Opinion ID: 1658412
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the release of right of way

Text: Eyde contends that before the Eaton County Drain Commissioner could authorize construction of the sewer, it should have secured from Eyde a release of right of way pursuant to §§ 321 and 73 of the Drain Code of 1956. Under § 321 of the Drain Code, drain commissioners are directed to gain permits or releases of right of way for laying drains [7] within or across a highway right of way: Drains may be laid within or across the right of way of any highway, provided it shall be necessary for the county drain commissioner to obtain first a permit from the highway authority having jurisdiction. If title in fee simple be not in the highway authority, said commissioner shall also obtain a release of right of way for the purposes of such drain from the owner of the land, as provided in sections 73, 74 and 75 of this act. [MCL 280.321; MSA 11.1321.] If Mt. Hope Highway had become a public highway by statutory dedication, the title in fee simple would be in the Eaton County Road Commissioner. Because the highway is a public highway by user, Eyde remains the fee owner. Therefore, under § 321 a release of right of way must be secured through §§ 73, 74, and 75 of the Drain Code. Section 73 applies to those lands that are to be traversed or damaged by the proposed drain: The commissioner shall secure from a professional engineer, plans, specifications and an estimate of cost of the proposed drain and descriptions of the lands or rights of way needed for the proposed drain. In approving the route of the drain as furnished by the engineers the commissioner shall not be limited to that described in the petition or in the first order of determination, if the new route is more efficient and serviceable. The commissioner shall endeavor to secure from the owners of each parcel or tract of land to be traversed or damaged by the proposed drain or drains an easement or release of right of way and all damages on account thereof. [MCL 280.73; MSA 11.1073. Emphasis added.] The emphasized sentence deals with two distinct actions. The first is to secure an easement, and the second is to secure a release of right of way. In the instant case, because there already is an easement in the public, there is no need to acquire a new easement for the construction of the sewer. As to the second action, because the Blue Cross sewer would traverse the subsurface of the Mt. Hope Highway easement, the drain commissioner may secure a release of right of way pursuant to § 74 which governs the methods for obtaining releases of rights of way. Under § 74, Eyde claims that the consent of the fee owner is necessary for a release of right of way when the proposed drain is to be constructed within a highway. We disagree. When the existing easement is, as in the instant case, within any street, highway or public place, § 74 gives the drain commissioner an alternative method to obtaining a direct release from Eyde as the fee owner. The statute states: Commissioners may take acknowledgments of releases of right of way and administer oaths in all proceedings in any way pertaining to drains under this act. A simple form of release of right of way and damages that shall set forth by reference to the survey of the drain, or by other convenient description, the particular land to be conveyed and signed and acknowledged by the person having the right to convey, shall be deemed a sufficient conveyance under the provisions of this act. All releases for rights of way shall be deemed to include sufficient ground on each side of the center line of such drain for the deposit of the excavations therefrom. It shall not be necessary for the wife to sign the release of right of way unless she has an interest in the land other than her inchoate right of dower. Whenever a portion of a drain shall be located within any street, highway or public place, then a resolution adopted by a majority vote of the governing body having jurisdiction over such street, highway or public place granting leave to construct such drain therein, designating the place to be traversed by said drain, shall be a sufficient release of the right of way, and shall be deemed a sufficient conveyance under this act, and said governing body may permit the construction of an open drain if such consent be set forth in such resolution. [MCL 280.74; MSA 11.1074. Emphasis added.] The section consists of five sentences. The first four sentences apply generally to releases. The fifth and critical sentence to our analysis governs that specific instance when a drain is to be constructed within a highway. In the instant case, Blue Cross' proposed sewer is to be located within the subsurface of Mt. Hope Highway, and toward that end Blue Cross has executed two municipal utility agreements, one with the Eaton County Drain Commissioner and one with the Charter Township of Delta. In each agreement, Blue Cross is granted leave to construct a sewer. However, the Eaton County Drain Commissioner has specifically denied any jurisdiction over the drain until construction is complete, thus the necessary release of right of way by ... the governing body having jurisdiction over such ... highway did not originate from the drain commissioner. Delta appears to have accepted jurisdiction over the easement, for in paragraph 7 of Delta's March 20, 1984, municipal utility agreement with Blue Cross, Delta granted to Blue Cross the permission to construct the sewer within the public easement. The day before, on March 19, 1984, the Delta Township Board passed a resolution granting Blue Cross leave to construct the Mt. Hope Highway sewer. Because the sewer is to be constructed within the highway, this resolution constituted a sufficient release of right of way under § 74 of the Drain Code. Thus, Eyde's consent to a release of right of way was not necessary. Eyde claims that the Eaton County Drain Commissioner lacks authority to delegate the construction of the sewer to Blue Cross because Blue Cross is a private developer constructing a private drain. However, § 433 of the Drain Code grants this authority to the drain commissioner. As the developer of the land, Blue Cross can construct its proposed sewer by entering into agreement with the drain commissioner. MCL 280.433; MSA 11.1433. The municipal utility agreement dated February 7, 1984, was such an agreement between Blue Cross and the Eaton County Drain Commissioner. The agreement obligates Blue Cross to construct the sewer in accordance with plans and specifications prepared by or approved by the drain commissioner and to pay the cost of the drainage facilities including right of way, engineering, inspection, administration, and legal expenses incurred by the drain commissioner.... MCL 