Ross County Water Company, Inc v. City of Chillicothe

666 F.3d 391, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 23764, 2011 WL 5965839
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit·Decided November 30, 2011·No. 10-3422·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

OPINION

JANE ROTH, Circuit Judge.

This appeal involves a dispute between the Ross County Water Company (RCWC) and the City of Chillicothe. Chillicothe appeals the Southern District of Ohio’s Order granting RCWC’s motion for summary judgment and denying Chillieothe’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Chillicothe contends the district court erred in holding that (1) RCWC is entitled to protection under 7 U.S.C. § 1926(b), (2) RCWC did not violate the doctrine of unclean hands, (3) the Tenth Amendment has not been violated as applied to the facts of this case, and (4) RCWC was entitled to attorneys’ fees. For the reasons expressed below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

I. Background

A. Parties

RCWC is a non-profit, member-owned, water company incorporated in 1970 under Ohio Revised Code § 1702 et seq. to provide safe and potable water service to the rural areas of Ross County, Ohio. Its members are limited to those who are the record owners of the property served by the water company and to whom the com- *394 pan/s board of trustees has issued a certificate of membership. RCWC serves nearly 13,000 residential and business customers through approximately one thousand miles of pipeline. To finance the construction, maintenance, and extension of its water works system, RCWC borrowed nearly $10.6 million from the United States Department of Agriculture.

Chillicothe is a statutory city governed by the Ohio Constitution and organized pursuant to Ohio Revised Code Title 7.

B. The Disputed Area

The disputed area is located in Green Township, an unincorporated area of Ross County approximately two miles north of Chillicothe’s municipal boundaries. The area’s western boundary is marked by Route 23, with the 207 Connector at its northern perimeter, Classic Brands at its southern perimeter, and properties adjacent to Hospital Road at its eastern perimeter. Delano Road runs east to west, bisecting the disputed area. Six parcels of land are either within or adjacent to the disputed property: Classic Brands, Adena Medical Center, an abandoned freight company, the Dr. Cosenza Property, the Warner Property, and the Cloverleaf Property. Classic Brands is located at the southernmost boundary of the disputed area. Chillicothe provides water service to Classic Brands; RCWC does not — nor has it ever intended to — provide water service to Classic Brands. Adena Medical Center is located immediately south of Classic Brands. Chillicothe provides water service to Adena Medical Center; RCWC does not — nor has it ever intended to— provide water service to Adena Medical Center. An abandoned freight company is located within the disputed area. It is adjacent to and immediately north of Classic Brands. The Dr. Cosenza Property, also located within the disputed area, is immediately north of the abandoned freight company. Although it is bisected by Route 23 and, therefore, lies on both the eastern and western sides of the road, the Warner Property is identified in county records as one parcel of land. This 72-plus acre property runs south to north along Hospital Road to Delano Road. RCWC has provided water service to the western side of the Warner Property since the mid-1970’s. It has not, however, provided water service to the eastern side of the property, which is located within the disputed area. East of Hospital Road and north of Delano Road is the Cloverleaf Property. The Cloverleaf Development Corporation (Cloverleaf) purchased a portion of this property from Tecumseh Mobile Home Park (Tecumseh), a former customer of RCWC. After acquiring the land, Cloverleaf granted RCWC an easement in February 2003 to move an existing water tap to a new location, further north along Hospital Road, on the property.

C. Waterlines

1. RCWC’s Waterlines

In 1974, RCWC installed a ten-inch water pipe, or “waterline,” running east to west slightly north of Delano Road. This line bisects the disputed area. The ten-inch line enabled RCWC to provide water service to Tecumseh. On November 8, 2000, Tecumseh applied for water service and granted RCWC easements to install additional waterlines on the property. In 2003, Cloverleaf purchased the Tecumseh property and subsequently entered into a water service agreement with RCWC, whereby RCWC would supply water to additional Cloverleaf properties running north of Delano Road along Hospital Road approximately 1,500 feet. Cloverleaf also granted RCWC easement rights to install a sixteen-inch waterline alongside the ten-inch line to serve as a backup line, as well *395 as a future transmission line intended to run north-south along the proposed Hospital Road north of Delano Road. The sixteen-inch line was installed in 2003.

In addition to the Delano Road line, RCWC constructed a six-inch waterline on the west side of Route 23 in 1975. Consistent with plans developed in the mid-1970s, this waterline enabled RCWC to provide water service to properties on the east side of Route 23 by boring underneath the highway. This line serviced an abandoned freight company, the Dr. Cosenza Property, and the Warner Property until an eight-inch line running north-south from Delano Road along Hospital Road to just north of Classic Brands was installed by RCWC in June 2008 to loop its distribution system. Given the prospect of boring underneath the highway multiple times to meet growing customer demand on the east side of Route 23, RCWC determined it would be more economical to install this eight-inch line on the east side of Route 23.

On July 16, 2008, Cloverleaf entered into a new water provision agreement with RCWC and granted the association another easement to install waterlines through a parcel of its property located at the northernmost portion of the disputed area. RCWC immediately began constructing an eight-inch waterline at the intersection of Delano and Hospital Roads in a south-north direction to connect to the existing line at the northernmost point of the Route 207 Connector. The District Court ordered RCWC to temporarily cease construction and tapping of this line in August 2008, but later permitted RCWC to continue its work on the line, which has since been completed.

2. Chillicothe’s Waterlines

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Ross County Water Company, Inc v. City of Chillicothe, 666 F.3d 391, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 23764, 2011 WL 5965839 (6th Cir. 2011).

666 F.3d 391 (Ross County Water Company, Inc v. City of Chillicothe) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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