55 S.E.2d 401 | W. Va. | 1949
Lead Opinion
The Attorney General of the State of West Virginia disapproved a proposed bond issue of the Town of South Charleston in the sum of eighteen thousand, five hundred dollars, authorized by the voters of said town on November 5, 1946. The Town of South Charleston, hereinafter designated as the "town", and a resident and taxpayer thereof, filed a petition in this Court seeking a review and reversal of the action of the Attorney General. This Court granted the review.
The Board of Education of the County of Kanawha, hereinafter referred to as the "board" was given leave to intervene in this proceeding.
Eighteen thousand dollars of the proceeds of said proposed bond issue is to be used for the purchase of an improved parcel of land, now owned by the United States of America. The tract of land is described as all of Lots Nos. 9 and 10, the westerly five feet of Lot No. 8, and the easterly *141 seven feet of Lot No. 11, Block E-3, of the town. This land was formerly owned by the board. On June 10, 1941, the board conveyed Lots Nos. 9 and 10, and the westerly five feet of Lot No. 8 aforesaid to the town, and released to the town its interest in the easterly seven feet of said Lot No. 11. The consideration for such conveyance and release was nominal.
The town agreed with the board that it would endeavor to secure the erection of a recreation building and other improvements on said land, and that, in the event the land was not acquired by the United States of America, the town would execute and deliver a lease in "language identical with or substantially the same as the lease * * * [thereto] attached". The agreement further provided that if the United States of America should acquire title to said land and reconvey the same to the town, the town would execute a similar lease to the board for a term of ninety-nine years, with the privilege of renewals for two like periods. It is unnecessary further to state the terms, stipulations and provisions of said agreement.
A proceeding in eminent domain was instituted by the United States of America, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, which resulted in the United States of America acquiring the title to said land for the sum of one dollar. The arrangement between the town and the board was recited in an order of the court entered in the eminent domain proceeding. But it was provided in such order that the agreement or arrangement should have no effect on the title acquired by the United States of America.
Thereafter the Federal Government erected a building on the land. The town leased the land and improvements from the Government. Whether the town still occupies said land and improvements, as a tenant, is not clearly shown.
Subsequent to the conveyance to the town and the agreement between the town and the board, a new administration *142 was elected for the Town of South Charleston, and, according to the record, the members of the new administration were not apprised of the agreement between the town and the board. On September 30, 1946, an ordinance was adopted by the council of the town submitting the bond issue to the voters thereof. The money derived from the sale of the bonds was to be used in purchasing the land and improvements from the Federal Government. During the pendency of such election, officials of the town were advised of the conveyance from the board to the town, and the agreement to lease the property in the event the town reacquired ownership thereof. On October 23, 1946, a statement was made and published by the town officials to the effect that they had no intention to purchase the land and improvements, if the transaction between the board and town was binding and valid, but such statement was not submitted to the voters in the ordinance calling the election. The bond issue was authorized by the voters of said town. No defect is set forth in the record relative to the procedure in calling the bond election, in submitting the question to the legal voters of the town, and in ascertaining the result of said election.
The facts hereinbefore stated were before this Court in the case of Town of South Charleston v. Board of Education,
The Court held in the case of Town of South Charleston v.Board of Education,
After the dismissal of said declaratory judgment suit, the validity of the bond issue was submitted to the Attorney General of this State, in accordance with the provisions *143
of Code,
Notwithstanding the written statement of the Attorney General, the contentions of the town, and the contentions of the board, we are of opinion that only two questions arise in this proceeding: (1) May the validity of the deed and agreement between the board and the town and their respective rights to the lands and improvements, if any, be determined in this proceeding; and (2) is the bond issue, when separated from the expenditure of the money raised thereby, valid? *144
A review of a proposed bond issue by the Attorney General of this State, and a further review of the action of that official by this Court, are entirely statutory. It would serve no good purpose to cite cases from other jurisdictions relative to similar questions.
The provisions of Code,
Assuming that a proposed bond issue is for a purpose authorized by law, the power of the Attorney General in approving or disapproving the validity thereof, pursuant to Code,
If the deed executed by the board to the town and the agreement to lease executed by the town and the board are invalid, a court possessing judicial power may declare such invalidity. We find no constitutional or statutory provision authorizing the Attorney General to pass on such questions. We therefore think that the review of the Attorney General in this instance should be confined to the procedural steps above mentioned.
