Lyle E. Schneider, Paul S. Kurtz And Shirley J. Kurtz, Gene J. Peters, Sterling Tops, Inc., Robert W. Bonorden And Deann M. Bonorden, Gerald W. Petersen, Richard R. Kane And Debra K. Kane, Mark A. Doepke And Michelle L. Doepke, Gloria M. Knapp Freilinger, Rudy Busch D/b/a Rudy's Sales And Service, Paul R. Beem And Stacie L. Beem, David J. Fink And Deb Fink, Davik's Auto Body/denver Oil Company, Randall-mar

CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMay 21, 2010
Docket07–0887
StatusPublished

This text of Lyle E. Schneider, Paul S. Kurtz And Shirley J. Kurtz, Gene J. Peters, Sterling Tops, Inc., Robert W. Bonorden And Deann M. Bonorden, Gerald W. Petersen, Richard R. Kane And Debra K. Kane, Mark A. Doepke And Michelle L. Doepke, Gloria M. Knapp Freilinger, Rudy Busch D/b/a Rudy's Sales And Service, Paul R. Beem And Stacie L. Beem, David J. Fink And Deb Fink, Davik's Auto Body/denver Oil Company, Randall-mar (Lyle E. Schneider, Paul S. Kurtz And Shirley J. Kurtz, Gene J. Peters, Sterling Tops, Inc., Robert W. Bonorden And Deann M. Bonorden, Gerald W. Petersen, Richard R. Kane And Debra K. Kane, Mark A. Doepke And Michelle L. Doepke, Gloria M. Knapp Freilinger, Rudy Busch D/b/a Rudy's Sales And Service, Paul R. Beem And Stacie L. Beem, David J. Fink And Deb Fink, Davik's Auto Body/denver Oil Company, Randall-mar) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lyle E. Schneider, Paul S. Kurtz And Shirley J. Kurtz, Gene J. Peters, Sterling Tops, Inc., Robert W. Bonorden And Deann M. Bonorden, Gerald W. Petersen, Richard R. Kane And Debra K. Kane, Mark A. Doepke And Michelle L. Doepke, Gloria M. Knapp Freilinger, Rudy Busch D/b/a Rudy's Sales And Service, Paul R. Beem And Stacie L. Beem, David J. Fink And Deb Fink, Davik's Auto Body/denver Oil Company, Randall-mar, (iowa 2010).

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA No. 07–0887

Filed May 21, 2010

LYLE E. SCHNEIDER, PAUL S. KURTZ and SHIRLEY J. KURTZ, GENE J. PETERS, STERLING TOPS, INC., ROBERT W. BONORDEN and DEANN M. BONORDEN, GERALD W. PETERSEN, RICHARD R. KANE and DEBRA K. KANE, MARK A. DOEPKE and MICHELLE L. DOEPKE, GLORIA M. KNAPP FREILINGER, RUDY BUSCH d/b/a RUDY’S SALES AND SERVICE, PAUL R. BEEM and STACIE L. BEEM, DAVID J. FINK and DEB FINK, DAVIK'S AUTO BODY/DENVER OIL COMPANY, RANDALL-MARTA BENDER d/b/a BENDER ENTERPRISES, INC., TOMMIE BRETTMANN d/b/a DENVER MILL, BYRON D. DAVIS and JANE P. DAVIS, DAVIS FARM AND AUTO, INC., WILLIAM BUSS d/b/a DENVER CONSTRUCTION, INC., and MIKE WOOLDRIK, as Executor of the Estate of ROBERT WOOLDRIK,

Appellants,

vs.

STATE OF IOWA,

Appellee.

On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Bremer County, Stephen P.

Carroll, Judge.

Landowners appeal from a summary judgment in an action against

the State alleging negligent design and construction of a highway project

in a floodway. DECISION OF COURT OF APPEALS VACATED;

DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN

PART, AND REMANDED. 2

John J. Hines of Dutton, Braun, Staack, Hellman, P.L.C.,

Waterloo, for appellants.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Robin G. Formaker and

Richard E. Mull, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee. 3

HECHT, Justice.

Landowners sued the State of Iowa alleging its negligent design

and construction of a highway project caused a flood and resulting

damages. The State moved for summary judgment asserting statutory

immunities. The district court granted the motion, the landowners

appealed, and the court of appeals affirmed. On further review, we

conclude the defense of immunity for discretionary functions is not

available to the State under the circumstances of this case. We vacate

the decision of the court of appeals, affirm in part and reverse in part the

district court’s judgment, and remand for further proceedings.

