Opinion ID: 2013455
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Town of Leroy

Text: ¶ 63. Finally, we determine whether the Town of Leroy should be held liable for its failure to trim the branches obstructing the view of the stop sign. Again, we first note the relationship between the Town of Leroy, the tree, and the stop sign. The tree is partially within the Town of Leroy's highway right-of-way for Ledge Road. In April of each year, Town of Leroy personnel inspect the roads to assure stop signs are in good condition, but apparently do not inspect for obstruction of stop signs. We again note that the morning after the accident a Town of Leroy representative assisted Donald Franke in cutting the offending branches. We also note that at the time of the accident Ermanelda Franke was the Town of Leroy Assessor and her neighbor, Linus Schraufnagel, was Town Chairman. [34] ¶ 64. The Town of Leroy argues that it is not liable for failing to abate the public nuisance because (1) under the Wisconsin Statutes the sole duty to maintain the stop sign lies with Dodge County, and (2) the Town of Leroy does not have a common law duty to maintain the stop sign. [39] ¶ 65. With regard to the first issue, we acknowledge that Dodge County has a duty to maintain the stop sign. However, we decline to conclude that this is an exclusive duty that relieves the Town of Leroy of its responsibilities. Under Wis. Stat. § 81.01, the Town of Leroy shall have the care and supervision of all highways in the town, and shall [e]nter any private lands with their employees and agents for the purposes of removing weeds and brush. . . . § 81.01(10). We further recognize that § 81.15 grants a private right of action against a town, city or village to recover damages due to the insufficiency or want of repairs of any highway. . . . While the Town of Leroy's liability is not directly based on a claim under § 81.15, this statute, in combination with the other statutes previously discussed, leads us to conclude that there is no public policy rationale for relieving the Town of Leroy of liability for a hazardous condition present in its right-of-way. [40] ¶ 66. Second, the Town of Leroy argues that it is not liable here because it did not have a common law duty to maintain the stop sign. We first note that this argument erroneously restricts the scope of this case to the stop sign and ignores the Town of Leroy's duty to trim the tree branches located in its right-of-way obstructing visibility of a stop sign. While we acknowledge that the Town of Leroy does not have a common law duty to maintain stop signs placed and maintained by Dodge County, this argument ignores the statutory provisions discussed above, charging it with the care and supervision of all highways in the town. Although Wis. Stat. § 81.01 includes the phrase, except as otherwise provided, we decline to construe that phrase to mean that if another governmental entity also has a duty to maintain a stop sign, the Town of Leroy is relieved of its duty to maintain its highways. Rather, we conclude that both governmental units had a duty, neither of which was exclusive of the other. Based on the statutory provisions requiring the Town of Leroy to maintain its highways, including its rights-of-way, we conclude that it had a duty here to trim the tree branches that it knew, or should have known, were present in its right-of-way, and which were obstructing the view of a stop sign. Accordingly, we affirm the conclusion of the court of appeals regarding the Town of Leroy's duty to abate the public nuisance. ¶ 67. In summary, we affirm the court of appeals' decision that, if the public nuisance is found to be a cause of the accident, none of the defendants can escape liability for maintaining a public nuisance due to public policy considerations. Based on the statutes, regulations, case law, and public policy concerns, we conclude that each of the defendants, the Frankes, Dodge County, and Town of Leroy, had a relationship with respect to either the stop sign or the tree, making each individually responsible for trimming the offending branchesabating the public nuisance.