The jurisdiction of this Court to review the action of the Attorney General in approving or disapproving a proposed bond issue rests solely on Code,
The questions sought to be reviewing in this proceeding are not within the scope of the review authorized by Code, *146
We think the review by this Court of the Attorney General's action, contemplated by Code,
The validity of the deed from the board to the town and the agreement to lease executed by them was not properly before the Attorney General. The rule adopted by this Court, restricting the review under Code,
The title to the land in question is not before the Court in this proceeding. It was held in the case of Town of SouthCharleston v. Board of Education, supra, that the subject matter of the litigation was not before the Court, and that there was no jurisdiction to grant relief under the Declaratory Judgments Act. A fortiori, the title to said land is not before the Court in this proceeding, and we should not pass upon any question connected with it. This Court should not co-mingle the claimed equities and property rights of the town and the board with questions arising in a restricted statutory review. *147
In view of the foregoing we express no opinion relative to the rights and equities asserted by the town and the board in this proceeding, and remit them to their remedies, if they are so advised, to be enforced in a proper suit, in which such questions are properly presented.
The statement made by the town council on October 23, 1946, with reference to the intention of the officials of the town not to purchase the land for use by the board of education, has no bearing on the validity of the bond issue. That was something outside the submission set forth in the ordinance published, as required by statute. The voters of the town did not vote on the informal statement made by the town council on October 23, 1946; but did vote on the question submitted to them by the ordinance as first published. Said statement was only published as a matter of information. We are not concerned here with the reasons motivating any voter in voting for or against the bond issue.
The record discloses no actual defect in the submission of the bond issue to the voters of the Town of South Charleston, and the ascertainment of the result of the election held pursuant to such submission. Nor is any irregularity disclosed in the proposed issuance of the bonds. We are, therefore, of the opinion that the proposed bond issue is valid and binding on the Town of South Charleston.
For the foregoing reasons we reverse the action of the Attorney General in disapproving said proposed bond issue, and direct that official to approve the same in accordance with the principles expressed in this opinion.
Reversed.
Concurrence Opinion
I concur in the judgment of the majority to reverse the action of the Attorney General in disapproving the bond issue, but I emphatically and finally disagree with its action in refusing to consider and determine in this proceeding *148 the questions of the legality of the use of the proceeds of the bonds to purchase the recreation property from the United States of America, the validity of the contract of October 10, 1941, and of the deed of June 10, 1941, and the effect of the proceeding in eminent domain by which the United States of America acquired title to the land upon the rights and the interests of the town and the board to the property involved in that proceeding.
This is the second attempt by the town and the board to present these questions to this Court, and each time it has refused to consider or resolve them. See Town of South Charlestonv. The Board of Education of Kanawha County,
After this proceeding was instituted in this Court, the board of education, obviously for the purpose of having the above enumerated questions decided, requested and *149
was granted permission to intervene as a defendant. The grounds assigned by the town in the brief and the oral argument of its counsel to reverse the action of the Attorney General in disapproving the validity of the bond issue were: (1) The contract of October 10, 1941, and the prior deed of June 10, 1941, are void because neither the town nor the board was lawfully authorized to make or enter into either of them; and (2) if the contract was valid, all rights of the board under it were extinguished by the subsequent proceeding in eminent domain between the United States of America and the town and the board. To support the action of the Attorney General the principal contentions presented in the brief and the argument in behalf of the board were that the contract of October 10, 1941, is valid, and that the town has no equity in the property in question. No party to this proceeding has presented, or even suggested, as an issue to be considered or determined, that the Attorney General lacked authority to consider or decide any of the questions involved or that this Court could not determine them in this proceeding. Despite the persistent and repeated efforts of all the parties to obtain a decision upon the issues actually presented, briefed and argued and notwithstanding the implied invitation to institute this proceeding to obtain such decision, in the statements in the opinion of this Court in the prior suit of the town against the board,
Whether the Attorney General has the authority to pass upon judicial questions which arise in connection with the approval or the disapproval by him of a bond issue under the statute is entirely immaterial and of no consequence or importance whatsoever in this proceeding. Conceding, as the majority holds, that the Attorney General, an executive officer, does not possess judicial powers and therefore cannot decide judicial questions, that conclusion does not affect or impair the right or the duty of this Court to exercise its judicial power to decide such questions in this proceeding. The important question here is not whether the Attorney General may decide the issues presented but whether this Court will make use of its jurisdiction, which it unquestionably possesses, and do so in this proceeding. I would refrain from any inquiry respecting the power and the authority of the Attorney General as immaterial and because that question is not raised by the pleadings, and would consider and determine the real and only issues raised by the pleadings and argued and submitted by the parties. I would not ignore the request of the parties for the bread of decision of the questions presented or answer it with the stone of evasion.