I. Factual Background and Proceedings.

When viewed in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs, the

summary judgment record could establish the following facts. In the late

1980s, the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) developed a plan to

relocate a portion of Highway 63 to bypass the city of Denver, Iowa. The

plan called for the construction of a four-lane divided highway along the

west side of the city and a bridge spanning Quarter Section Run Creek, a

stream flowing through Denver. The original construction of the bypass

project commenced in 1993 and concluded in 1994.

In a flood insurance study commissioned by the city in 1990, the

creek was designated as a “regulatory floodway.” A floodway “ ‘is the

channel of a stream plus any adjacent flood plain areas that must be

kept free of encroachment so that [a] 100-year flood can be carried

without substantial increases in flood heights.’ ” 1 K & W Elec., Inc. v.

1Iowa law prohibits the erection, use, or maintenance of a structure, dam,

obstruction, deposit, or excavation in or on a floodway without a permit issued by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). See generally Iowa Code § 455B.275 (2009). (Because there have been no amendments to the relevant statutory provisons, all citations will be to the 2009 Iowa Code unless otherwise noted.) The DNR assists communities in developing and administering local floodplain management programs 4

State, 712 N.W.2d 107, 110 (Iowa 2006) (quoting 1984 Federal

Emergency Management Agency flood insurance study). The bridge and

related structures were designed to accommodate a 50-year flood event. 2

The new bridge, consisting of twin structures 168 feet in length, spanned

the creek, but not the entire floodway. The embankment constructed for

the roadway encroached upon the floodway and impeded the drainage of

water from it.

In May 1999, Denver experienced an extraordinary rain event and

resulting flood which damaged thirty-five homes and thirty-four

businesses. The intensity of the rain produced a volume of rainwater in

the floodway consistent with the magnitude of a 250-year flood. A

resource assessment and flood study undertaken by the United States

Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service

concluded the embankment constructed for the bypass “cut[] off a large

portion of the floodway,” causing water moving through it to “back up”

during the 1999 event. Computer models prepared for the study _____________________ and coordinates the National Flood Insurance Program. See National Flood Insurance Program Coordination/Local Floodplain Programs, http://www.iowadnr.gov/water/ floodplain/nfip.html. At the time the bridge and related embankment structures were designed, the DOT was not aware that the regulatory floodway had been designated.

2As the project was planned for construction just outside the city limits before the floodway was designated, the DOT sized the bridge to comply with a Q50 (50-year flood) standard. A higher Q100 (100-year flood) standard was typically used by the DOT when sizing bridges in flood insurance study areas and in other locations where the risk of high damage would be created for upstream businesses and homes. The State’s expert conceded the higher standard would have been utilized in the design of the bridge had it been designed for construction in a floodway, but noted the State did not learn the site had been designated as a floodway until after the bridge was built. The expert also acknowledged that if the State employees responsible for the design of the bridge had been aware the structure would be built in a floodway, applicable regulations would have required compliance with a Q100 standard. Under the Q100 standard, the bridge and related structures would have been designed to achieve a no- rise condition on insurable structures in Denver upstream from the bypass for a 100- year flood. In other words, the bridge would have been designed so that it would not cause insurable structures upstream from the bridge to experience an increase in the depth of floodwaters as a consequence of a 100-year flood event. 5

illustrated that the bypass structures increased the depth of the 1999

flood waters by as much as three feet in certain areas of the city and

caused flooding in a part of the city that would not have flooded but for

the construction of the bypass. The models also produced evidence

tending to prove the bridge and related structures would have caused

flood waters in a 100-year flood event to rise higher in some parts of

Denver upstream from the bridge than would have been the case had the

bridge and related structures not been placed in the floodway.

In the aftermath of the flood, the city formed a task force to explore

potential remedial measures to diminish the risk of future flooding.

Following a lengthy period of study and investigation of a range of

options, the State chose to redesign and extend the bridge. The

reconstruction of the bridge and the reconfiguration of the floodway in

2004 and 2005 modified the elevation of the floodway along the creek

and substantially enhanced the capacity of the floodway to convey water

away from the city. The summary judgment record includes testimony

and an affidavit of the State’s expert tending to prove the reconstruction

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Lyle E. Schneider, Paul S. Kurtz And Shirley J. Kurtz, Gene J. Peters, Sterling Tops, Inc., Robert W. Bonorden And Deann M. Bonorden, Gerald W. Petersen, Richard R. Kane And Debra K. Kane, Mark A. Doepke And Michelle L. Doepke, Gloria M. Knapp Freilinger, Rudy Busch D/b/a Rudy's Sales And Service, Paul R. Beem And Stacie L. Beem, David J. Fink And Deb Fink, Davik's Auto Body/denver Oil Company, Randall-mar, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lyle-e-schneider-paul-s-kurtz-and-shirley-j-kurtz-gene-j-peters-iowa-2010.