Village of Crotty v. Domm

170 N.E. 308, 338 Ill. 228
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 21, 1930
DocketNo. 19845. Judgment affirmed.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 170 N.E. 308 (Village of Crotty v. Domm) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Village of Crotty v. Domm, 170 N.E. 308, 338 Ill. 228 (Ill. 1930).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Stone

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal by certain objectors in a local improvement proceeding in the county court of LaSalle county for the improvement of Main street, in the village of Crotty, in said county, by paving, curbing and constructing sewers and sidewalks in and along said street.

Appellants have raised and argued in this court seven points on which they seek reversal of the judgment: (1) That the board of local improvements did not transcribe into its records a resolution descriptive of the improvement ; (2) the improvement ordinance was not recommended ; (3) all proceedings in the county court were void, as they were inaugurated before the ordinance went into effect; (4) the village did not comply with the requirement of the statute that the ordinance ordering the street improvement remain on file with the village clerk for public inspection at least one week before its final passage; (5) that the ordinance did not provide for the assessment of the sum of $1257.72 as costs of engineering and inspection, as provided in the estimate, and the amount of the total cost was therefore by that amount excessive; (6) appellant Gagé, who originally objected only that a prior proceeding was pending for a like improvement, was denied the right to file further objections after his original objection was overruled, and both the overruling of such objection and the denial of the right to file additional objections are urged as error; (7) the ordinance was not in force because it was not recorded at the time of the filing of the petition.

As to the first objection, appellants contend that the resolution transcribed into the records of the board of local improvements failed to describe the improvement so that property owners at the hearing would be informed of the nature, character and description of the improvement or that an engineer would be able to make an intelligent estimate of the cost. It is said that the resolution merely informed the property owners that an improvement of Main street is contemplated which embraced paving, sewering, changing the sidewalks, curbing, extending sewers, grades and widths of streets, and refers to the maps and plans for information as to where such changes are to be made and also for all definite information concerning the improvement. It is argued that under section 7 of the Local Improvement act the original resolution must be at once transcribed into the records of the board of local improvements, and where a map and plans are part of such resolution, failure to transcribe them into such records renders the proceedings void. The abstract filed in this case fails to point out the essential portions of the resolution showing the matters omitted therefrom and contained in maps, plans and specifications. It has long been a settled rule in this court that the court will not examine the record to find grounds of reversing the judgment entered, but failure to abstract parts of the record essential to the objection urged will be deemed a waiver of such objection. Inman v. Miller, 234 Ill. 356.

In support of the second objection, — i. e., that the ordinance was not recommended, — it is contended that at the close of petitioner’s case the record herein disclosed no recommendation of the improvement by the board of local improvements, and that while that board, after the peti•tioner had closed its case, held a meeting for the purpose of supplying the deficiency of the record and adopted a resolution correcting the minutes of the final meeting of the board on the matter so as to show such recommendation, this did not cure the deficiency. There was attached to the petition filed in this case a certified copy of the original ordinance, estimate of the engineers and the recommendation of the board of local improvements, which had been transmitted to the city council with the ordinance recommending its adoption. This original ordinance and recommendation of the board of local improvements is in evidence. It appears, also, that through oversight on the part of the clerk of the board of local improvements the transcription-of the recommendation of that board was omitted. Upon discovery of this fact on the trial the board met and corrected their record. This they had a right to do. A collective body having a clerk employed to keep its records has control of such records and such clerk and may direct the amendment thereof by the clerk to speak the truth even if the records have already been approved. The right to make such an amendment is common to legislative and collective bodies generally. (People v. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway Co. 271 Ill. 195; People v. Zellar, 224 id. 408; Ryder Estate v. City of Alton, 175 id. 94.) It is not contended that the recommendation of the board was not adopted or that such resolution was not on file in the office of the board of local improvements. This objection cannot be sustained.

It is urged as the third objection that the proceedings were invalid because they were inaugurated before the ordinance authorizing the same went into effect. In support of this point counsel refers to section 48 of the Commission Form of Government act, which act the village of Grotty has adopted, providing that “no ordinance passed by the council * * * shall go into effect before thirty days from the time of its final passage,” excepting from such provision ordinances for the preservation of public peace, health or safety which contain a statement of urgency and those ordinances which the general laws of the State or the Commission Form of Government act provide shall go into effect otherwise. It appears that in this case the petition for this improvement was filed four days after the ordinance was adopted and filed for record. In City of Ottawa v. Hulse, 317 Ill. 276, it was held that section 33 of the Commission Form of Municipal Government act, providing that every ordinance ordering a street improvement or sewer shall remain on file with the city clerk for public inspection, complete in form, at least one week before its adoption, applies to an ordinance passed by the city or village council of a city or village under the Commission-Form of Government act for the purpose of ordering a local improvement under the Local Improvement act. In City of Dallas City v. Steingraber, 321 Ill. 318, section 48 of the Commission Form of Municipal Government act was considered, and it was held that the legislature did not intend certain provisions of that section to apply to ordinances authorizing improvements under the Local Improvement act; The specific objection to the section considered was its provision that if at any time during the thirty days following the adoption of the ordinance a petition signed by a certain number of the electors of the city or village protesting against the passing of such ordinance is presented to the council the ordinance shall be suspended from going into operation until it is reconsidered by the council, and if not entirely repealed the same shall be submitted to a referendum. Counsel for appellants argues that the Steingraber case is not conclusive of the point here, for the reason that the objection does not relate to a referendum but is that by reason of section 48 the ordinance did not go into effect for thirty days. It is evident that in providing a period of thirty days during which the ordinance does not go into effect the purpose is to give an opportunity for such protest and call for referendum.

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Bluebook (online)
170 N.E. 308, 338 Ill. 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/village-of-crotty-v-domm-ill-1930.