The review by this Court provided by the statute, Code, 1931,
The other question decided is equally unnecessary and the action of the majority in that respect is entirely gratuitous. Though this Court held, in the recent case of Baxa v. Partlow,
If the contract of October 10, 1941, is binding and enforceable, the use of the funds by the town in the proposed purchase of the recreation property, subject to the lease provided for in the contract, would constitute an unlawful diversion of the proceeds of the bonds and an expenditure of the funds for a purpose other than that authorized by the voters. Purchase of the property subject to the restrictions to be imposed by the lease, instead of its purchase free from such restrictions as required by the voters, would be to give them not that for which they voted but that for which they did not vote. State ex rel. County Court of Mercer County v. Partlow,
It is manifest to me that if the contract of October 10, 1941, is binding and enforceable against the town, it can not apply the proceeds of the bonds to the purchase of the property and in so doing comply with the provisions of the contract which require it to execute a lease imposing restrictions upon its use and ownership of the property; and that it can not expend the funds for any purpose whatsoever except the particular purpose for which they were authorized by the voters of the town. It follows necessarily that if the contract is valid no expenditure of the funds can lawfully be made. If this be the ultimate result, the bonds are legally as well as practically useless, their proceeds can not be expended for the purchase of the property, and their validity should be disapproved. On the contrary, if the contract is void, the funds may be used to purchase the property in the manner and for the purpose specified and authorized by the voters and the validity of the bonds should be approved. The only grounds upon which their validity is attacked arise from the existence of the contract and the issue was disapproved by the Attorney General solely for the reason that, because of the contract, the proceeds of the bonds can not be used to purchase the property. It necessarily follows that if the contract is invalid the issue is valid and should be approved. Approval of the validity of the issue, however, without a determination of the invalidity of the contract, would seem to me to be futile and inevitably to lead to subsequent litigation to determine whether the town should be enjoined from applying the funds to the purchase of the property or authorized to use them for that purpose. Without authorization to use the proceeds to purchase the property, approval of the bonds can produce only confusion and delay.
The question of the proper application of the funds actually and necessarily arises in this proceeding and it *154
should not be left for future decision in any subsequent independent litigation. That question should be settled upon review of the action of the Attorney General in a proceeding in which, by virtue of the statute, Code, 1931,
The remaining portions of this opinion indicate the questions presented by the pleadings and argued and submitted for decision by the parties, but which the majority has refused to consider or decide, state the repective contentions of the town and the board, and express my views on each of those questions.
As the principal source of its authority to make the deed of June 10, 1941, and to enter into the contract of October 10, 1941, the board relies upon Chapter 76, Acts of the Legislature, Regular Session, 1925, and Chapter 105, Acts of the Legislature, Regular Session, 1945, both of which relate to the establishment of a system of public recreation and playgrounds by certain governmental divisions in which are included boards of education and municipal corporations. *155
Section 1 of Chapter 76, Acts of the Legislature, 1925, Regular Session, provided that any city, town, county, independent school district or school district may establish a system of public recreation and playgrounds; set apart for such use any land or buildings owned or leased by it; acquire by gift, purchase, lease, condemnation, bond issue, or otherwise, and equip, any land, buildings, and other recreational facilities; employ a director of recreation and assistants; and expend funds for recreational and playground purposes. Section 2 authorized any two or more of the designated governmental divisions to establish and conduct jointly a system of public recreation and playgrounds and to exercise the powers given by the act. Sections 5 and 6, in their pertinent parts, provided that whenever a petition by a designated percentage of the voters shall be filed, in the manner specified, at least thirty days before any general or special election, the authorities of the governmental division shall submit to the voters the question of the establishment of a system of public recreation and playgrounds; that the same question may also be submitted at any election by the authorities on their own motion; and that, when that proposition is adopted by a majority of the qualified voters, the authorities shall provide for the establishment of the system and the levy and the collection of the necessary taxes which shall be in addition to and exclusive of all other taxes leviable and collectible by the governmental division.
