Harrisville Fire Dist. v. Oakland-Mapleville Fire Dist.
| Decision Date | 16 December 2011 |
| Docket Number | C.A. No. 07-4565 |
| Parties | HARRISVILLE FIRE DISTRICT v. OAKLAND-MAPLEVILLE FIRE DISTRICT |
| Court | Rhode Island Superior Court |
STERN, J. Plaintiff Harrisville Fire District seeks declaratory relief and compensatory damages to collect fire hydrant usage and service fees from Defendant Oakland-Mapleville Fire District. Both parties have filed for summary judgment. The dispute turns on whether there exists a genuine issue of material fact as to the Oakland-Mapleville Fire District's legal obligation to pay fire hydrant fees assessed by the Harrisville Fire District. Jurisdiction is pursuant to §§ 9-30-1, 8-2-14, and Super. R. Civ. P. 56.
Defendant Oakland-Mapleville Fire District ("Oakland-Mapleville") moves for summary judgment on all claims asserted against it by Plaintiff Harrisville Fire District ("Harrisville"). Oakland-Mapleville also moves for summary judgment on its counterclaims asserted against Harrisville. In response to this motion, Harrisville has objected, as well as filed its own cross-motion for summary judgment on all claims and counterclaims asserted in this matter. Thisdeclaratory action arises from a dispute over the invoicing and nonpayment of service fees associated with forty-one fire hydrants installed by Harrisville within the Oakland-Mapleville Fire District. Both fire districts are located within the Town of Burrillville, Rhode Island.
Harrisville is a quasi-municipal corporation duly organized and incorporated pursuant to a charter granted by an Act of the General Assembly in 1910. (Pl. Exs. C & D.) Harrisville is authorized, among other things, to provide fire suppression and emergency medical and ambulance services within or without the territorial limits of the district or the town of Burrillville. (Pl. Ex. D: Charter Sec. C.l.) Oakland-Mapleville is likewise a quasi-municipal corporation organized and incorporated pursuant to a charter granted by the General Assembly in 1934. (Def. Mem. Ex. 5: Act to Incorporate Oakland-Mapleville.)
Pursuant to Harrisville's original charter, Harrisville was empowered to furnish and distribute water, light and power "throughout the district and beyond the same in the town of Burrillville."1 (Pl. Ex. C: Original Charter Sec. 5.) Although amended, Harrisville's charter still empowers the district to "procure, distribute, and sell water within or without the territorial limits of the district or the town of Burrillville." (Pl. Ex. D: Current Charter Sec. C.2.) Harrisville is also authorized to "obtain, own, establish, operate, maintain, repair, improve, enlarge, and/or extend any pipe, conduit, fire apparatus, building, facilities, or property of any kind in order to carry out the purposes of the district." Id. at Sec. C.4. The charter additionally provides for the creation of a water department to facilitate such water procurement and distribution obligations pursuant to the charter. Id. at Sec. F. Meanwhile, pursuant to Section 11 of Oakland-Mapleville's charter, Oakland-Mapleville is authorized to "contract for and procure electricityand water for the purposes specified in [the charter]" subject to "the existing franchise contract between the town of Burrillville and the Pascoag Water Company." (Def. Ex. 4: Oakland-Mapleville Charter.) Oakland-Mapleville has neither a water supply nor a water distribution system to supply the residents of the district. (Pl. Ex. F: Mehrtens Aff. ¶ 6.)
