St. Louis Air Cargo Services, Inc. v. City of St. Louis

929 S.W.2d 821, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1257, 1996 WL 399834
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJuly 16, 1996
DocketNo. 69098
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 929 S.W.2d 821 (St. Louis Air Cargo Services, Inc. v. City of St. Louis) 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
St. Louis Air Cargo Services, Inc. v. City of St. Louis, 929 S.W.2d 821, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1257, 1996 WL 399834 (Mo. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

SIMON, Judge.

St. Louis Air Cargo Services, Inc. (SLACS), appeals the granting of summary judgment in favor of City of St. Louis (City), in an action for breach of warranty and breach of contract, involving the construction and lease of an air cargo facility at Lambert St. Louis International Airport (Lambert).

In its first point on appeal, SLACS contends that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of City because: 1) the undisputed facts establish, as a matter of law, that SLACS has a cause of action against City for breach of warranty; and 2) the written lease between the parties is ambiguous and the undisputed facts do not entitle City to judgment as a matter of law. We reverse.

When considering appeals from summary judgments, we review the record in the light most favorable to the party against whom judgment was entered. ITT Commercial Finance v. Mid-Am. Marine, 854 S.W.2d 371, 376[1 — 3] (Mo.banc 1993). However, summary judgment is proper where the movant demonstrates that there is no genuine dispute as to a material fact and that the mov-ant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Id. at 380-381. If the movant meets this burden, the non-movant may not rest upon the mere allegations or denials of his pleading, but his response, by affidavits or as otherwise provided in Rule 74.04, shall set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Id.; Rule 74.04(e).

The record reveals that City is the owner and operator of Lambert. From mid-1986 until April, 1987, City, by and through its Director of Airports, Colonel Leonard L. Griggs (Griggs) and his successor General Donald W. Bennett (Bennett), entered into discussions with SLACS regarding SLACS’ possible construction and operation of a state-of-the-art air cargo facility at Lambert. During the discussions, City represented to SLACS that, if SLACS would finance, build and operate an adequate facility, City would [824]*824centralize and consolidate all of the air cargo activities at Lambert into the new facility upon its completion. Thereafter, on April 1, 1987, SLACS entered into a written Ground Lease and Agreement (Lease) by which SLACS leased approximately 30 acres of unimproved land from City to construct the facility. The record does not reveal who prepared the Lease. However, the record does indicate that exhibit B to the Lease, which shows all air cargo carriers as tenants of SLACS’ facility, was prepared by SLACS.

Subsequently, Bennett and General Floyd Hargrove (Hargrove), Deputy Director of Airports, continued to represent to SLACS that if SLACS would proceed with the construction of the facility at its expense, all of the air cargo activities would be consolidated into the facility, as previously represented. SLACS completed the facility and it became operational in September, 1989. The cost of the new facility was in excess of fifteen million dollars. Since the completion of the new facility, City has not consolidated the air cargo traffic, and allows other tenants at Lambert to compete with SLACS.

On July 28, 1994, SLACS filed a three-count petition against City seeking recovery on the basis of promissory estoppel (Count I), breach of warranty (Count II), and breach of contract (Count III). In Count I, SLACS alleged that it reasonably relied upon the representations of City in calculating the cost of the facility, and as a result of City’s failure to consolidate the air cargo activities into SLACS’ facility, SLACS suffered damages.

In Count II, SLACS alleged that in reliance upon City’s representations, it contracted with City to build the facility at its expense, that it relied upon the representations in calculating its costs and return on its investment and ability to service the required debt, that City’s representations were of a material fact and false, that it reasonably relied upon said representations and has suffered damages as a result. In Count III, SLACS alleged that the Lease between the parties required City to consolidate the air cargo business into its facility, that it has performed all obligations imposed upon it, that City has breached the Lease by failing to consolidate the air cargo business, and that said refusal constitutes a material breach of the Lease resulting in damages to SLACS.

City filed an answer denying the substantive allegations of SLACS’ first amended petition. Further responding, City pled fifteen affirmative defenses: 1) the written Lease does not contain the alleged representations of City; 2) the Lease prohibits exclusive rights; 3) the Lease is subordinate to federal agreements; 4) the alleged representations of City violate the statute of frauds; 5) prior representations were merged into the Lease; 6) the Lease requires amendments to be in writing; 7) lack of consideration; 8) City’s alleged promises were illegal and void by virtue of § 416.031 RSMo.1994; 9) City’s alleged promises are void as they are in violation of Art. Ill, § 40(28) of the Missouri Constitution; 10) the alleged promises are void because they are in violation of § 3.08 of the Federal Aviation Act, 49 U.S.C. Appx. § 1349; 11) SLACS’ damages are not caused by the alleged promises; 12) SLACS defrauded City because SLACS promised to obtain agreements from all cargo carriers to consolidate cargo business into SLACS’ facility, but failed to do so; 13) SLACS failed to perform its agreement to obtain all the cargo business; 14) SLACS’ Count II is barred by sovereign immunity, § 537.600 RSMo.1994; and 15) the alleged promises of City’s representatives were ultra vires. City also filed a multi-count counterclaim against SLACS, alleging in Count I that SLACS is in violation of the Missouri Antitrust Act, § 416.031 RSMo.1994, while Counts II and III were declaratory judgment actions seeking to have the rights of the parties determined under the Lease. Replying, SLACS denied the affirmative defenses of City, and essentially denied the substantive allegations.

Thereafter, City filed a motion for summary judgment. Later, City filed an amended motion for summary judgment, or in the alternative, a stay of proceedings based on SLACS’ filing of a formal complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration. The following facts contained in the motion for summary judgment are undisputed by SLACS: 1) SLACS and City entered into the Lease, and exhibit B to the Lease is a one-page [825]*825diagram showing all air cargo carriers at Lambert as tenants of SLACS’ facility; 2) Griggs was replaced by Bennett on March 23, 1987 as the Director of Airports, and Hargrove assumed the position of Deputy Director of Airports in September, 1989. The positions of Director of Airports and Deputy Director of Airports are civil service classifications within the City of St.

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Bluebook (online)
929 S.W.2d 821, 1996 Mo. App. LEXIS 1257, 1996 WL 399834, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-louis-air-cargo-services-inc-v-city-of-st-louis-moctapp-1996.