Opinion ID: 865767
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Facts relevant to both cases

Text: ¶4. IWCLC owns land on both sides of the Mississippi River levee, the land over which the road is situated, and a small portion of Paw Paw Island. The Board of Mississippi Levee Commissioners (“levee board”) owns the levee, and also leases some land to IWCLC. The road begins at Highway 465, also called Eagle Lake Road. The first segment (0.13 miles) runs west from the highway to a gate southwest of the levee. It is a public road without dispute. The road continues west and south (0.47 miles) over IWCLC land to the low-water bridge at Paw Paw Chute. IWCLC bought the property in 2002 from ATCO, a timber company, which had owned the property since 1928. ATCO leased hunting and fishing rights to Big Rack Hunting Club and Oak Ridge Hunting Club. PPILC now owns nearly all of the island, having bought it from another timber company, Crown Zellerbach 3 (“CZ”) in July 1995. CZ leased hunting and fishing rights to Paw Paw Island Hunting Club (PPIHC) 3 CZ went through various mergers and name changes during this time. The names include St. Francisville Paper Company, James River, Crown Vantage, and Tembec. These corporations collectively will be called “CZ.” 3 beginning in 1969. CZ terminated the lease on January 20, 1994. In 1994-95, CZ cut timber and hunted on the island, but PPIHC did not hunt on the island. Prior to CZ’s purchase of the island in January 1969, it was owned by Wyly and Alluvial. ¶5. Before creation of the island, the land was part of the land mass of Louisiana and separated from ATCO’s property by the main channel of the Mississippi River. When the trail, which later became a road, was first established is unknown. The record is silent as to any use of the property by Wyly and/or Alluvial before and after the island was created. One witness remembered the road was used by hunters, occasional fishermen, foresters, and game wardens as far back as 1953. ¶6. PPILC alleged in its complaint that it possessed a prescriptive easement created by its predecessors in title, beginning in 1934 and completed by 1944. Tim Evans, an ATCO administrator, testified that hunting had occurred on the island since 1934 and that hunters had used the road to get to the island since that time. He testified that PPIHC later built a boat ramp on ATCO’s property. He knew of no permission sought from or granted by ATCO, contrary to the testimony of some hunting-club members. (See infra Bankston testimony ¶10). Earnest Wright testified that he first hunted in the area in 1953 along with his father, a PPIHC member, and that there was a gate east of the levee at that time. Wright testified that PPIHC had a clubhouse on the island in 1953, but that no buildings existed on ATCO’s property. He stated that PPIHC built and maintained the bridge. Wright recalled nine other members of the club who used the boat ramp to reach the island. ¶7. Bobby Herrington testified that he hunted on the island as a member of PPIHC, beginning in 1963. He recalled that his father was president of PPIHC in the mid-sixties 4 when electrical service was provided to the island via power lines along the road. He recalled the club’s efforts to improve the bridge. Robert Reeder, a former PPIHC member, testified that he hunted on the island beginning in 1963 along with his father and grandfather, both also PPIHC members. He recalled using the boat ramp when it was dirt, then gravel and later, concrete. He testified about improvements made to the bridge, road, and culverts. E.C. Burkhardt, an ATCO forester, testified that he visited the island in 1965 and that it was being used for hunting at that time and that PPIHC had a clubhouse there. ¶8. Although ATCO had hunting lessees, Oak Ridge and Big Rack hunting clubs, no clubhouse was built on ATCO property until 1968. That same year, the gate east of the levee was moved west of the levee, to a point where the current gate is located. Moving the gate was a joint project of Big Rack and PPIHC. John Lindigrin, a former member of PPIHC and now an officer and shareholder of PPILC, testified that moving the gate was a mutual decision. John Byram, a Big Rack member, testified that Big Rack moved the gate because the levee board required them to allow public access to the levee. The current leveemaintenance contract between the levee board and IWCLC prohibits any gates obstructing public access to the levee and the road atop the levee. David McDonald, a Big Rack member who is now a county supervisor, testified that he took part in the gate project and that it was done to prevent vandalism by trespassers. The gate was secured by a chain with multiple padlocks on it. Unlocking any one of the padlocks released the chain. Earnest Wright testified that ATCO, Big Rack, and PPIHC each had a lock on the gate. No testimony was adduced that Wyly and/or Alluvial had a lock on this gate or the prior gates. 