A substantially similar statute was enacted by the Legislature and incorporated as Article 2 of Chapter 10 in the Code of 1931. Section 1 of this statute included much of the substance of Sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Act of 1925, but expressly added the provision that before establishing any system of public recreation and playgrounds, or levying any tax for that purpose, the governing authority of the governmental division shall submit to its voters the question of the establishment of such system. Section 2 of the act then specified in practically the same manner as that provided in the Act of 1925, the methods and the *156 requirements of submitting the question to the voters. Chapter 105, Acts of the Legislature, 1945, Regular Session, amends and reenacts Article 2, Chapter 10 of the Code of 1931. It provides, in more detail than the two earlier statutes, for the establishment of the same system of public recreation and playgrounds by the same governmental divisions, and omits the requirement that the question of its establishment be submitted to the voters.
It does not affirmatively appear from the record in this proceeding which contains the record in the prior suit in equity that the board and the town, or either of them, compiled with the provisions of the Act of 1925 or of Sections 1 and 2 of Article 2 of Chapter 10 of the Code of 1931, in submitting to the voters the question of establishing a system of public recreation and playgrounds. The question of the validity of the contract and the deed, however, has been presented, argued and submitted by counsel respectively representing all parties to this proceeding on the theory that the establishment of such system was not submitted to the voters, and the contention of the board is that its submission was not necessary under Chapter 76 of the Acts of 1925, or Chapter 105 of the Acts of 1945. This attitude of counsel in effect concedes that the question was not so submitted, and consideration of that phase of this controversy should be based on that assumption.
Whether the Act of 1925 should be construed to require the question of the establishment of the system to be submitted to a vote need not now be dealt with for the reason that Section 1, Article 2, Chapter 10, Code, 1931, which was in effect when the contract and the deed were made in 1941, superseded the Act of 1925, and expressly required the question to be submitted to the voters before either the town or the board could establish such a system or levy any tax for that purpose. The failure to comply with the requirement of the later statute to submit the question to the voters renders groundless any contention *157 that it confers power or authority upon the town or the board to make the contract of October 10, 1941, or the deed of June 10, 1941.
The respondent, the board of education, however, insists that the contract of October 10, 1941, being executory in character and dependent upon the contingency that the United States of America convey the property to the town which has not yet occurred, and now can only occur, if at all, after the Act of 1945 has become effective, is authorized and validated by the provisions of that statute. This contention is without merit. The validity of the contract must be determined by the law in force at the time it was made; 17 C. J. S., Contracts, Section 22; 2 Elliott, Commentaries on the Law of Contracts, Section 683; Belleville Advocate Printing Company v. St. Clair County,
If the contract of October 10, 1941, was invalid because not authorized by law when it was made, it could be validated by a later curative enactment, for the Legislature may validate any obligation of a public corporation which it had power originally to authorize and, by statute subsequently enacted expressly for the purpose, cure the defect. 3 Page, The Law of Contracts, 2d ed., Section 1968; 6 Williston, A Treatise on the Law of Contracts, Revised Edition, 1938, Section 1758; Bell v.Farmville and Powhatan Railroad Company,
It is settled by the decisions of this Court that a statute will be applied only to future cases unless legislative intent that it shall operate retroactively is clearly indicated *159
by its terms. Lester v. State Compensation Commissioner,
In considering the operation, the scope and the effect of the three foregoing statutes, it is pertinent to observe that the language of the Act of 1925 and of Section 1, Article 2, Chapter 10, Code of 1931, relates only to the acquisition of land, buildings and other recreation facilities by gift, purchase, lease, condemnation, bond issue, or otherwise, and that neither statute makes any provision for the disposition of such property in any manner whatsoever. Though the Act of 1945, which as previously indicated does not authorize the making of the contract or the deed by either the town or the board, does not expressly provide that lands, buildings and other recreational facilities may be acquired by a governmental division by gift, purchase, lease, condemnation, bond issue, or otherwise, the language employed indicates that it relates *160
only to their acquisition and it is doubtful that by the use of those words the Legislature intended to authorize the disposition of such property by any of those methods. At any rate, the statute contains no clear or express provision with respect to the manner in which any of the designated governmental divisions may dispose of any of its land, buildings or other recreational facilities, and in the absence from the statute of any provision of that kind, interpretation of the language used to permit the disposition of such property by gift, lease or condemnation would seem to be unwarranted. The law does not consider the right to dispose of property held in trust for the public as an incident to the ownership of such property. Roper v. McWhorter,
