Jensen Field Relocation Claims Jensen Field, Inc. v. Board of Regents

817 N.W.2d 724, 2012 WL 2368987, 2012 Minn. App. LEXIS 56
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedJune 25, 2012
DocketNo. A11-1942
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 817 N.W.2d 724 (Jensen Field Relocation Claims Jensen Field, Inc. v. Board of Regents) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Jensen Field Relocation Claims Jensen Field, Inc. v. Board of Regents, 817 N.W.2d 724, 2012 WL 2368987, 2012 Minn. App. LEXIS 56 (Mich. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

[727]*727OPINION

SCHELLHAS, Judge.

In this certiorari appeal, involving a dispute about whether relators-tenants are eligible for relocation benefits under the URA, relators argue that (1) the use by respondent-landlord of one of its vice presidents to serve as the hearing officer violated Minn.Stat. §§ 117.012, subd. 1, 117.52, subd. 4; (2) they are displaced persons and therefore entitled to relocation benefits under the URA; (3) the hearing officer erred by concurrently determining their eligibility for and the amount of relocation benefits; and (4) the hearing officer erred by denying them relocation benefits. We conclude that respondent did not violate sections 117.012, subdivision 1, or 117.52, subdivision 4, by using one of its vice presidents to serve as a hearing officer, and that respondent did not err by concurrently determining relators’ eligibility for and the amount of relocation benefits. But, because we conclude that the hearing officer’s determinations that rela-tors are not displaced persons under the URA and that they are not entitled to relocation benefits are not supported by evidence in the record and were affected by an error of law, we reverse the decision of the hearing officer.

FACTS

In 1947 and 1948, respondent Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota (the university) purchased an 8,000-acre parcel of land from the federal government (UMore Park). In 1986, the university entered into a five-year lease of approximately eight acres in UMore Park to relator Jensen Field Inc. for Jensen Field’s operation of a non-assignable private airport. Upon its expiration or termination, the lease required that Jensen Field “remove its personal property and any improvements constructed on the [property] by it or its sublessees (hangars, cement floors, etc.) and return the land to the condition which existed at commencement of its use of the premises.... ” The lease contained an optional two-year extension that ran in favor of Jensen Field. In 1991, the university and Jensen Field entered into a two-year extension and, from 1993 to 2009, entered into one-year lease extensions.

Beginning in 1996, the university denied Jensen Field’s annual requests to extend the lease for more than one year. In a letter, dated November 17, 2009, the university noted that Jensen Field’s lease expired on October 31, 2009; declined Jensen Field’s request for a five-year lease extension; offered Jensen Field a one-year extension to October 31, 2010; and notified Jensen Field that the university could not extend the lease beyond October 31, 2010, noting:

With the University’s recent receipt of notice of a U.S. Department of Energy award of up to $8 million in federal stimulus funds for a research project at UMore Park involving wind energy, we expect the University will begin constructing a wind turbine (the turbine is already ordered, expected useful life of 10-20 years) at UMore Park this coming spring/summer, with its operation then scheduled to begin by the fall of 2010. Therefore the University is unable to continue this lease after October 31, 2010.

The university also informed Jensen Field that it must remove its personal property and any improvements constructed by it or its sublessees and return the land to the condition it was in when the lease began. When Jensen Field received the letter, 13 [728]*728airplane hangars, owned by 10 individuals,1 were located at the airfield, and Jensen Field was current on its rent payments.

On January 15, 2010, the university received the United States Department of Energy grant, which required the university to “comply with application provisions of 49 CFR part 24, which implements the [URA].” In July 2010, relators informed the university that they would seek relocation benefits under the URA and requested that the university provide them with advisory services and claim assistance. In August 2010, at relators’ request, All Furniture Inc. conducted a walkthrough of the airfield and provided relators with an estimate for moving personal property, equipment, and airplanes. By October 31, 2010, relators had moved, sold, or otherwise disposed of 12 of their 13 airplane hangars and their personal property, equipment, and airplanes.

In February 2011, the university rejected relators’ claims for relocation benefits, noting that they were not displaced persons and that they failed to submit proof of entitlement to a claim. Relators subsequently sought an administrative appeal hearing, and University of Minnesota President Robert H. Bruininks appointed Vice President for University Services Kathleen O’Brien to “conduct appropriate proceedings to make a final determination of the claims.” On September 15, 2011, Vice President O’Brien issued findings of fact, conclusions, and an order, ruling that relators were not displaced persons under the URA and that they did not provide adequate documentation necessary to entitle them to relocation benefits, and denying their claims for benefits.

This appeal by writ of certiorari follows.

ISSUES

I. Did the university violate MinmStat. §§ 117.012, subd. 1, 117.52, subd. 4, by appointing Vice President O’Brien to serve as the hearing officer?

II. Are relators “displaced person[s]” under the URA?

III. Are relators entitled to relocation benefits under the URA?

ANALYSIS

“[C]ourts must be reluctant to invade the sphere of authority reserved to the [University Board of] [R]egents by our constitution.” Bailey v. Univ. of Minn., 290 Minn. 359, 361, 187 N.W.2d 702, 704 (Minn.1971). The university’s “autonomy is derived from the principle of separation of powers.” Brenny v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Minn., 813 N.W.2d 417, 421 (Minn.App.2012).

In this case, the university’s denial of relators’ relocation benefits under the URA is a quasi-judicial decision. See Minn. Ctr. for Envtl. Advocacy v. Metro. Council, 587 N.W.2d 838, 842 (Minn.1999) (describing three factors that characterize quasi-judicial decisions); see also Maye v. Univ. of Minn., 615 N.W.2d 383, 386 (Minn.App.2000). Quasi-judicial decisions are characterized by “(1) investigation into a disputed claim and weighing of evidentia-ry facts; (2) application of those facts to a prescribed standard; and (3) a binding decision regarding the disputed claim.” Minn. Ctr. for Envtl. Advocacy, 587 N.W.2d at 842. Because the university is not subject to the Minnesota Administrative Procedures Act (MAPA), see Minn. Stat. § 14.03, subd. 1(f) (2010), certiorari is [729]*729the only method available for review of a university decision. Shaw v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. of Minn., 594 N.W.2d 187, 191 (Minn.App.1999), review denied (Minn. July 28, 1999).

Generally,

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817 N.W.2d 724, 2012 WL 2368987, 2012 Minn. App. LEXIS 56, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jensen-field-relocation-claims-jensen-field-inc-v-board-of-regents-minnctapp-2012.