, 87 Ohio Law. Abs. 259, 16 Ohio Op. 2d 169, 1960 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 210, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hire-v-board-of-county-commissioners-ohctcomplallen-1960.