As no authority is conferred upon the board by Code, 1931,
Article 5, Chapter 18, Code, 1931, as amended by various subsequent acts of the Legislature, deals with the powers and the duties of a county board of education which is given the supervision and the control of each county school district. Code, 1931,
In Herald v. Board of Education,
Under the statute and the above cited cases, it is manifest that the board was without power or authority to make the deed of June 10, 1941, which was based upon a nominal consideration and was in fact a gift of valuable property, acquired by the expenditure of a large amount of public funds. In consequence that instrument is wholly invalid and it conveyed no title to the property to the town.
As the town obtained no title to the property by the deed from the board, it had no right to make any contract to lease it to the board at any time, present or future, and its attempt to do so was without binding force or effect, even if it had possessed the power or the authority to make a contract of that character. Municipal corporations, like boards of education, derive their existence from the Legislature, are created by statute and, in the absence of express constitutional reservations in their favor or express limitations upon the control exercised upon them by the Legislature, possess only such powers as are directly conferred upon them by their charters and by general statutes. Booten v. Pinson,
Numerous decisions of this Court hold that a municipal corporation possesses and can exercise certain powers and no others, and that such powers are: (1) Powers granted in express words by its charter or the general statutes under which it is incorporated; (2) powers necessarily or fairly implied in or incident to the powers expressly granted; and (3) powers essential to the declared objects and purposes of the corporation not simply convenient but indispensable. Hyre v.Brown,
It is significant that no case sustaining the validity of a contract, or a lease of property, covering a term of ninety nine years, without the present additional provision for *165
renewals for a similar period, made by a municipal corporation has been cited or discovered as authority to justify or support the action of the town in making the contract of October 10, 1941. In Smith v. Cornelius,
In support of its contention that the contract of October 10, 1941, is valid and enforceable, the board of education cites and relies upon the decisions of this Court in Welch Water, Lightand Power Company v. Town of Welch,
The deed of June 10, 1941, and the contract of October 10, 1941, both being invalid, the legal status of the board and of the town with respect to the property involved was unaffected and unchanged by either instrument. The title remained in the board and the town acquired no interest in the property. If the transactions between them had ended at that stage, the ensuing litigation might have been avoided. After the deed and the contract had been made, however, the board and the town arranged or consented to the institution of the proceeding in eminent domain by the United States of America against both of them to acquire title to the land then in law and in fact owned by the board. Though this proceeding was of a friendly nature, it was regular and valid in all respects, and resulted in the creation of a new title in the United States of America to the land free of any claim or interest whatsoever in it of either the board or the town. The order of the United States District Court of January 29, 1942, in effect expressly so provides. The recital, in that order, of the transactions and the agreements between the board and the town did not create or preserve any rights between them with respect to the land. The right or the power of eminent domain is an inherent and necessary attribute of sovereignty. State v. Horner,
The claim of the board that it is entitled to rights and equities in its favor against the town by virtue of prior transactions between them, including the deed of June *169
10, 1941, and the contract of October 10, 1941, with respect to the recreation property, in the event the town should purchase it from the United States of America, is not well founded. As already indicated, both these instruments are invalid and no rights accrued to the board from either of them. As between the board and the town they are entirely without force or effect. No act of the town deprived the board of title to the land formerly owned by it and which it continued to own until it was divested of its title, not by any action of the town, but by the proceeding in eminent domain to the institution of which it consented. It is unfortunate that the board, acting under an honest but mistaken view of law, should lose title to land for which it originally paid the aggregate sum of $1,771.53. The town, however, did not receive this money or take any land from the board by the deed of June 10, 1941, or by any other means. It is its right, as well as its duty, to challenge the validity of the unauthorized contract of October 10, 1941, because of its lack of power to make it. See Haymond v. Hyer,
The board of education insists that the bond issue is invalid because the order for the election contained no statement relative to the contract of October 10, 1941, and that, for that reason, the statute, Code, 1931,
The principles stated and the views set forth in this concurrence do not apply to the rights and the obligations of the board and the town which may have arisen from the deeds made by the board to the town for other properties and the leases upon them made by the town to the board for the reason that these matters are not involved or presented in this proceeding and as to them no opinion is entertained or expressed.