Both districts are authorized by charter to tax the inhabitants of their respective districts in order to carry out the purposes of their charters. In addition, Harrisville is authorized to "fix rates and collect charges for the use or expansion of the facilities, or services rendered by or for any water, commodities, or other utilities furnished by [Harrisville]." This power to fix rates and collect charges is not limited to utilities furnished inside the Harrisville district. (Harrisville Charter Sec. 11.) Such fees charged to any city, county, town or water or fire district outside Harrisville, however, cannot exceed rates applicable to other consumers and users of such utilities or services. Id. at Sec. (J)C. Since 1993, Harrisville has installed, owned and maintained forty-one fire hydrants within the Oakland-Mapleville district (collectively, the "Hydrants"). The installation of these hydrants occurred in connection with three separate developments. The first installation in 1993 took place within a sixty-six home subdivision development known as Lynmar Estates. Town approval of the development was contingent upon the availability of a water supply system. (Pl. Ex. G: Lynmar Estates Agreement at 2.) Harrisville agreed to supply water to the subdivision; however, the expansion of water service into Oakland-Mapleville was subject to approval of the State Water Resources Board pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 46-15-2(a)(3).2
In an effort to facilitate the requisite Board approval, Harrisville and Oakland-Mapleville entered into a written agreement dated December 7, 1993 and titled "Agreement between theHarrisville Fire District and Oakland-Mapleville Fire District Relative to the Extension of Distribution Lines and Provision of Water within the Jurisdictional Boundaries of the Oakland-Mapleville Fire District" (hereinafter, the "Lynmar Estates Agreement") (Def. Ex. 3; Pl. Ex. G.). Pursuant to the Lynmar Estates Agreement, Harrisville was to remain solely responsible for the installation, repair, and maintenance of the water distribution lines and appurtenances thereto, including eight fire hydrants. (Lynmar Estates Agreement ¶ 2.) Also in accordance with the agreement, Harrisville agreed to hold harmless and indemnify Oakland-Mapleville from any loss or liability incurred in connection with the extension of the water distribution system. Id. Oakland-Mapleville was provided permission to access the eight fire hydrants for training and fire fighting purposes without any charge for water usage. Id. at ¶ 3. Importantly, in consideration of the use of the eight fire hydrants, the Agreement stated that "Harrisville shall impose a hydrant rental on Oakland-Mapleville in an amount which shall not exceed the amount of any taxes assessed on Harrisville by Oakland-Mapleville." Id. at ¶ 4. In its papers, Oakland-Mapleville contends that this specific provision was intended to result in a "wash" effect for the parties. Harrisville refers to the provision as a "Gentlemen's Agreement" designed to avoid further complication in a dispute existing at the time between the Town and Harrisville concerning Harrisville's municipal tax assessment.3 (Mehrten Aff. ¶ 9.)
Subsequent to the Lynmar Estates installations, Harrisville expanded its water distribution lines and appurtenances, including fire hydrants, within Oakland-Mapleville on two occasions in commercial and industrial developments. Harrisville maintains that because it was authorized by charter to distribute water outside its district, and because it previously obtained State Water Resources Board approval for legal expansion into Lynmar Estates, it was notrequired to obtain consent from either Oakland-Mapleville or the Board for these subsequent expansions. Id. at ¶ 13. However, Oakland-Mapleville did approve the developments at issue as the local fire fighting entity. Thus, Harrisville maintains that Oakland-Mapleville was well aware of the water line expansions and fire hydrant installations, approving the developments without objection.
It is undisputed that use of the Hydrants by Oakland-Mapleville has been sporadic. It appears that on one occasion in either 2000 or 2001, Oakland-Mapleville requested permission to test the Hydrants' pressure, but Harrisville denied the request. (Def. Ex. 5: Def. Ans. to Int. No. 6.) Also, with the exception of one training session conducted on one of the hydrants at issue, the Hydrants have not been utilized by Oakland-Mapleville for fire suppression purposes. Id. at Ans. to Int. No. 8. Oakland-Mapleville further contends that Harrisville does not allow Oakland-Mapleville to fill its tanker truck (the primary water supply for fire suppression purposes in Oakland-Mapleville) at any of the hydrants at issue. Instead, Oakland-Mapleville is required to fill the tanker truck at a hydrant within the Harrisville jurisdiction.
Until March of 2006, Harrisville collected no rents, fees, or charges from Oakland-Mapleville or its residents in connection with the forty-one Hydrants at issue. Then, on March 14, 2006, Harrisville notified Oakland-Mapleville via letter of its intention to bill Oakland-Mapleville for a "hydrant use assessment" calculated at $371.00 per hydrant, per quarter (the "Assessments"). See Def. Ex. 8: Assessment Letter. Within the letter, Harrisville outlined several bases for its decision to discontinue its past practice of refraining from the imposition of hydrant fees. Specifically, Harrisville contended that it is uniform practice of water departments within the same state to internally assess hydrant fees on fire departments within the same jurisdiction, as well as fire departments outside the jurisdiction; that residents of Oakland-Mapleville benefit from the existence of the hydrants and the maintenance of water pressure supplied to the hydrants in the form of increased fire suppression protection to their homes; that residents of Oakland-Mapleville benefit from the existence of the hydrants in the form of a more favorable insurance classification; that Oakland-Mapleville's fire department benefits from the hydrants and water supplied thereto in the form of practice and training opportunity; and that Harrisville residents incurred unwarranted costs in the form of subsidizing the hydrants, particularly in light of Harrisville's replacement of a water storage tank to maintain sufficient water pressure for firefighting purposes. Id.
Oakland-Mapleville refused to pay the Assessments, maintaining that the...
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