Missouri Department of Transportation ex rel. on Point Contractors, LLC v. Aura Contracting, LLC

391 S.W.3d 11, 2012 WL 5907471, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 1487
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 27, 2012
DocketNo. ED 98458
StatusPublished

This text of 391 S.W.3d 11 (Missouri Department of Transportation ex rel. on Point Contractors, LLC v. Aura Contracting, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Missouri Department of Transportation ex rel. on Point Contractors, LLC v. Aura Contracting, LLC, 391 S.W.3d 11, 2012 WL 5907471, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 1487 (Mo. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

SHERRI B. SULLIVAN, J.

Introduction

On Point Contractors, LLC (Appellant) appeals from the judgment of the trial court granting Western Surety Company’s (Western Surety) motion for summary judgment on Counts III and IV of Appellant’s petition which asserted a statutory payment bond claim based upon Sections 107.1701 and 522.300 and a claim of vexatious refusal to pay, respectively, and Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission’s (MHTC) motion to dismiss Count V of Appellant’s petition which pled in the alternative from Counts III and IV that MHTC failed to require a statutory payment bond from Aura Contracting, LLC (Aura) that was in compliance with Section 107.170. We affirm.

Factual and Procedural Background

Pace-Creve Coeur Associates, LLC (Pace) is the owner or beneficiary of a private commercial development project (Project) adjacent to Olive Boulevard. Pace is also the owner of the property on which the Project is proceeding. Pace has a construction contract with Aura as its construction contractor for the Project. Because the Project necessitated inciden.tal work upon and within a public right of way, Pace had to obtain a Permit For Work On Right Of Way (Right of Way Permit) from MHTC, which it did on July 22, 2010. On August 12, 2010, Aura contracted with Appellant as its subcontractor to install storm pipe and structures along Olive Blvd. This subcontract provided specifically that Appellant was providing services pursuant to the prime contract between Aura as Contractor and Pace as Owner, and made no indication that Appellant was performing its services for any public entity, including MHTC.

As required by the Right of Way Permit, Aura obtained a Surety Bond (Permit Surety Bond) issued by Western Surety on behalf of Aura and in favor of MHTC.

After their work was completed, some suppliers and subcontractors of Aura, other than Appellant, filed mechanic’s liens against the property owned by Pace for nonpayment. Although it was not paid either, Appellant did not file a mechanic’s lien. Rather, Appellant subsequently filed a lawsuit against MHTC (Count V) and Western Surety (Count III) demanding payment based upon the Permit Surety Bond purportedly being a Section 107.170/522.300 statutory payment bond, or alternatively that it should have been such a statutory payment bond; and against Western Surety for vexatious refusal to pay (Count IV). MHTC and Western Surety maintained in their respective motions to dismiss and for summary judgment that Western Surety did not issue such a Section 107.170/522.300 statutory payment bond, but rather a Permit Surety Bond. Appellant argues the Permit Surety Bond that Western Surety issued on behalf of Aura and in favor of MHTC should be read as a statutory payment bond under Sections 107.170 and 522.300. The trial court agreed with Western Surety and MHTC and sustained Western Surety’s motion for summary [14]*14judgment on Counts III and IV against it and granted MHTC’s motion to dismiss Count V against it on March 6, 2012. This appeal follows.

Point on Appeal

In its point on appeal, Appellant maintains the trial court erred in granting Western Surety’s motion for summary judgment and MHTC’s motion to dismiss based on its failure to find that the Right of Way Permit issued to Aura by MHTC was not a contract for public works thereby making the Permit Surety Bond issued pursuant to it by Western Surety on behalf of Aura and in favor of MHTC a Section 107.170 statutory payment bond.

Standard of Review

Our review of the trial court’s grant of summary judgment is essentially de novo. THF Chesterfield North Development L.L.C. v. City of Chesterfield, 106 S.W.3d 13, 16 (Mo.App. E.D.2003). The propriety of summary judgment is purely an issue of law. Id. We need not defer to the trial court’s order, as its judgment is founded on the record submitted and the law. Id. The criteria on appeal for testing the propriety of summary judgment are no different from those which should be used by the trial court to determine the propriety of sustaining the motion initially. Id.

Our review of a trial court’s grant of a motion to dismiss is also de novo. Thomas v. A.G. Elec., Inc., 304 S.W.3d 179, 182 (Mo.App. E.D.2009). A motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action is solely a test of the adequacy of the plaintiffs petition. Id. A petition cannot be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of the claim that would give a right to relief. Id. at 183.

Discussion — Public Works Bond Statutes

Sections 107.170 and 522.300 are public works bonds statutes. Section 107.170, denominated “Bonds of public works contractors — indemnification of public officers and employees,” provides in pertinent part:

1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
(1) “Contractor”, a person or business entity who provides construction services under contract to a public entity.
(2) “Public entity”, any official, board, commission or agency of this state or any county, city, town, township, school, road district or other political subdivision of this state;
(3) “Public works”, the erection, construction, alteration, repair or improvement of any building, road, street, public utility or other public facility owned by the public entity.
2. It is hereby made the duty of all public entities in this state, in making contracts for public works, the cost of which is estimated to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars, to be performed for the public entity, to require every contractor for such work to furnish to the public entity, a bond with good and sufficient sureties, in an amount fixed by the public entity, and such bond, among other conditions, shall be conditioned for the payment of any and all materials, incorporated, consumed or used in connection with the construction of such work, and all insurance premiums, both for compensation, and for all other kinds of insurance, said work, and for all labor performed in such work whether by subcontractor or otherwise.

Contractors on a public works project are required to obtain bonds that assure payment of wages earned by their workers and workers employed by subcontractors. Thomas, 304 S.W.3d at 184. The pertinent requirements are set forth [15]*15in the general public works bond statute, Section 107.170. Id. The public works bond statute mandates that contractors, to whom a contract for a public works project is awarded, furnish the public entity awarding the contract a bond with good and sufficient sureties. Thomas, 304 S.W.3d at 184; Section 107.170.2. “ ‘Such bond, among other conditions, shall be conditioned for the payment of any and all materials, incorporated, consumed or used in connection with the construction of such work, and all insurance premiums, both for compensation, and for all other kinds of insurance, said work, and for all labor performed in such work whether by subcontractor or otherwise.’ ” Thomas, 304 S.W.3d at 184, quoting Section 107.170.2.

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Bluebook (online)
391 S.W.3d 11, 2012 WL 5907471, 2012 Mo. App. LEXIS 1487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/missouri-department-of-transportation-ex-rel-on-point-contractors-llc-v-moctapp-2012.