Though as already stated I concur in the judgment of reversal, I would, for the foregoing reasons, consider and decide the questions actually presented, and hold that the deed and the contract are invalid, that the recreation property may be purchased by the town from its owner, the United States of America, free of any claim or equity of the board, and that the proceeds of the bonds may be used for that purpose.
I completely disagree with the conclusion of Judge Fox, as indicated in his concurring opinion, that the view expressed by me, that the town may purchase the recreation property free of any claim or equity of the board approves "the unworthy spectacle of the repudiation by a governmental agency of its solemn agreement, and of such repudiation being made effective by the mandate of this Court". There is no basis, in law or in fact, for the use of the quoted language. It erroneously assumes the validity of a manifestly invalid undertaking, and it is not *172 supported by sound reason or by citation of authority. It is also inconsistent with the holding of the majority, for the assumption of the validity of the instrument of October 10, 1941, necessarily presupposes consideration and determination of that question which the majority in which he is included has refused to do.
As I have demonstrated by the citation of numerous decisions of this Court, the so-called contract of October 10, 1941, is clearly and completely invalid and unenforceable, at law and in equity, and the contention that the refusal by the town to comply with such an undertaking can amount to the "repudiation" of its "solemn agreement" when no such "solemn agreement" exists at law or in equity, or that supposed or fanciful "equities" can spring into being from or by virtue of an invalid and unenforceable undertaking, in the total absence of any authority for either assertion, is an enigma which, I submit, his concurring opinion merely presents and proclaims but utterly fails to solve or explain. The conclusive answer is that there can be no "repudiation", recognizable as such at law or in equity, of a void undertaking and that of itself it can create no rights or equities in favor of any party to it. In consequence the refusal of the town to abide by the void contract of October 10, 1941, does not repudiate any legally valid or binding promise, or justify the inference that in purchasing the property with the proceeds of the bonds, its own funds, it invades or violates any existing legal or equitable right or claim of the board.
I am authorized to state that Judge Riley concurs with me in the views expressed in this opinion.
Concurrence Opinion
I concur in the holding of the majority in this proceeding. However important it may be that the existing dispute between the Board of Education of Kanawha County and the Town of South Charleston be settled, it is just as important that in a matter involving the approval and *173 marketing of the bonded obligations of the state, counties, school districts and municipalities correct rules of procedure and action be defined and adhered to. With this thought in mind I am of the opinion that the function of the Attorney General, in cases of this character, is limited to passing on the legality of the bond issue, without regard to how the proceeds thereof may be expended, and I think we have authority for this position in the holding of this Court in Baxa v. Partlow, cited in the majority opinion. Of course, an expenditure for a purpose other than that for which the issue was proposed, can be prevented by appropriate proceedings independent of any question of the legality of the bond issue itself.
It would be unnecessary to say more were it not for the concurring opinion of Judge Haymond, concurred in by Judge Riley, which not only argues for the power of this Court to pass on the dispute between the Board and the Town, but proceeds to hold the Attorney General in error and decides the dispute aforesaid in favor of the Town of South Charleston. It is to this latter point of decision that this opinion will be directed.
