Wolfe v. City of D'Iberville

799 So. 2d 142, 2001 WL 1225063
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedOctober 16, 2001
Docket2000-CP-01295-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 799 So. 2d 142 (Wolfe v. City of D'Iberville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wolfe v. City of D'Iberville, 799 So. 2d 142, 2001 WL 1225063 (Mich. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

799 So.2d 142 (2001)

Leonard E. WOLFE, Appellant,
v.
The CITY OF D'IBERVILLE, A Municipal Corporation, Appellee.

No. 2000-CP-01295-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

October 16, 2001.

*143 Leonard Wolfe, Appellant, Pro Se.

Virginia L. Carothers Lococo, Diberville, Attorney for Appellee.

Before KING, P.J., BRIDGES, and IRVING, JJ.

BRIDGES, J., for the Court:

¶ 1. The original action that began this case was filed in 1996, when the D'Iberville Water and Sewer District (the District) sued Wolfe for payment of past due service charges which Wolfe claims he never owed. The justice court judge hearing the case ruled in favor of Wolfe and the District subsequently appealed that decision to the County Court of the Second Judicial District of Harrison County, Mississippi.

¶ 2. On March 7, 1997, a motion was filed to revive the case under the name of "City of D'Iberville," which had taken over the duties of the District by that time. An order was filed by the judge on March 11, 1997, and the case was revived. Following this occurrence, the City then filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss its case against Wolfe on May 29, 1997. The order for the dismissal was filed by the judge on June 2, 1997.

¶ 3. On the same day, Wolfe filed suit against the City in county court alleging that the City failed to connect his properties to the water and sewer lines and that he suffered extensive losses due to this failure. Shortly thereafter, Wolfe voluntarily dismissed his action because he failed to file a notice of claim as required by law. See Miss.Code Ann. § 11-46-11(1) (Supp.2000). Wolfe later filed a proper notice of claim, alerting the City that he intended to file suit against it. Wolfe went on to file his complaint against the City in the county court on January 22, 1999, arguing that the City wrongfully failed to connect his properties to the water and sewer lines due to his failure to pay certain fees which he claims he does *144 not owe. He asserts that he lost thousands of dollars in rent money and also incurred other financial losses. Additionally, Wolfe contends that he has undergone serious emotional distress because of his ongoing battle with the City.

¶ 4. The City filed a motion to dismiss, or in the alternative, for summary judgment, which was heard by the county court on May 7, 1999. In an order filed on July 29, 1999, the county court granted summary judgment to the City and dismissed Wolfe's cause of action against the City with prejudice. On August 24, 1999, Wolfe filed an appeal to the Circuit Court of the Second Judicial District of Harrison County. The circuit court adopted the findings of fact and conclusions of law set forth by the county court in its final judgment and affirmed the county court's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of the City, citing that it found no genuine issue of material fact to be disputed by the parties.

¶ 5. As well, the circuit court ruled that Wolfe's notice of appeal was untimely and thereby statutorily barred. Wolfe now appeals to this Court for relief claiming that summary judgment should not have been granted to the City and that he should be heard in court in a trial of this matter. He also asserts that he filed his appeal before the circuit court in a timely manner according to Rule 5.04 of the Uniform Rules of Circuit and County Court Practice.

FACTS

¶ 6. In January 1996, the D'Iberville Water and Sewer District enacted a municipal ordinance which required that all businesses and residences within the perimeters prescribed pay a minimum monthly payment to cover a debt service charge for the water and sewer lines being provided. The ordinance states that all residences and businesses within the set boundaries would be held liable for the fee, no matter whether they were connected to the water and sewer lines or not. In our instant case, however, Wolfe complains that he should never have been required to pay this service charge on his business, located on Gorenflo Road in D'Iberville, because it was not connected to the system and therefore, he was not a "user" as set out by the ordinance. Wolfe goes on to assert that he had an oral agreement with an employee of the District that he would not have to pay for this charge. However, there is nothing in the record to corroborate this declaration.

¶ 7. Wolfe did begin to pay water and sewer debt service charges for his property on Gorenflo Road in July 1988, but continually refused to pay the past due portion of these service charges that had accrued beginning in September 1986. The District's records show that, at the time that Wolfe started paying the monthly charges, the District applied those payments to his past due balance first. However, Wolfe never brought his account current by paying the complete balance, citing that he did not owe those charges before July 1988. Therefore, the District refused to connect Wolfe's business to the water and sewer lines until his account balance was settled.

¶ 8. Wolfe also has a dispute with the District regarding a separate piece of rental property on Racetrack Road in D'Iberville. Wolfe had paid a deposit and tap fee for that property in November 1993, and was to call the District when he wanted the installation of the taps performed. Upon his request that the taps finally be installed in August 1994, the District was forced to charge him the current prices for the materials and labor which were higher than when he paid his original deposit the year before. Wolfe refused to pay the overage, citing that he never received an *145 itemized list detailing exactly what the extra charges were for as he had requested. After this dispute, the current chairman of the District reached an agreement with Wolfe whereby his tap fees were reduced and Wolfe then paid those fees. Wolfe, however, is asserting that he suffered lost rents on the Racetrack Road property for the period of time in which he refused to pay what he claims were unsubstantiated charges.

¶ 9. Wolfe feels aggrieved that his properties were without the benefit of access to water and sewer lines set up by the District for a long period of time and therefore seeks relief in the form of money damages for lost rents and emotional suffering. Wolfe challenges that his appeal to the circuit court from county court was filed in a timely manner because he filed it within the thirty days required by Rule 5.04 of the URCCC. Wolfe contends that this rule supersedes Miss.Code Ann. § 11-51-79 (1972), which gives a complainant only ten days from the county court judgment to file a proper notice of appeal.

¶ 10. Wolfe cites absolutely no legal authority in support of any of his arguments against the City, which took over the duties of the District after its dissolution. On the other hand, the City cites various case law as framework for its claims and defenses, some relevant to our review, some not.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 11. This Court will conduct a de novo review on all cases before it where summary judgment has been granted. Gale v. Thomas, 759 So.2d 1150, 1152 (Miss.1999); Quinn v. Mississippi State University, 720 So.2d 843, 846 (Miss.1998). We review the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Gale, 759 So.2d at 1152; Palmer v. Biloxi Reg'l Med. Ctr., Inc., 564 So.2d 1346, 1354 (Miss.1990).

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Bluebook (online)
799 So. 2d 142, 2001 WL 1225063, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wolfe-v-city-of-diberville-missctapp-2001.