State of Florida Department of Transportation v. Amerada Hess Corp.

46 Fla. Supp. 2d 97
CourtCircuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida
DecidedMarch 4, 1991
DocketCase No. 86-C-652
StatusPublished

This text of 46 Fla. Supp. 2d 97 (State of Florida Department of Transportation v. Amerada Hess Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Circuit Court for the Judicial Circuits of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State of Florida Department of Transportation v. Amerada Hess Corp., 46 Fla. Supp. 2d 97 (Fla. Super. Ct. 1991).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

NANCY GILLIAM, Circuit Judge.

OPINION

The undersigned judge has considered the evidence and argument of counsel in the above captioned matter and rules as follows.

I. INTRODUCTION

The reformation and quiet title portions of this litigation came on for final hearing, without a jury, September 17, 18, 19 and 20, 1990, and January 7, 8, 9 and 10, 1991. In addition to the evidence and legal argument presented at the bifurcated hearing, the court has considered the oral and written argument of counsel submitted for the December 4, 1989, hearing on the motions for summary judgment, and has spent an additional five days in reviewing the exhibits and evidence, testimony, and legal argument of counsel.

In reaching this opinion which supports a partial final judgment to be later entered, the court has considered the following:

a) the pleadings;

b) testimony from the following Plaintiffs’ witnesses: Ronald Camley, Rollin Davis, Walter Robilard, and Roland Waller;

c) testimony from the following Defendants’ witnesses: Ben Henry Pooley, William E. Bums (by deposition), Mrs. Jesse McCurdy (by deposition), George Autrey Thomas, Jeroel Bray, James S. Shiver, Jesse Lee Golden, Neva Gomillion, Luquetta Whitfield, Fred Thompson, Jerry Aron, Joshua Morse, Laura Higdon (by deposition), Clyde Simmons (by deposition), and Joe Cresse (by deposition);

d) Plaintiffs’ exhibits, Defendants’ exhibits, and joint exhibits;

e) the Stipulation of Facts along with supplemental stipulation;

f) a view of the property in question;

g) legal argument of all counsel, written and oral, relating to the motions for summary judgment and prepared for trial;

h) as well as the statutory and case law.

[99]*99Due to the volume of material submitted for the summary judgment motions, the court reserved ruling on those motions. By proceeding to a final hearing on the quiet title and reformation issues, the motions for summary judgment become moot.

This law suit began as a two count complaint in accounting and conversion filed by the Florida Department of Transportation against Amerada Hess. Santa Rosa County was soon added as a party plaintiff. The granting of a motion for interpleader converted the Plaintiffs’ case into a quiet title action and added reformation and quiet title counts filed on behalf of the Defendants. There are approximately 125 third party defendants, some represented by counsel, some self represented, and some against whom clerk’s defaults have been entered. The third party defendants include those who assert royalty interests in the disputed land, overriding royalty interests, and working interests.

II. FINDINGS OF FACT

Between 1948 and 1954 the State Road Department, predecessor to the Department of Transportation, acquired land along Spring Street in Jay, Florida, through the use of quitclaim deeds. This land, which is subject to conflicting claims of the parties, is located under and just abutting the road in the Mary Dobbs Moore Well area in the Jay Oil Field in a 155 acre tract, called Tract 161, located in Section 41, Township 5 North, Range 29 West, in Santa Rosa County, Florida.

The grantors of the quitclaim deeds, those who owned property along Spring Street, wanted a hard top road built in front of their properties. The grantors and Santa Rosa County sought the assistance of the State Road Department in building the road. Representatives of the State Road Department advised they would build the road if the. property was obtained by the County and conveyed to the State. The earliest quitclaim deed was signed by grantor W. T. Jenkins on April 2, 1948, and the last quitclaim deed was signed on April 20, 1954, by Clyde M. and Erlene Simmons. Over the years between 1948 and 1954, various resolutions were passed by the Santa Rosa Board of County Commissioners and the State Road Department respecting their interests in constructing the road, with most of the activity occurring in 1953 and 1954.

Acting on behalf of Santa Rosa County, the local Justice of the Peace, J. L. Abbott, and Santa Rosa County Commissioner, J. F. Shell, went to each of the landowners along Spring Street to obtain quitclaim deeds. The quitclaim deeds signed by the grantors typically conveyed a five foot strip of land along side the existing right of way, although [100]*100several quitclaim deeds encompass land to the center of the road or smaller irregular strips.

At the time the quitclaim deeds were executed, there was no known discussion among any of the property owners or representatives of the governmental agencies regarding severance of mineral rights to the land conveyed to the State. The quitclaim deeds do not contain any words of limitation or reservation, reserving any mineral interests in the grantors. At that time, Spring Street was a dirt road, never having been previously paved, approximately 40 feet wide. Spring Street had previously been known by a variety of names and its predecessors were in existence prior to the Official United States Survey in 1832. From early on and continuing through the present day, the road and its predecessors have been used by the public.

On August 10, 1954, with all the rights of way having been obtained and conveyed to the State, a contract between Santa Rosa County and the State Road Department was executed leading to the construction of the road. Shortly thereafter, the contract for construction of the new road, to be titled State Road S-197, was entered into, and on June 30, 1955, work on the road was completed. That work consisted of widening, culverting, and hard topping the road.

After the Department of Transportation completed construction of the road, it was placed in the State Highway system and maintained by the Department of Transportation as a state highway until it was reclassified a county road in 1978. On September 12, 1978, all the State’s right, title and interest to the right of way land was transferred to Santa Rosa County in accordance with Florida Statutes § 337.29 (1977). Upon this functional reclassification, the road was designated as Santa Rosa County Road C-197. Since 1978, Santa Rosa County and the Town of Jay have maintained the road.

At some time in the 1960’s, Mr. William Moncrief, among others, began to secure mineral leases from the owners of real property in Santa Rosa County to drill for minerals under the property along the road. In 1970, Exxon drilled the first successful exploratory well in Santa Rosa County. On July 1, 1972, some of the Defendants entered into an operating agreement, which was soon amended to provide for accounting procedures for joint operations. On July 5, 1972, the Florida Department of Natural Resources approved drilling the Mary Dobbs Moore Well, and Amerada Hess started drilling this well on July 13, 1972. The well area encompasses some of the road and all of the parcels, subtracts and property subject to this litigation. The area was incorporated into a unitized field in 1974 with Amerada Hess as [101]*101the subunit operator. No mineral leases were ever acquired from the State of Florida or the Department of Transportation concerning the oil beneath the road or relating to the production of oil, gas and minerals from the property. The property under litigation is between approximately 2.150 and 2.180 acres of real property.

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Bluebook (online)
46 Fla. Supp. 2d 97, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-of-florida-department-of-transportation-v-amerada-hess-corp-flacirct-1991.