Opinion ID: 722554
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Water Distribution Infrastructures

Text: 33 The City argues that the district court abused its discretion when it ordered the City to relinquish the water service infrastructures to the Utility because the relief was unrequested and if granted would prejudice the City. Citing International Harvester Credit Corp. v. East Coast Truck, 34 the City insists that when the failure to demand the relief granted prejudices the opposing party, the district court abuses its discretion. 34 We conclude that in ordering the transfer of the infrastructures to the Utility, the district court did not abuse its discretion. Rule 54(c) vests district courts with broad discretion to fashion a remedy, even if the remedy awarded is not specifically requested in the prayer for relief. 35 Although we recognize that Harvester places some limits on the district court's discretion, those limits are modest indeed and clearly were not exceeded here. The law gives the Utility the exclusive right to provide water service to and within the disputed areas. We are under the impression that the developers of the subdivisions installed the infrastructures and ceded them to the City without charge. The infrastructures are indispensable to providing water service to the residents of the subdivisions now that the development is complete. Thus, unless the infrastructures are transferred, the Utility would not be able to provide efficient and economical water service, and the rights of the Utility that are validated here would be useless. 35 We are, however, concerned that the City may not receive just and adequate compensation for those items comprising the infrastructures, if any, that the City may have furnished. We have been unable to determine precisely how the City obtained the infrastructures or any portions thereof other than a suggestion that they received them gratuitously from the developers. 36 Thus, we remand only this sub-issue to the district court for it to determine (1) whether the City paid for the infrastructures or any portions thereof, and (2) if so, the amount of just and adequate compensation that should be paid to the City for its reasonable costs and expenses in that regard. 36