Ames v. Bd. of Educ. of Montclair

• Decision Date: 02 January 1925
• Parties: AMES v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF MONTCLAIR et al.
• Court: New Jersey Court of Chancery

127 A. 95

AMES

v. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF MONTCLAIR et al.

Court of Chancery of New Jersey.

Jan. 2, 1925.

Suit by William Whitney Ames against the Board of Education of Montclair and Wayne M. French for specific performance of contract to sell land. Bill dismissed.

Charles Jones, of Newark, for complainant.

Robert M. Boyd, Jr., of Montclair, and Theodore J. Badgley, of Newark, for defendants.

BACKES, V. C. This bill is for the specific performance of a contract to sell land. The Montclair board of education, April 24, 1923, passed the following resolution:

"Mr. McKinney moved that this property [the land involved in this suit] be offered for sale at private sale to any purchaser who may offer at least the price of $20,260, and that it should be sold subject to restrictions and present incumbrances, and subject also to any liens for improvements that may have been made, and that the secretary be authorized to enter into a contract with any purchaser willing to pay that price on those terms and conditions, and that, after consulting with the town attorney as to the proper form of deed to be drawn, the president and secretary be authorized to draw up, execute, and deliver said deed."

The next day the complainant, at the instance of Union N. Bethell and his son Richard, submitted to the secretary of the board the following proposal, which was accepted:

"April 25, 1923.

"Mr. Fred P. Reagle, Secretary, Board of Education, Montclair, N. J.—Dear sir: I hereby offer to purchase from the board of education of the town of Montclair the real estate owned by it, being the plot of land on the easterly side of north Mountain avenue, having a frontage on North Mountain avenue of two hundred feet and extending through to Edgemont road, as more particularly described in the advertisement in the Montclair Times of the issue of March 31st, for the sum of twenty-nine thousand, two hundred and sixty ($29,200) dollars cash, to be paid one thousand ($1,000) dollars on the acceptance of this offer and the balance on passing of the title, within a reasonable time after the acceptance of this offer.

"I will accept a title to the premises subject to restrictions and present incumbrances and subject also to any liens for improvements that may have been made prior to this date, and will be glad to execute a formal contract for the same as soon as the same can be prepared and presented for signature.

"I inclose herewith check for $1,000, being the original deposit. Yours very truly,

"[Signed] Wm. Whitney Ames.

"Accepted for the board of education, Montclair. N. J. April 25, 1923.

"[Signed] Fred P. Reagle, Sec."

Later the board rescinded the resolution, and sold the land to the defendant French for the same price, and, after this bill was filed, conveyed it to him. He took with notice.

The background of this action is a long and bitter struggle between Mr. Bethell, a member of the board, to retain the land for a school site, and a group of residents of Montclair who objected to a public school in their midst, in which village politics played no unimportant part. The group had the sympathy of three of the five members of the board and the strenuous opposition of Mr. Bethell, who consistently voted against all efforts to dispose of the land. On May 22nd, the group urged the board to reject Mr. Ames' contract, and a resolution was passed requesting him to withdraw. At this meeting Mr. Bethell partly disclosed his hand by submitting the following:

"To the Board of Education: Respecting the Edgemont land recently sold by the board of education, and the adjoining so-called Sussman lot, I am authorized to say that these properties will be held (unimproved) for a reasonable time so that the board may take them if they are desired for school purposes; that, if under condemnation, which may be necessary to remove restriction, the property is to bring less than the price paid by the present owner plus carrying charges and the usual 5 per cent. agent's commission, some one (but not the town) will lose the difference; and that, if they bring more, the excess will be given to the board of education.

"[Signed] U. N. Bethell."

At a later meeting the solicitor of the board, to whom it had been referred, advised the board that he was of the opinion "that the whole proceeding is invalid, for the reason that the resolution passed by the board at the meeting of April 24th delegated to a ministerial officer, the secretary of the board, the duty of exercising a discretion in accepting a proposal for the Edgemont land," and also that, "if any member of the board (meaning, of course, Mr. Bethell) is interested directly or indirectly in the contract for the purchase...