147 Ga. 581 | Ga. | 1918
Lead Opinion
The controlling question in the case is whether the Mayor and Council of the Town of Arlington, under the general-welfare clause of its charter, can install and operate an “ice plant and cold-storage system/5 and whether bonds can be issued and validated for that purpose. By the act of the legislature approved Oct. 9, 1891, granting a new charter for the town of Arlington (Acts 1890-1891, pp. 867, 870, sec. 10), it is provided that “said corporation shall have and enjoy all the rights, privileges, and powers incident to such corporations, not repugnant to the constitution of the United States, the constitution of this State, and the laws made in pursuance thereof; and said corporation, by their mayor and aldermen, shall have full power and authority to enact and enforce all ordinances, by-laws, rules and regulations necessary for the good government of said town and securing the health of the inhabitants and protection of property therein.55 Express provision is made in the charter for the erection, installation, and maintenance of a system of waterworks and an electric-light plant within said town. Acts 1905, p. 608, sec. 2 et seq. The charter also provides, under the general-welfare clause, that the town may issue bonds, in addition to the bonds already provided for, etc., in a certain amount, whenever the mayor and board of aldermen “shall deem it proper and expedient so to do, for the purpose of making any public improvement or improvements for the benefit of said town.55 Does this provision of the charter authorize the issuance of bonds for, and the erection and maintenance of, an ice plant and cold-storage system by the town? It is suggested that the town of Arlington had express authority given to it by the legislature to establish a waterworks and electric-light system, etc., and that, together with the general authority conferred of making “any other improvements within said town55 (Acts 1913, p. 492, sec. 1), included the power to establish the ice plant and cold-storage system. Construing the two paragraphs of the charter together, we
The expression last quoted is the keynote to the present case. Is the levy of the taxes and issuance of the bonds proposed for .the purpose of establishing an ice plant and cold-storage system in the town of Arlington purely public and municipal in its nature? The cases cited above are authority for the proposition that under the general-welfare clauses of the municipal charters dealt with, waterworks, electric-light plants, schoolhouses, canals, etc., may be established and maintained by taxation, where they are public and municipal in their nature. Can the doctrine be extended to “ice plant and cold-storage systems”? In the case of Holton v. Camilla, 134 Ga. 560, 566 (68 S. E. 472, 31 L. R. A. (N. S.) 116, 20 Ann. Cas. 199), where the charter of Camilla provided, that the city should have the power “to acquire by purchase or otherwise, own, and equip ice-plants and cold-storage plants, in connection with waterworks system of said city or otherwise, and to do and
8. The evidence was sufficient to support the judgment validating the bonds, and none of the assignments of error are sufficient to require a reversal.
Judgment affirmed.
Concurrence Opinion
specially concurring. In view of the rulings made in the case of Holton v. Camilla, cited in the foregoing opinion, where it was recognized that ice plants and cold-storage plants are improvements having a municipal and public character, we concur in the ruling in the instant case.
Concurrence Opinion
This concurrence, relatively to the ruling announced in the second headnote, is solely on the basis of the broad language of the act of 1891, quoted in the opinion, and the decision by this court in Holton v. Camilla, supra.