STATE OF TENNESSEE EX REL CLAUDE CAIN, ET AL. v. CITY OF CHURCH HILL, TENNESSEE (Tenn.Ct.App. September 30, 2008).
The State of Tennessee, proceeding on relation of six individuals and one entity (who, for ease of reference, will collectively be referred to as "the plaintiffs"), sought mandamus in 2002 to force the City of Church Hill ("the City") to extend a sewer line to the individuals' homes. The individuals are residents of a neighborhood in Hawkins County that was annexed by the City in 1988. They claim that the City failed to adhere to the plan of services adopted as part of the annexation process, and that the plaintiffs are therefore entitled to mandamus under Tenn. Code Ann. section 6-51-108 (2005). The plan of services adopted in 1988 states that "[a] sanitary sewer system will be provided as soon as economically feasible."
The trial court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment, finding that the long delay in installing a sewer system, which continued at the time of trial, was unreasonable, and that there were no disputed issues of material fact preventing the court from granting mandamus under section 6-51-108. However, the court ordered a trial on the issue of how quickly the City could reasonably install the sewer line. At the conclusion of this limited-purpose trial, the court ordered the City to extend sewer service to the plaintiffs within 16 months. The City appeals. We vacate the trial court's grant of summary judgment and remand for further proceedings.
Opinion may be found at the TBA website:
http://www.tba2.org/tba_files/TCA/2008/cainc_093008.pdf
"The City’s first issue on appeal is whether the trial court erred by applying Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-51-108 retroactively. The City argues that the general presumption against applying laws retroactively ... However, as the plaintiffs correctly point out, this presumption is reversed for statutes which are remedial or procedural in nature. Such statutes apply retrospectively ... unless the legislature indicates a contrary intention or immediate application would produce an unjust result. ... Accordingly, we conclude that the statute is applicable to this case." Id. (citations and quotations omitted).
"The trial court declared this provision “vague,” and on that basis, essentially replaced the phrase “as soon as economically feasible” with the phrase “within a reasonable time.” The court then concluded that an 18-year delay is “unreasonable.” In essence, the court held that the City materially and substantially failed to comply with a requirement that sewer service be provided within a reasonable time after annexation. But no such requirement ever existed, because that is not what the plan of services says." Id. (italics in original).
"[T]he sewer provision is the only portion of the plan of services that is wholly indefinite, hinging upon a contingency – economic feasibility – that may or may not occur. We must assume that the plan’s drafters intended the plain meaning of their words. We therefore conclude that this unique aspect of the sewer provision was not a coincidence, but rather reflected an intentional decision to refrain from promising sewer service with the same sort of unconditional language that was used for other matters elsewhere in the plan. Accordingly, the court erred when it interpreted this provision as an unconditional promise to provide server services within a “reasonable time.”" Id.