5 ¶9. CZ bought the island in 1969. CZ and PPIHC improved the road and bridge. Freddie Hatcher, a CZ road-maintenance foreman, testified that, when CZ bought the property, the road was “a little old narrow [dirt] trail” with gravel in some spots. He stated that CZ graveled and widened the road from the levee to the island, pulled ditches, sloped the banks, and improved the bridge. Hatcher said he worked on the road annually through 1994, spending six to eight weeks a year there during CZ’s timber operations. Pat Weber, a CZ manager, testified that the bridge was a “very crude low water bridge.” Lindigrin and others testified that CZ improved the bridge by installing a flatbed rail car. Carl Clay, who later did road and bridge maintenance work for PPILC, testified that he crossed the bridge with his road grader. Since then, at least ten mobile homes have been transported across the bridge. ¶10. CZ and PPIHC also improved the boat launch and parking area. Weber testified that the boat launch and parking area already had been in use when CZ bought the property. Bobby Bankston, a PPIHC board member, testified that he and his brother, also a PPIHC member, built the concrete boat ramp using club funds. Bankston stated that Weber, a CZ manager, approved the project, including the location of the ramp. ¶11. Evidence was offered that, during the time the two properties were owned by timber companies, usage of the lands was governed by the timber-industry custom of neighborly courtesy. Evans testified that both companies crossed the property of the other without any formal agreement and that each maintained the road as necessary to “move wood.” Jeff Portwood, a CZ manager, testified that the companies and their hunting lessees used the same road, and that each of them had a lock on the gate. PPILC stipulated that ATCO and CZ had 6 allowed each other to use the road. IWCLC also presented evidence that some PPIHC members in the 1970s and 1980s believed their use had been permissive. ¶12. In 1994, CZ terminated PPIHC’s hunting lease. No hunting and fishing leases for any time period were introduced into evidence. PPIHC’s members removed club and personal property from the island. In 1995, CZ sold the island to PPILC, a new corporation, whose shareholders included some of the former members of PPIHC. Lindigrin, who became a PPILC officer, testified that he believed it was part of the sales agreement between CZ and PPILC that CZ would negotiate with ATCO to obtain a written easement for PPILC. Evans, an ATCO manager, testified that he drafted easement agreements for the road and for other locations where ATCO land bordered CZ land, but that CZ never agreed. He stated that he had been concerned about the informal nature of their interactions in the Paw Paw area and elsewhere. After the sale, PPILC continued to discuss an easement with ATCO, but no easement agreement was reached. Martin Lewis, an executive vice-president of ATCO, testified that he offered PPILC a one-year easement in 1996, but that PPILC refused, claiming for the first time it had a prescriptive easement. ¶13. As the new owner of the island after July 1995, PPILC continued to maintain portions of the road and to make other improvements. Lindigrin testified that phone service was instituted on the island in 1997 after underground cables were installed traversing ATCO land. ¶14. In 1997, members of Oak Ridge complained that PPILC vehicles parked near the boat launch were too close to the Oak Ridge clubhouse. Evans informed Lindigrin, and PPILC agreed to park vehicles farther away from Oak Ridge, in an area designated by ATCO. 7 ¶15. In 2002 IWCLC bought ATCO’s property. Before after the sale, PPILC negotiated with Marty Elrod, an IWCLC officer and a PPILC shareholder, to obtain a written easement. PPILC also offered to buy the road, parking area, and boat ramp, but no agreement was reached. Prior to the sale, IWCLC had the property surveyed to determine the boundaries and to lay out plats for fifteen home sites. The surveyor recommended relocation of a segment of the road to allow for home sites along Paw Paw Chute. IWCLC replaced the gate southwest of the levee with a new gate in the same location.4 In 2003, IWCLC informed PPILC by letter that the parking area, boat ramp, and a small segment of the road would have to be relocated to make room for the homes to be built along Paw Paw Chute. PPILC then filed this action in chancery court. II. Facts relevant only to IWCLC versus Warren County ¶16. In 1988, Warren County converted from the beat system to the county-unit system of road maintenance. As a part of this process, the Board carried out the statutorily required functions of inventorying public roads eligible for county maintenance and adopting a map of such roads. A Board resolution dated April 17, 1988, stated, “The inventory list attached hereto shall be the official inventory of County maintained roads and with the names indicated being the official names of said roads and with the amount of mileage indicated being the amount of mileage on said road which is subject to maintenance by the Warren County Board of Supervisors.” The county did not present into evidence the map adopted 4 The chain on the gate had locks for PPILC; IWCLC; utility providers; CZ, which retained timber rights to its former property; and ATCO, which retained timber rights to its former property. 