Opinion ID: 1613294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Future Maintenance Requirements and 3. Damages

Text: We will address issues 2 and 3 together as they both concern the issue of just compensation for the taking of Bechtold's property. First, Bechtold argues trial court erred when it calculated its damage award because the evidence was unclear as to who would be responsible for maintenance on the ditch, and did not clearly establish what the estimated maintenance costs would be. As to Bechtold's assertion that it is unclear who will maintain the ditch, our review of the pleadings, trial transcript, and other evidence reveals City has accepted all maintenance responsibilities. Further, there is ample evidence that the drainage ditch was to be constructed in such a manner as to allow for relatively simple long-term maintenance, and City planned it that way since it intended to maintain the ditch. Thus, we find it clear City has assumed responsibility to maintain the ditch. The second portion of Bechtold's argument is that it is difficult to ascertain any potential damage from a failure to maintain the ditch and trial court, therefore, could not have included such an amount in its damage calculations. When discussing the calculation of the potential damages, Bechtold's expert testified as follows: Q: (by Mr. Johnson) What about the future maintenance plans on this channel? A: (by Mr. Felker) There is no agreement of record that I am aware of as to that. Q: Okay, and does this complicate the making of an appraisal of this property? A: Yes, it does.... Q: What about the damage done to the remainder, what did you figure on that? A: Well, damages to the remainder are sometimes difficult to estimate. .... Notwithstanding this alleged difficulty, Felker advised trial court of his opinion for just compensation. This testimony was his opinion as to what a willing buyer would pay to a willing seller before the taking and after the taking, and is the appropriate measure of damages in a condemnation action. Basin Elec. Power Co-op v. Poindexter, 305 N.W.2d 46 (S.D. 1981). Since this witness testified to the difficulty in assessing damages to the remainder, it can only be concluded, based on this record, that the complications mentioned in his testimony were taken into consideration in arriving at his after-taking valuation. This court has previously ruled that evidence regarding future damages in a condemnation action may be admissible under some unique circumstances. State By & Through Dept., Etc. v. Richey Motor, 296 N.W.2d 505 (S.D.1980). However, the evidence in the present case does not reflect such a unique situation that trial court was required to consider, as an element of damage, any alleged future maintenance deficiencies. Richey, supra . As such, we cannot say trial court erred in its damage award because it did not specifically include a separate award for this potential future damage in the event City did not ultimately maintain the ditch. Such damages would be speculative at best, and this court has previously held: `The elements of damage ... must not be remote, speculative or uncertain; they must be direct and proximate, and not such as are merely possible.' Basin Elec. Power, 305 N.W.2d at 49 (quoting Neb. Elec. Generation & Trans. Co-op., v. Tinant, 90 S.D. 284, 291-92, 241 N.W.2d 134, 138 (S.D.1976) (citation omitted)). If, in the future, City's maintenance of the drainage channel causes an additional taking of the Bechtold property, Bechtold may be entitled to seek further compensation under our prior decisions dealing with inverse condemnation. See Hurley v. State, 82 S.D. 156, 143 N.W.2d 722 (1966); State Highway Commission v. Bloom, 77 S.D. 452, 93 N.W.2d 572 (1958). Trial court heard testimony on the measure of damages from City's engineers and appraiser, as well as from Bechtold's appraiser. While the evidence was admittedly in conflict, trial court considered the range of figures presented and awarded damages within the range of those figures. We find that trial court's damage award is supported in the record by a clear preponderance of the evidence. Gross, supra . Accordingly, we hold trial court did not err in its calculation of just compensation and its judgment is affirmed.