163 N.W. 822 | N.D. | 1917
(after stating the facts). This action having been brought upon the contract for the nonpayment of the foregoing bill, and not for the reasonable worth of the materials and labor, the only question necessary to be considered on this appeal is that of the validity of the contract under which the materials were supplied and the work done.
The appellant bases the argument for the validity of the contract upon the powers vested-in boards of county commissioners by subdivision 3 of § 3275. Comp. Laws 1913, which authorizes them “to construct and repair bridges, and to open, lay out, vacate, and change highways in the cases provided by law.” The argument is that, except as may be elsewhere limited by express statutory enactment, the poiver conferred by the foregoing subdivision may be exercised in any manner that the county commissioners elect, and that all contracts made in exercising the powers so conferred are valid, in the absence of fraud. Section 3296, Comp. Laws 1913, provides that the board of county commissioners shall let contracts only on competitive bids. The chief subject of this section requiring competitive bidding is building projects, but it is also provided that “the provisions of this section shall apply to all contracts for fuel, stationery and all other articles' for the use of the county, or labor to be performed therefor, when the amount to be paid for the same during any year exceeds the sum of $100; provided, that in all cases advertisements for bids therefor need not be for more than three consecutive weeks in some weekly newspaper published in such county; and provided, also, that all contracts for the
No doubt the county commissioners in the case at bar acted in pursuance of the authority of that part of the statute quoted above in advertising and contracting for the bridge materials supplied in the instant case. Section 1951, Comp. Laws 1913, provides for the construction of bridges, upon petition of the freeholders of a civil township or of those living within a certain radius of a proposed location. In this section it is made the duty of the county commissioners to investigate the necessity of a proposed bridge, and, after the location is approved, the board is required to “advertise in the official paper in the county, for a period of thirty days, the plans and specifications of the proposed bridge, asking for sealed bids for the building of such bridge, to be submitted to them at their next regular or special meeting . . . and to let the contract to the lowest responsible bidder. Section 1953, Comp. Laws 1913, makes bridge building under the provision of the foregoing section subject to the supervision of the board of county commissioners, and it is expressly provided “that should any emergency arise, requiring the immediate rebuilding or repairing of any bridges, the board of county commissioners are hereby authorized to rebuild or repair, as the circumstances require, and without advertising for bids, in case said work can be performed by a responsible party, at a price not to exceed the last bid accepted by said board of county commissioners for like work.” The appellants argue that, since boards of county commissioners have power under § 3275 to construct and repair bridges, such power is in no way limited by the provisions of § 1851, and that the latter section only applied where freeholders initiate, by petition, the steps looking toward the construction of a bridge. In our opinion the statutes are not subject to the broad construction contended for. It is clearly the purpose of § 3275 to group the powers of the boards of county commissioners that are elsewhere dealt with more particularly and in greater detail. For instance, the section provides that the board shall have power to levy taxes not exceeding the amount authorized by law; to equalize assessments in the manner provided by law; to establish election precincts and appoint judges in cases provided by law. When the contents of the entire section is considered, it