Court Opinion

ID: 9757830
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-28 23:00:45.47728+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:28:44.511554
License: Public Domain

GOLDEN, Justice,
dissenting, in which HILL, Justice, Joins.
[¶27] I disagree with the majority's decision that the State has waived its immunity under the facts of this case. Were I writing the Court's opinion, I would reach the opposite conclusion in the following way.
[¶28] The State of Wyoming leases certain land in Hot Springs State Park to C & W Enterprises, Inc., a Wyoming corporation doing business as The Star Plunge. (Hereinafter referred to as "Star Plunge.") Star Plunge provides a steam room known as the "Vapor Cave." Francis Weber sustained injuries while in the Vapor Cave.
[¶29] Weber brought a negligence action against the State. Weber claimed Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-89-106 operated to waive governmental immunity because his action was premised on alleged "negligence of public employees while acting in the scope of their duties in the operation or maintenance of any building, recreation area or public park." The State moved for summary judgment on the grounds § 1-89-106 did not apply under the undisputed, material facts of the case and therefore the State had not waived immunity. The district court granted summary judgment to the State. I would affirm.
ISSUES
[¶30] Weber presents four issues:
1. Whether there are facts, when viewed in the light most favorable to Appellant, that a jury could conclude the State of Wyoming's employees were negligent.
2. Whether Wyoming Statute § 1-1-109 requires the apportionment of fault.4
3. Whether there are facts, when viewed in the light most favorable to Appellant, that a jury could conclude the State's employees were operating and maintaining the Hot Springs State Park.
4. Whether the State of Wyoming, as a landlord, may be held liable for injuries suffered by a patron of the Hot Springs State Park.
FACTS
[¶31] The State owns Hot Springs State Park and the geothermal mineral water therein. The State has leased certain lands within the Park to a limited number of concessionaires. The State supplies the geothermal water to all concessionaires. Before delivering the water, the State gathers the water into a heat exchange building where it removes any contaminants. The State then delivers the heated water to the property line of the concessionaire. The hot water delivered averages 127 degrees Fahrenheit. The State also delivers cooled water to the prop*233erty line. It is up to the concessionaire to mix the hot and cooled water to obtain the temperature desired for the concessionaire's particular purpose.
[¶32] In 1958, the State leased certain land within the Park to Star Plunge. The lease allows Star Plunge to erect structures on the property. It further requires Star Plunge to maintain the buildings and pay all property taxes. At the end of the lease, Star Plunge is required to remove all buildings it added to the property.
[¶33] Star Plunge operates a facility that, among other things, allows patrons to bathe in the hot mineral water. Patrons pay a fee for entrance to the Star Plunge facility. The president of Star Plunge testified at deposition that he added the Vapor Cave to the facility in 1976 after receiving oral approval from the State. He was responsible for the design and construction of the Vapor Cave. He installed a pipe from the State's main hot water line to the Vapor Cave and allows the water to enter the Vapor Cave at the same temperature the State delivers it. The water enters the middle of the Vapor Cave through a small fountain-like structure. The water then falls down into a surrounding drain.
[¶34] Weber entered the Vapor Cave and laid down on one of the benches. He does not remember anything after that. Cireum-stances would indicate he somehow fell off the bench. While unconscious on the floor a portion of Weber's body came into contact with the hot water, resulting in serious injury.
[¶ 35) Weber brought legal action against Star Plunge alleging the Vapor Cave was unsafe in many respects. Weber later added the State as a party. Weber alleged the State was negligent in its operation and maintenance of the Park by allowing Star Plunge to construct an unsafe steam room and by supplying hot water to the same unsafe steam room.
[¶36] After conducting discovery, the State moved for summary judgment. The State claimed that, according to the undisputed material facts, the State's involvement with Star Plunge was unrelated to the operation or maintenance of the Park. The district court agreed and granted summary judgment to the State.
DISCUSSION
[¶37] Summary judgment is appropriate when no genuine issue as to any material fact exists and the prevailing party is entitled to have a judgment as a matter of law. W.R.C.P. 56(c). We evaluate the propriety of a summary judgment de novo by employing the same standards and by using the same materials as were used by the lower court. Kirkwood v. CUNA Mut. Ins. Soc'y, 937 P.2d 206, 208 (Wyo.1997). We examine the record from the vantage point most favorable to the party who opposed the motion, and we give that party the benefit of all favorable inferences which may fairly be drawn from the record. Davis v. Wyoming Med. Center, Inc., 984 P.2d 1246, 1250 (Wyo.1997).
[¶38] Wyoming's Governmental Claims Act establishes governmental immunity unless an express statutory provision provides for liability. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-89-104 (LexisNexis 2011). "The statute presents a close-ended waiver of governmental immunity; unless a claim asserted against a municipality falls within one of the statutory exceptions, it will be barred." Abelseth v. City of Gillette, 452 P.2d 480, 488 (Wyo.1988). See also State, Dept of Corr. v. Watts, 2008 WY 19, 1114-20, 177 P.3d 798, 797-98 (Wyo.2008); Veile v. Bd. of Cty. Comm'rs of Washakie Cty., 860 P.2d 1174, 1177 (Wyo.1998); Soles v. State, 809 P.2d 772, 773 (Wyo.1991) The statute relied upon by Weber is Wyo. Stat,. Ann. § 1-89-106 (LexisNexis 2011), which opens a governmental entity to liability for damages "resulting from bodily injury, wrongful death or property damage caused by the negligence of public employees while acting within the seope of their duties in the operation or maintenance of any building, recreation area or public park." As applies to the instant case, Weber does not claim that the State was negligent in operating or maintaining the Vapor Cave. Rather Weber claims the State was negligent in operating and maintaining the Park.
*234[¶39] This Court has previously defined the terms "operation" and "maintenance" as used in § 1-39-106. In Watts, we stated the "operation" aspect of § 1-89-106 "waives immunity for the State's negligence in making the building functional." Watts, 121, 177 P.3d at 799. In Soles, we stated "maintenance" means "the labor of keeping something (as buildings or equipment) in a state of repair or efficiency: care, upkeep" quoting Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1862 (1986). Soles, 809 P.2d at 778.
[¶40] With these definitions in mind, I address Weber's contentions. Weber contends that it was negligent for the State to allow Star Plunge to design and construct the Vapor Cave without what he deems to be adequate safety measures. He then contends it was negligent of the State to supply the hot geothermal water to Star Plunge knowing it would be used in the unsafe Vapor Cave. By focusing exclusively on the Vapor Cave, Weber skips several steps. The focal question is whether the very existence of the Vapor Cave, and more essentially Star Plunge, is required for the function and upkeep of the Park.
[¶41] The creation and governance of Hot Springs State Park is pursuant to Wyo. Stat, Ann. §§ 86-8-801 through 836-8-820. Of particular importance to the instant appeal is Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 86-8-804 (Lexis-Nexis 2011):
Public baths and public campgrounds.
The department of state parks and cultural resources shall retain one-fourth (1/4) of the water in the main or largest principal spring on the state land on the eastern bank of the Big Horn River with sufficient quantity of the land adjacent thereto, upon which suitable bathhouses may be constructed, which shall be open, with preference of use given free to persons who are indigent and suffering from ailments for which bathing in the waters of the Big Horn Hot Springs will afford relief,. The department may make necessary rules and regulations governing free baths, the manner and time of bathing, and may require medical examination of applicants for baths. The bathhouse shall remain open not less than ten (10) hours a day each weekday and not less than six (6) hours on Sundays and holidays. The rules shall meet the minimum requirements of rules adopted by the department of agriculture governing public pools and spas. The department, in consultation with the commission, may set apart a suitable location and portion of the lands for public camping purposes but may contract for operation of any campgrounds by competitive sealed bid. Should the department, in consultation with the commission, operate any campground within Hot Springs State Park, the charges per night shall not be less than one-half (1/2) of the average charges imposed by private campground operators within a five (5) mile radius of the Hot Springs State Park. The balance of the water and lands may be leased by the department, in consultation with the commission, for a term not less than five (5) years nor longer than ninety-nine (99) years. The length of the term of each individual lease shall be determined by the department, in consultation with the commission, in accordance with the value of the improvements proposed and actually placed upon the leasehold. The department may by rule provide for special use permits for limited purposes. The department may make rules and regulations with respect to the erection of buildings and improvements upon the individual leaseholds and may prescribe the plans and specifications of, and the materials to be used in the buildings to be erected. The department, in consultation with the commission, in any lease may provide for such plans and buildings and such use thereof as will best carry out the purposes of this chapter in retaining the lands and waters thereon for the treatment and cure of diseases and the pleasure of the general public. The department, in consultation with the commission, may conduct through pipes or otherwise any portion of the waters of the hot springs reserved for free use under this section and to provide baths and bathhouses for the use of the water at such rental or rates as it prescribes.
In keeping with the statute, the State operates and maintains a public bath house in the Park.
*235[¶42] Importantly, the statute does not mandate the State lease land for concessionaires to open bath houses. The statute only provides that the State "may" lease land. Thus, while the statute establishes the general purpose of the Park to be the establishment of baths and bathhouses for the public to enjoy the healing properties of the mineral water, it does not mandate leasing property as a means of carrying out that objective.
[¶43] Under the statutory mandate, the existence of Star Plunge is not necessary to the operation the Park. The State can, and does, fulfill the purposes of the Park without any particular concessionaire. Because the lease to Star Plunge, and specifically the existence of the Vapor Cave, is not essential to the functionality of the Park, governmental immunity has not been waived on the ground that ensuring the safety of the Vapor Cave is part of the operation of the Park.5
[¶44] The remaining question is whether ensuring the safety of the Vapor Cave is part of the maintenance of the Park. In other words, is ensuring the safety of the Vapor Cave a necessary action to keeping the Park in a state of good repair? By his argument, Weber asks this Court to find that maintaining the Park includes maintaining facilities owned and operated by third parties on leased land within the Park. I would not extend the definition so far. The State's maintenance of the Park extends only to land within the direct control of the State. Maintenance of the Park does not include maintaining land leased to third parties.6
[¶45] Weber also attempts to impose liability on the State under landlord-tenant principles. He does not, however, point to any statutory provision in support of his argument that the State loses its immunity because it is the owner and lessor of the property on which Star Plunge sits. Presumably, then, Weber must be arguing that being a landlord falls within the category of operating the Park. I have already stated that leasing property is not required for the functioning of the Park. It is not an operational undertaking by the State.
CONCLUSION
[¶46] The question is whether the State abrogated its immunity under the cireum-stances of this case. Weber argues governmental immunity is waived because the State was supposed to ensure the safety of the Vapor Cave as part of its operation and maintenance of the Park. In essence, Weber's argument that the State was negligent in the operation and maintenance of the Park by not ensuring the Vapor Cave was safe is an attempt to make the State the guarantor of people's safety wherever they might be within the confines of Park land. I refuse to extend the scope of the terms "operation" or "maintenance" to that degree. I find that ensuring the safety of the Vapor Cave was not part of the operation or maintenance of the Park.

. I find it unnecessary to address this issue as argued.

. Weber argues delivering water to Star Plunge is essential to the operation of the Park. It is not. It is essential only to the operation of Star Plunge. The distinction is critical given that Weber has not alleged the State was negligent in the operation of the Vapor Cave.

. In any event, Weber seems to argue that immunity should be waived because the State did nothing to ensure the safety of the Vapor Cave despite conducting annual inspections of the Star Plunge facility. This argument fails because this Court has decided that conducting inspections of a facility is not tantamount to maintaining a facility. "As contemplated by § 1-39-106, 'maintenance' does not include 'inspection.'" Soles, 809 P.2d at 774. Certainly, then, "maintenance" of the Park does not include inspection of a private facility on leased property.