My disagreement with the concurring opinion of Judge Haymond lies in the contention made therein to the effect that the Town of South Charleston is entitled to repudiate its solemn undertaking, an agreement in writing, and its recognition of that agreement on a court record, and as a reward therefor is permitted to take and hold absolute title to property for which, as between it and the Board of Education of Kanawha County, it paid nothing, and the title to which property it accepted, in the first instance, subject to its specific written agreement which this Court now permits it to repudiate, without placing the interested parties in status quo. The claimed justification for this contention, which, in my opinion, would bring about an unjust and inequitable result, is that a condemnation proceeding by which the United States of America acquired title to the property involved, wiped out all agreements *174 and all equities theretofore existing, as between the Town of South Charleston and the Board of Education of Kanawha County, in relation to the property here involved. The admitted fact that neither the Town of South Charleston, nor the Board of Education of Kanawha County, ever intended such result, and contracted against it, and recognized the force of such contract, is ignored.
That my position may be fully understood, let me state that I concede that the United States of America, through the condemnation proceeding, aforesaid, acquired absolute title to the property covered thereby, free and clear of any rights or equities therein, possessed by either the Town of South Charleston or the Board of Education of Kanawha County. Having acquired such absolute title, it could transfer the same to any person, other than the town or board, and the transferee would have held the same absolute title to the property as that vested in the United States of America. Furthermore, having such absolute title, it could transfer the same to either the Town of South Charleston or the Board of Education of Kanawha County, and vest in either the complete legal title thereto. But when the legal title to the property became thus vested in one of the parties to the 1941 agreement, referred to in the concurring opinion, the grantee of the legal title would, by reason of said 1941 agreement, hold the same in the same relation, and subject to the said agreement, as it was held before the condemnation proceeding was instituted. In this case, we may say that the holder of the legal title would hold the same in trust for itself and other interested parties; or we can say that a party to an agreement, such as existed in this case, is estopped from making any claim to property involved inconsistent with the agreement, under which it acquired title thereto, and that it is immaterial how it acquired title to such property. This proceeding is controlled by equitable principles. One who makes an agreement in respect to a particular property is held to that agreement so long as he holds title thereto, and his obligation thereunder is not *175 destroyed by the fact that the title has temporarily passed out of his hands. If he afterwards reacquires title, his obligation exists to the same extent as when it was originally created, particularly when he contracts to do so. The situation is analogous, although, of course, different, from that where there is a general warranty of title to real estate. Then, when an agreement is made between parties, and one or both, as a result thereof, is induced to surrender rights or property or otherwise prejudices himself, the other party is estopped to assert any claim, however derived, the effect of which, if admitted, would amount to a repudiation of his original agreement. Here the Board of Education of Kanawha County was induced to part with valuable property, without any consideration other than a lease agreement on the part of the grantee, the Town of South Charleston; and if that agreement is permitted to be repudiated, the Board of Education has lost its property without compensation. I do not think it necessary to cite authority in support of the fundamental principles controlling a trust relationship or estoppel. The concurring opinion is strangely silent in recognizing their force, or even mentioning them.
The case at bar seems to present a clear instance where these principles should be applied. The Board of Education of Kanawha County purchased certain lots in South Charleston at a cost of $1,771.53. By reason of the war activities of the United States of America it was understood that if the Town of South Charleston would furnish a site, and otherwise sponsor the project, the United States would erect a recreation building on the site so furnished. To facilitate the project, there was an agreement between the town and the Board of Education that certain lots theretofore purchased by the Board of Education would be conveyed to the town without a money consideration, but that in return for such conveyance the town would lease the said lots, and the proposed recreation building to be erected thereon, to the Board of Education for a term of ninety-nine years, with provision for renewal *176 for two like periods. The conveyance of the lots was made by the Board of Education to the Town of South Charleston, on June 10, 1941, and the contemplated lease agreement was entered into on October 10, 1941. The whole purpose was to induce the United States of America to erect a recreation building on said lots, which it was believed would be a valuable asset to the community. It was, of course, contemplated that the town would convey the lots to the United States of America. When attorneys for the government looked into the matter, they concluded that it would be safer to institute a condemnation proceeding against both the Board of Education and the Town of South Charleston, and secure title to the lots in that way. This was done, and all interested persons, including the town and the board, were brought into the proceeding as parties. It was in effect a friendly suit. The United States of America paid a compensation of one dollar for the property which had cost the Board of Education the sum of $1,771.53. To show that this proceeding was not intended, as between the town and the board, to change the relation between them, as it affected said property, the final order in the condemnation proceeding entered on the 29th day of January, 1942, contained a recital of the agreement, between the board and the town, and the lease dated October 10, 1941, as follows: "* * * that if the land should be conveyed to the United States of America and it should reconvey it to the town or its designated grantee, the town, or such grantee, would forthwith lease the property to the board, in conformity to the form of the proposed lease, for a term of ninety-nine years with the right to renew it for two additional terms of ninety-nine years each and that the prior conveyance of the lots and the parts of lots by the board to the town should constitute the consideration for such lease." In that way, the Town of South Charleston, and the Board of Education, attempted to foreclose any claim which the town might make to the property, free of its contract with the board, in the event title to the property should thereafter become vested in the town. I know of no reason why this Court should feel *177 impelled to force the Town of South Charleston to repudiate this well understood and well defined obligation.
