No. 90-308 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF MONTANA 1990

THE GALLATIN SADDLE AND HARNESS CLUB, Plaintiff and Appellant,

4r-i Q RAMON S. WHITE, JANE JELINSKI,A.D. PRUITT, 

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# - -4 Individually and as Members of the Board of 32- 0 

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# -- County Commissioners of the County of Gallatin, r- . 

## mr and THE COUNTY OF GALLATIN, 1' 

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.. . Defendants and Respondents. !1-1 I 1 -1 CJ

APPEAL FROM: District Court of the EighteenthJudicialDistrict, In and for the County of Gallatin, The Honorable Byron L. Robb, Judgepresiding.

COUNSEL OF RECORD: For Appellant: Timothy C. Bolton, Big Sky Law Office, Big Sky, Montana For Respondent: A. Michael Salvagni, County Attorney, Bozeman, Montana

Submitted on Briefs: September 13, 1990 Filed: ~ecided: October 25, 1990Justice

### R. C. McDonough delivered the Opinion of the Court. plaintiff, theGallatin SaddleandHarnessClub (SaddleClub)

### , appeals froman order of theEighteenthJudicial District,Gallatin County granting summary judgment in favor of the Board of County Commissioners of Gallatin County. We affirm. Both the Saddle Club and the County Commissioners raise numerous issues on appeal, including sovereign immunity, failure to join an indispensable party, eminent domain, constitutional issues, mootness and standing. We hold, however, that one issue is dispositive of this appeal. The issue is: Whether the County 

### omm missioners have the authority to lease 8.55 acres of the

### all at in County Fairgroundsto Bozeman Baseball, Inc., for the purpose of building a ball field. Gallatin County received theproperty, unencumbered,on which theg all at in County

### g air grounds is located fromSyracuseUniversity in 1914. Through theyears the fairgroundshas been used formany purposes. One of the primary purposes has been the holding of an annual county fair. The property has also been utilized by other organizations,however. It has been the site for antique fairs, auctions, fraternity and sorority functions, and school athletic events. TheGallatinCounty Saddleand HarnessClub isone of themany organizations thathave utilized the fairgrounds. The Saddle Club is a private non-profit organization with a primary purpose of developing equestrian activities for itsmemberswho own,trainandbreed pleasure horses. In pursuit of this endeavor, the Saddle Club constructed a Hunt Course on the fairgrounds property. Apparently the Hunt Course is utilized several times a year. One of the events utilizing the course is the Bob Miller Horse Show, which is the largest horse show in the State of Montana. In January of 1989, the County Commissioners published a notice in the Bozeman Chronicle which stated that a hearing would be held to I1considerselectionof amulti-purpose ballfield site.I1 The notice further stated that the County Fairgrounds was under consideration as a site for the multi-purpose fields. Followingthishearing,theCountyCommissionersappointed six individuals to develop a management plan for the ball field facility, which was to be located in the northeast corner of the fairgrounds. Apparently, this proposed site was located in the

same area as the Saddle ClublsHunt Course. Eventually, a management plan was adopted and a decision was made to lease the site to Bozeman Baseball, Inc. for the purpose of constructing a baseball diamond. The Saddle Club maintained that thisaction, takenby theCountyCommissioners,was arbitrary, capricious and in violation of Montana law. It therefore filed a lawsuit seeking an order enjoining the County Commissioners from entering into the lease agreement. It also sought a declaratory judgment that the County 

### commissioners^ actions were in contravention of various sections of theMontana code. The County Commissionersmoved for summary judgment on December 29, 1989. On April 2, 1990, this motion was granted and this appeal followed.The SaddleClubmaintains thattheCounty ~omrnissioners failed to comply with several statutory directives when they decided to lease the land to Bozeman Baseball, Inc. It states in its brief that all of the statutes relating to the lease of county property must be read together as one consistent whole. The Saddle Club therefore argues 88 7-8-2231, 7-8-2502, 7-8-2508, and 7-21-3407, MCA, should be applied in reviewing the decision of the County Commissioners. Expanding upon this argument, the Saddle Club maintains that before the County Commission could validly lease the fairground property, it had to first find that the land was not necessary to the county's business and that it could not be immediately sold. See S 7-8-2231, MCA. It further argues that the County Commissioners did not determine that the proceeds of the lease equaled the taxes which could be levied upon the land if it was privately owned. Therefore,the SaddleClub argues that theCounty Commissioners violated 

### 5 7-8-2508, MCA. Finally, it argues that baseball is not an agricultural activity and that the lease therefore violates the mandate that the County Fair be held for agriculturalpurposes. See 5 7-21-3407,MCA. We disagree with the assertion that the County Commissioners

were required to follow the mandate of these statutes. On the contrary, 

### H 7-21-3409, MCA, specifically sets out their duty when they lease county fairgroundsproperty. This statute states: Boards of county commissioners 

# . . . are hereby authorized to lease county fairgrounds and buildings thereon on such terms as they deem proper. Section 7- 21-3409(I),MCA.There is an obvious conflict between this statute and the general statutes cited above. For example, 

### B 7-21-3409(1),MCA, grants discretion to the County Commissioners to determine the terms of the lease. Section 7-8-2508, MCA, on the other hand, imposes some of the terms of the lease. In interpreting conflicting statutes, this Court follows the rule that where a specific statute conflicts with a general statute, the specific controls over the general to the extent of any inconsistency. See Browman v. Wood (1975), 168 Mont. 341, 543 P.2d 184. The inconsistencies between these statutes lead to the obvious conclusion that the County Commissioners are required to follow 

### 5 7-21-3409(1), MCA, when leasing fairground property. There is

no evidence the County Commissioners abused their discretion in carrying out thisduty,nor isthere any evidence that thebaseball fieldswill interfere with the annual county fair. The order of the ~istrict Court granting summary judgment in favor of the County Commissioners is therefore affirmed.

We Concur: