Court Opinion

ID: 9849683
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:44:20.640545+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:20:23.838763
License: Public Domain

FINE, J.
¶ 53. 0dissenting). In my view, this appeal is controlled by the written contracts between the City of Oak Creek and the City of Franklin. In the April 19,1976, contract, Franklin agreed, in consideration for Oak Creek providing water to Franklin, to give to Oak Creek, without additional cost and "irrevocably," the Southwood water-infrastructure at issue here: "NOW, THEREFORE, the undersigned City of Franklin hereby irrevocably transfers, assigns, sets over and conveys to the City of Oak Creek, operating as a water public utility, and its water works system, all of its right, title and interest whatsoever in" the water-infrastructure that is the subject of this appeal. (Upper-casing in original.) Three and one-half years later, in a written contract dated November 6, 1979, Franklin agreed to "deed" to Oak Creek the Rawson water-infrastructure at issue here, and, concomitantly, Oak Creek agreed "to accept ownership of the watermains." In my view, these contracts both begin and end our analysis. See Cernohorsky v. Northern Liquid Gas Co., *153268 Wis. 586, 593, 68 N.W.2d 429, 433 (1955) (Contract language that is not ambiguous must be enforced as it is written "even though the parties may have placed a different construction on it.").
¶ 54. Although the Public Service Commission may, of course, rescind or modify its orders, it may not ignore and thus nullify the Oak Creek/Franklin contract, absent specific authority not present here that permits, in limited and carefully circumscribed situations, the impairment of contracts. See Wis. Const, art. 1, § 12 ("No... law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed."); State ex rel. Cannon v. Moran, 111 Wis. 2d 544, 553-554, 331 N.W.2d 369, 374 (1983) (discussing prohibition against the impairment of contracts). Accordingly, I respectfully dissent.