Carstens Packing Co. v. Granger Irr. Dist.
| Citation | 160 Wash. 674,295 P. 930 |
| Decision Date | 16 February 1931 |
| Docket Number | 22553. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
| Parties | CARSTENS PACKING CO. v. GRANGER IRR. DIST. |
Department 1.
Appeal from Superior Court, Yakima County; A. W. Hawkins, Judge.
Action by the Carstens Packing Company against the Granger Irrigation District, a municipal corporation. Judgment for defendant, and plaintiff appeals.
Affirmed.
Cheney & Hutcheson, of Yakima, for appellant.
Ralph B. Williamson, of Yakima, for respondent.
This action was brought by Carstens Packing Company, a corporation, to recover upon an appraisal of damages alleged to have been suffered upon a breach of a written contract between the Granger irrigation district and Carstens Packing Company.
The Carstens Packing Company owned certain lands through and over which on March 23, 1923, it conveyed by deed to the United States a right of way for a pipe line to be constructed by the United States for its use and the use of the Granger irrigation district in connection with the Yakima-Sunnyside division of the Yakima project of the United States Reclamation Bureau. On the same day and in connection with the conveyance of that right of way, a written contract was entered into between the Granger irrigation district, party of the first part, and Carstens Packing Company, party of the second part, reciting that the second party had that day conveyed to the United States a right of way across its land in the south half of section 10, township 10 north, range 21 E. W. M., and reciting that:
Whereas the consideration for the agreement of conveyance of the right of way was the promise of the Granger irrigation district to pay to Carstens Packing Company '* * * any actual damage accruing to the party of the second part, and to the above described land by virtue of the operations of the United States Reclamation Service in constructing of the pipe line for which said right of way was granted.
'Now therefore, in consideration of the execution of the aforementioned right of way agreement by the party of the second part, the party of the first part does hereby agree to pay to second party as damages to existing improvement upon said land such amounts as the parties hereto shall agree upon as of date September 1, 1923.
'It is understood and agreed that the party of the first part shall refill the trench and remove all surplus dirt and refuse, and in case of their failure so to do, to pay to said party of the second so to do, to pay to said the labor necessary to accomplish said purpose.
'The District further agrees to pay such additional damages, if any, accruing to the party of the second part or its lessees by reason of injury to growing crops upon said land or crops to be grown upon said land during the season of 1923 by reason of the construction of said pipe line by party of the first part.
'It is hereby understood and agreed that if the parties hereto cannot agree upon the amount of damages suffered by the party of the second part by virtue of the location and construction of said pipe line, exclusive of the actual value of the land occupied, then a board of appraisers shall be selected, one by each party hereto, and the third by the two thus selected who shall appraise the damage done to said property in accordance with the agreement herein contained, and the parties hereto agree to be bound by such appraisement.'
The United States Reclamation Bureau dug the necessary trench and installed a concrete pipe line along this right of way for carrying water for irrigation purposes to other lands refilled the trench (leaving the surplus dirt over the pipe line appreciably higher than the adjoining land), and finished all of the work performed by it upon and across the lands of the Carstens Packing Company in the month of June, 1923. Shortly thereafter upon completing the line across the lands beyond those of Carstens Packing Company, the United States Reclamation Bureau turned the irrigation line over to the Granger irrigation district, which at all times since has controlled and operated it.
Plaintiff, claiming that it had sustained damage, appointed an appraiser and made written demand on the defendant in August, 1929, more than six years after construction had been completed across plaintiff's lands, for the appointment of an appraiser to act as a member of a board of appraisers under the terms of the contract to appraise damages. The defendant refused to appoint an appraiser, whereupon the one appointed by plaintiff appointed another, and those two, upon giving notice of time and place, made and on August 30, 1929, signed a written appraisal in favor of the plaintiff in the sum of $4,200 'by reason of the operation of the United States Reclamation Service in the constructing of a pipe line for irrigation purposes across said land (exclusive of the actual value of the land, occupied by said pipe line) as provided in said agreement,' and the further sum of $500 'by reason of the failure of said Granger Irrigation District to remove the surplus dirt and refuse on said land by reason of the construction of said pipe line, thereby leaving a mound or ridge of surplus dirt several feet higher than the level of the surrounding land.'
On the next day, August 31, 1929, this suit was brought to recover those two amounts. The action is based upon the written...
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