We have here a case where two public agencies, apparently acting in good faith with each other, and seeking to serve mutual interests, entered into a written agreement. One of them furnished the valuable property to which their agreement related. It may be that in entering into this agreement each exceeded its legal powers; but in that event, there being no fraud involved, if the agreement should be declared invalid, the parties would ordinarily be restored to the status quo. There was no legal test of the agreement prior to the condemnation proceeding, aforesaid, and that proceeding made such test unnecessary, so far as the United States was concerned. The United States, after obtaining title to the lots involved, erected a recreational building thereon. After the end of the war, the lots and building were declared surplus property and offered for sale, and the Town of South Charleston, and as we understand, the Board of Education of Kanawha County, desired to purchase the same, but in this case we are dealing with the offer of the town to purchase said property. In this situation, what is it that prevents the Town of South Charleston and the Board of Education of Kanawha County from having made effective the contract entered between them? Of what concern is it to the Federal Government, after it has parted with its title and received the price it demands therefor, what this Court may decree as between the town and the board? And, in the face of the plain agreement between the town and the board, how can the temporary ownership of the title to the property by the Federal Government be given the effect of nullifying the contract between the town and the board aforesaid.
According to the concurring opinion, the Town of South Charleston may purchase the said lots and the building thereon out of the proceeds of the $18,500.00 bond issue which it would approve; and when it does so, may hold *178 title to the same, free and clear of its obligation to lease the same to the Board of Education, under its contract of October 10, 1941, as recognized and referred to in the condemnation order of January 29, 1942; and may, in that manner, repudiate the very agreement which gave to it the claimed priority with respect to the right to purchase the property involved from the United States.
I do not believe that such a holding would conform to the principles of equity and fair dealing which should prevail in dealings between man and man, and which, for stronger reasons, should prevail as between agencies of government. These two governmental agencies set out, in good faith, to accomplish a result which was believed would be beneficial to the community which, in a different manner, was served by each. To effect this purpose the Board of Education conveyed valuable property to the Town of South Charleston, on the strength of a specific written agreement; an agreement which contemplated that the property so conveyed might thereafter be transferred to the United States of America, and still later might be reconveyed to the town. Every contingency was provided for to the end that the rights of the Board of Education in the property should not be lost; and yet, now that the contemplated return of the title to the said lots into the hands of the Town of South Charleston, in the same form as it was before the condemnation proceeding was instituted, is about to be effected, we are told that all the agreements aforesaid may be repudiated, the equities of the Board of Education destroyed, and, in effect, the money it invested in the property involved confiscated, all for the benefit of the Town of South Charleston, which can only accept such benefits by the repudiation of its agreement not to do so.
My position is that when and if the town purchases from the United States of America the lots and building here involved, it will hold the property in exactly the same relation as that in which it held the lots prior to the condemnation *179 proceeding. In other words, it should be held to its solemn undertaking in that regard. That and nothing more. If the lease agreement should prove to be invalid, then, neither party being at fault, in any sense of intended wrong doing, they would be restored to the status they occupied before the deed of June 10, 1941, and the agreement of October 10, 1941, were executed. Of course, this would involve a reimbursement to the town of any amount paid by it to the United States of America. Thus equity would be dealt out to all parties concerned, and neither party would be unjustly enriched at the expense of the other. Furthermore, we would be saved the unworthy spectacle of the repudiation by a governmental agency of its solemn agreement, and of such repudiation being made effective by the mandate of this Court.