Noble v. City of Des Moines

191 Iowa 12
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedOctober 2, 1919
StatusPublished

This text of 191 Iowa 12 (Noble v. City of Des Moines) 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
Noble v. City of Des Moines, 191 Iowa 12 (iowa 1919).

Opinion

PREston, J.

It appears that Kingman Boulevard is a residence street in the northwest part of Des Moines, running east and west from Cottage Grove Avenue to Forty-fifth Street. It is 56 feet wide. A curbed strip 20 feet wide in the middle of the street is reserved for park purposes, leaving 18 feet on each side of the reserved strip. The street in question was paved originally about 1908, with an asphalt surface on a concrete base. By a new or amended resolution of necessity, four or five blocks were omitted, so that this case concerns property between Twenty-fifth Street and Thirty-first Street. In the spring of 1915, the original paving had become worn in places, and in need of repairs, and the council passed resolutions- for repairs by patching, as hereinafter stated. A part of the entire top surface was removed, and repaired by a new surface, but this was not done the entire distance. There was no change or repair in the concrete foundation; only the old surface was taken off, down to the concrete. The amended resolution was passed May 19, 1915, and readopted May 26, 1915. May 19, 1915, was fixed by the council as a time for considering objections to said proposed resolution; but no objections were filed. The contract was let May 26, 1915. Bids were advertised for in accordance with the resolution, and the contract let and the work begun. Some of the property owners made what appellants call informal, verbal objections, as the work progressed. As to the character of such objections, one witness says that he had some talk with the parties engaged in the work; that there were some workmen there with their tools, picking up the boulevard at Twenty-fifth Street, and he asked them what they were going do do, and they said they were going to repair it. Another witness says that, while the work was being done, he had a talk with the overseer on the job, who was boss of the tearing-up .gang; that, when they [14]*14commenced the work, he went out and asked them what they were calculating to do, and made objections, then telephoned down to the city hall concerning it; that, when witness was talking with the' overseer, and was objecting, the overseer said that the paving was worn out, and witness told him that he was mistaken. Witness concedes, however, that, as he puts it, there were a few bad places. We are referred to the testimony of three or four other witnesses who made objections., but those stated are illustrative. After the work was completed, notice was given of the proposed plat and schedule of assessments, and the time fixed; whereupon appellants filed written objections in the office of the clerk. The objections were overruled, and the plat and schedule of assessments were approved and confirmed. Then followed the appeal to the district court.

1. JyLuNIOIPAD COiv-fie^mprOT-ements-repairs. 1. This case was inaugurated at about the same time as the case of Ellyson v. City of Des Moines, 179 Iowa 882. The facts and issues are very similar. A considerable part of the argument in this case is devoted to the form of the resolu-^on o:*- necessity; contract, etc., in that such documents provide for repairing by patching; and the claim is that this was not done, for that the paving was resurfaced. Different claims are made and based on this fact. One claim is that there was no jurisdiction, and that the assessments are, therefore, void. Another claim is that the contractor, by resurfacing, abandoned the contract, and that there was not a substantial compliance with the contract and the resolutions of necessity, the notice, etc., and that, therefore, the council should not have made the assessments. Another claim is that because of the resurfacing instead of patching, and the alleged abandonment of the contract, and the use of inferior materials, and the negligence of the city officers, there was fraud on the part of the contractor, the mayor, and substantially all the city officers, and the council. All these questions, except the question of fraud, were considered and determined in the Ellyson case, and against the contention of appellants; and as to all such questions we adhere to the ruling in the Ellyson case, and we think it is controlling on nearly all the questions now presented.

It is thought by appellants that the Ellyson case is not controlling, because that case was an injunction case, and the instant [15]*15case is an appeal to the district court from the action of the city council in making the assessment. But the precise question was. made there, as here, that, because of* the form of the resolutions of necessity, the contract, etc., the action of the council in making the assessment was entirely void, so that injunction would lie. The opinion in the Ellyson case recites that the pivotal point in the case was whether the proceedings of the council were void. It is claimed in this case that, for the same reason, the proceedings were void, and that, therefore, the city council was without jurisdiction to make the assessment. The case of Fuchs v. City of Cedar Rapids, 158 Iowa 392, and other cases, are cited and relied upon by appellants as to the distinction between resurfacing or reconstruction and repairs by patching; but, as pointed out in the Ellyson case, there has been a change in the statute since the determination of the Fuchs case. Since the- form of the resolution of necessity, contract, etc., and the record, are the same in this case as in the Ellyson case, we shall not set out the record herein, and we shall attempt to abbreviate this opinion as much as may be, as to the points covered by the Ellyson case.

The city council had the power to pass such resolutions as were passed, and, as pointed out in the Ellyson case, even though the work was not done precisely’ in accordance with, the resolutions, this does not defeat jurisdiction. Under our prior holding, and under the record in this case, it is shown without dispute that every necessary jurisdictional step was taken by the council. It may be, as contended by appellants, that a resolution to build a sewer would not justify the work of paving thereunder; but that is not the situation here, as pointed out in the Ellyson ease.

' pobatiohs: as-fits: changing assessments. 2. There are one or two other points argued by appellant which were not in the Ellyson case. One of these is that, under Code Section 839, the district court, on appeal from the action of a city council, approving an assessment, has full jurisdiction, and the power to determine all questions touching the validity oi such assess- , . *¶ , , i p ■* . ¶ -¶ ment, or the amount thereoi ,• also, to make such assessment as should have been made, or direct the making of such assessment by the council. They cite Early v. City of Fort Dodge, 136 Iowa 187, where the assessment was reduced on ap[16]*16peal. They cite, also, Clifton Land Co. v. City of Des Moines, 144 Iowa 625.

Appellees do not dispute this legal proposition. We are not quite sure that we understand just what appellants’ claim is as to this. We do understand, and appellants state clearly, that they claim that the assessments are entirely void, and that, therefore, no assessment should have been made. If this is all there is to it, then we have no question but that the district court, or this court now, could, under the statute and authorities, determine all questions touching the validity thereof, and set it aside entirely, if, under the record and law, that would be justified.

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Related

Early v. City of Ft. Dodge
113 N.W. 766 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1907)
Clifton Land Co. v. City of Des Moines
123 N.W. 340 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1909)
Fuchs v. City of Cedar Rapids
158 Iowa 392 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1913)
Atkinson v. City of Webster City
177 Iowa 659 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1916)
Ellyson v. City of Des Moines
179 Iowa 882 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1917)

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Bluebook (online)
191 Iowa 12, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/noble-v-city-of-des-moines-iowa-1919.