8 by the Board in April 1988. IWCLC presented a 1988 map, revised in April 1989. That map shows a gate located west of the levee. Beyond the gate, the road is indicated by a redshaded line. The map legend states that a red line means “Road not accepted or maintained by the county as of April 1989.” The Board resolution and minutes do not include the length of the road. The road name list attached to the resolution lists only map coordinates, but not road length or the beginning and ending points of the roads. Board members, the county engineer, and a county surveyor testified that, as a result of the 1988 resolution, the road became a county road for 0.6 miles from the highway to the low-water bridge. They testified that “not accepted or maintained” meant that the road southwest of the gate was a county road that was not being maintained. A county road sign near the gate bears the words “End of County Maintenance.” Regarding this sign, a county supervisor testified, “We couldn’t very well put it beyond the gate, it being closed.” No one testified that the county had a lock or key to enter. Two current supervisors testified that they were required to inspect all county roads annually, but that they had never inspected the road beyond the gate. ¶17. In June 2000, the Board carried out the statutorily required functions of preparing and adopting an “official map designating and delineating all public roads on the county road system” and a “county road system register.” Miss. Code Ann. § 65-7-4 (Rev. 2005). The register was to include the name of the road and a “general reference to the terminal points and course of each such road.” Miss. Code Ann. § 65-7-4(2) (Rev. 2005). A map dated June 2000 was proffered, but was marked for identification only. It shows the road as public for only the first 0.13 miles, beginning at the highway. The road register adopted by the Board on June 19, 2000, indicates that the road is public for 0.13 miles from “HWY 465” to “END 9 OF COUNTY MAINTENANCE.” Other county-road registers were introduced into evidence, all of which list the road as public for 0.13 miles. One of these registers, which County Engineer John McKee testified was from “right before 2003,” includes two lines for the road. The first line lists the road as public for 0.13 miles from the highway to the levee. The second line lists the road as “PRIVATE” from the levee to “DEAD END.” McKee, after refreshing his memory by viewing other maps and registers prepared between 2000 and 2005, all of which stated that the road was public for only 0.13 miles, continued to insist that the road inside the gate was public but not maintained. ¶18. In July 2005, while the PPILC-IWCLC trial was ongoing, PPILC sought intervention by the Board. By that time, IWCLC had installed an additional gate, requiring PPILC to use the new segment of the road, which exhibits indicate is closer to the bridge accessing the island. PPILC attended an informal meeting of the Board on July 14, 2005. The next day, PPILC wrote the Board a letter requesting that it order IWCLC to remove the gates, allow public access to the old road,5 and cease construction of houses on IWCLC’s own land. The Board received the letter at its official meeting on July 19. The record of that meeting does not indicate any action taken by the Board. Yet, on July 21, the Board attorney sent IWCLC a letter ordering it to remove the gates, allow public access, and cease construction. According to the testimony of Board members, both PPILC and IWCLC had an opportunity to meet with the Board before the next official meeting on August 1, 2005. At that meeting, 5 This position is contrary to the existence of a private prescriptive easement. PPILC maintained at trial it possessed a prescriptive easement acquired by a prior owner. PPILC adopted its former position in its brief to this Court, wherein it joined the county’s legal position that the road was public. 10 the Board passed a resolution authorizing the Board attorney “to take whatever steps are necessary in regards to the .06 of a mile (sic) of public road referred to as Paw Paw Road and to proceed with haste and deliberation to get that matter resolved as soon as possible.” Less than two hours after the resolution passed, IWCLC filed in chancery court a twenty-two-page complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief.