Langdon v. Town of Webster

182 Misc. 2d 603, 698 N.Y.S.2d 393, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 451
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMay 12, 1999
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 182 Misc. 2d 603 (Langdon v. Town of Webster) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Langdon v. Town of Webster, 182 Misc. 2d 603, 698 N.Y.S.2d 393, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 451 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1999).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Kenneth R. Fisher, J.

In this taxpayer action brought under General Municipal Law § 51, plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment invalidating Webster Town Board Resolutions No. 87 and No. 88, the so-called enabling and funding resolutions, respectively. These resolutions authorized the conversion of the Town water districts to Monroe County Water Authority supply (the Village of Webster having been the previous supplier), and authorized the execution of a “[Construction and [r]etail Mease and [o]peration[s]” agreement between the Town, on behalf of its water districts, and the Water Authority. Defendants move to dismiss on the ground that a cause of action is not stated under General Municipal Law § 51. They point to cases holding that, although the statute is phrased in the disjunctive, “a showing of mere illegality is not enough” (Matter of Korn v Gulotta, 72 NY2d 363, 371, 371-372 [1988] [collecting cases]), and that the kind of conduct alleged here, being considerably more benign than the contemptuous conduct in defiance of a Federal court order reviewed in Duffy v Longo (207 AD2d 860 [2d Dept 1994]) which resulted in needless imposition of contempt fines payable out of the city treasury, but which was held outside the reach of the statute, is not cognizable under section 51.

Because both sides have submitted extensive evidence via affidavits and exhibits attached thereto and have thereby charted their course, the motion is considered as one for summary judgment. (See, Kirkpatrick v Diversified Sports, 216 AD2d 892 [4th Dept 1995]; Kulier v Harran Transp. Co., 189 AD2d 803 [2d Dept 1993].) Cross motions for a preliminary injunction were filed by plaintiffs, together with affidavits opposing the motion to dismiss.

Five causes of action are stated: in the first, plaintiffs allege that the resolutions were unlawful because they authorize [605]*605“non-proportionate” use of water fund monies for the replacement of the Sandbar Water Main when only some Town water districts will be benefitted thereby, and that other districts which contributed to the “water fund” will not be so benefitted. According to plaintiffs, the appropriation and funding resolution obligates all districts on bonds, and expends money contributed by all districts, when the enabling resolution failed to include all Town water districts in the Water Authority conversion. This conduct, plaintiffs say, violates Town Law §§ 202, 202-a, 202-b and 208.1

The second cause of action alleges that the enabling and funding resolutions were unlawful by reason of defective public notices. Plaintiffs allege that the notices themselves failed to detail which Town water districts were not then slated for conversion to Water Authority supply, and falsely implied that all Town water districts would be converted. This conduct, according to plaintiffs, violated Town Law § 198 (12) (a) and § 90.2

The third cause of action alleges that the contract between the Water Authority and the Town, executed by the Town Supervisor, was unlawful because it deviates from the enabling and funding resolutions; it contains two automatic renewal periods said to be in violation of the 40-year statutory limita-[606]*606tian of Town Law § 198 (12), and does not bear the signature of a majority of the Town Board as required by Town Law § 198 (11) . The deviation from the resolutions alleged is traced to plaintiffs’ premise that the public notices (which they contend misled residents to believe that all water districts would be connected) control the permissible scope of the actual resolutions passed by the Board, and that the agreement signed by the Supervisor did not slate all districts for conversion. Plaintiffs also contend that the renewal provisions are automatic, despite the notice of cancellation provisions, and therefore exceed the 40-year lease limit of Town Law § 198 (12) .3

In the fourth cause of action, plaintiffs allege that the appropriation of the surplus “water fund” and its transfer to the Water Authority was an illegal appropriation and unlawful gift of monies to the Water Authority prohibited by NY Constitution, article VIII, § 1. This cause of action is premised upon two State Comptroller opinions (1978 Opns St Comp No. 78-434 [June 26, 1978]; 1978 Opns St Comp No. 77-720 [Apr. 17, 1978]), one of which addressed Webster’s surplus “water fund” under Town Law § 208. That opinion held that any use of the surplus monies “must be for the general benefit of all the participating districts” (emphasis in original), not “solely for the benefit of one district.” (1978 Opns St Comp No. 78-434 [emphasis supplied].) The fourth cause of action also challenges the appropriation of Town funds in Resolution No. 61 to pay for legal services of the petitioners in two other actions: Matter of Briarwood Bldrs. v Shearer (index No. 97-5912) and Nesbitt & Santoro v Schreiber (index Nos. 98/2076, 2224, 2226-29, 2231-34, 2237, 2238), the latter of which is currently on appeal.4

[607]*607In the fifth cause of action, plaintiffs repeat their claim that the enabling resolution and agreement with the Water Authority is not a bona fide lease, but is instead a sale or gift of the Town water districts’ assets to the Authority without adequate consideration in violation of Town Law § 198 (12) (c), and NY Constitution, article VIII, § 1. Proceeding from the premise that the entire arrangement is a sale, plaintiffs assert that a de facto dissolution of the Town water districts will take place without the authorization of a mandatory referendum for the sale. The length of the term of the agreement, together with the discretion given to the Water Authority to make replacements and improvements at the Authority’s discretion and expense, is said to violate Town Law § 202-b.* ***5

DISCUSSION

Resolution of this motion for summary judgment does not require extended discussion. Defendants have met their initial burden to show that the underlying violations of statute [608]*608claimed by plaintiffs involve statutes which have no application to the arrangement here at issue. Defendants have developed, in the numerous affidavits filed in this and another proceeding, the Kujawa proceeding last year (attached to defendants’ moving papers and reply papers in this action), that the Town Board resolutions and agreement with the Water Authority are fully authorized by Town Law § 198 (12) (b) and § 197-a; that the arrangements are specifically contemplated by Public Authorities Law § 1096 (4); § 1096 (16); and § 1095 (4); that all the Town water districts currently in existence will be benefitted by the conversion, even if not immediately slated for Water Authority conversion; and that the expenditure of the surplus "water fund” for the conversion, and associated legal fees specifically authorized by Town Board resolutions to be paid (see, Murtha v Incorporated Vil. of Is. Park, 202 AD2d 650 [2d Dept 1994] [payment of legal fees pursuant to legislative act not covered by General Municipal Law § 51]), was lawful and in accordance with applicable law. Defendants’ motion is granted.

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Related

Langdon v. Town of Webster
270 A.D.2d 896 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2000)

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Bluebook (online)
182 Misc. 2d 603, 698 N.Y.S.2d 393, 1999 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 451, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/langdon-v-town-of-webster-nysupct-1999.