280.433(1); MSA 11.1433(1). Before the drain commissioner signs the agreement, the developer must have its project certified by a registered professional engineer. MCL 280.433(2); MSA 11.1433(2). After construction, [a]ll drain facilities and all rights of way, easements, or property in which the facilities are located, acquired, or constructed pursuant to the agreement to add lands shall be dedicated to public use or conveyed or transferred to the drainage district.... MCL 280.433(3); MSA 11.1433(3). Thus, whether Blue Cross is a private developer constructing a private drain or a public utility constructing a public drain is irrelevant. The final characterization is the same regardless of who the developer is and what kind of drain the developer is constructing because all projects are subject first to certification by licensed professional engineers and thereafter dedicated to public use or conveyed to the drainage district. Eyde raises an additional argument questioning Blue Cross' authorization to construct a sewer within the Mt. Hope Highway easement. It is Eyde's claim that the Drain Code is the exclusive authority for the location and construction of drains, and thus § 13 of the general highway law, MCL 247.183; MSA 9.263, is irrelevant. While we agree that the critical issues in this case implicate the Drain Code, this does not diminish the importance of § 13, which authorizes municipalities, in this case, Delta Township, and public utilities to construct and maintain utilities, including sewers, on public highways, because without the authorization of the municipality the sewer could not be constructed within the highway easement under the general highway law. In fact, all the amici curiae briefs  representing four public utilities and the Michigan Townships Association  cite § 13 as the authority for municipalities and public utilities to enter upon public highways to construct utilities within public highway easements. Parenthetically, Eyde claims support for its argument that the Drain Code exclusively governs the location and construction of drains from the Court of Appeals decisions in Gunn v Delhi Twp and Hull v Green Oak Twp, supra . In Gunn and Hull, unlike the instant case, neither the county nor the county drain commissioner was a party litigant, and thus the provisions of the Drain Code were never addressed. From this, Eyde reasons that the township could not have authorized the construction of the sewer under § 13 without first obtaining Eyde's consent under §§ 321 and 74. We will not speculate on how the Court of Appeals would have decided Gunn or Hull had the drain commissioner been a party in either case. We do find the reasoning in both cases relative to § 13 to be sound. [8] Returning to our analysis of § 13, while the Eaton County Drain Commissioner is a major party in this case, Delta Township is also a party and did consent to the construction of the sewer. Even though a portion of Delta's authority derives from § 74 of the Drain Code as the governing body having jurisdiction over such ... highway, § 13 of the general highway law grants Delta authority as the township through which said [sewer] lines ... are to be constructed and from which consent must be obtained. Therefore, because Delta is a party litigant and because the proposed sewer within the Mt. Hope Highway easement could not be constructed without Delta's consent, as required under both § 74 of the Drain Code and § 13 of the general highway law, we find that § 13 is relevant to the resolution of this case. The question we must answer is what relationship does § 13 of the general highway law have to §§ 321, 73, 74, and 433 of the Drain Code of 1956. It is well-established that statutes having a common purpose must be construed in pari materia to give the fullest effect to each provision. People v Smith, 423 Mich 427, 441; 378 NW2d 384 (1985). We must examine all the relevant provisions of the statutes with the goal of producing a consistent and harmonious result. Williams v Secretary of State, 338 Mich 202, 207; 60 NW2d 910 (1953). Thus both the relevant sections of the Drain Code of 1956 as discussed above and § 13 of the general highway law must be examined. Section 13 reads as follows: Telegraph, telephone, power, and other public utility companies, and cable television companies and municipalities are authorized to enter upon, construct and maintain telegraph, telephone or power lines, pipe lines, wires, cables, poles, conduits, sewers and like structures upon, over, across, or under any public road, bridge, street or public place and across or under any of the waters in this state, with all necessary erections and fixtures therefor. Every such telegraph, telephone, power, and other public utility company, cable television company and municipality, before any of the work of such construction and erection shall be commenced, shall first obtain the consent of the duly constituted authorities of the city, village, or township through or along which said lines and poles are to be constructed and erected. [MCL 247.183; MSA 9.263.] Section 13 authorizes public utilities and municipalities to construct and maintain public utilities. Because sewers are not constructed under the auspices of a specific public utility, such as is the case for telephone and electric lines, private entities may construct sewers under § 13 if the appropriate sections under the Drain Code have been followed. In this case, those steps would have been: 1) a release of right of way by majority vote resolution of Delta Township pursuant to § 74 and 2) authorization to construct the sewer from the Eaton County Drain Commissioner pursuant to § 433. [9] We find that, when examined in pari materia, §§ 321, 73, 74, and 433 of the Drain Code of 1956 and § 13 of the general highway law operate to grant sufficient authority to the Eaton County Drain Commissioner and Delta Township to allow Blue Cross to construct a sewer within the Mt. Hope Highway easement without first securing a release of right of way from Eyde. This is possible under the Drain Code because, when a sewer is to be located within the public easement of a highway dedicated by user, § 74 allows a majority vote resolution by the governing body having jurisdiction over the easement to be a sufficient release of right of way and § 433 allows the drain commission to delegate its authority to construct a sewer to a private developer, obviating any necessity for a release of right of way directly from Eyde as the fee owner of the abutting land. Finally, this is possible under the general highway law because after the necessary consents and authorizations are obtained under §§ 74 and 433 of the Drain Code, § 13 provides that Delta must consent before construction of the sewer can begin.