Court Opinion

ID: 9728545
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 14:10:48.641684+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:49.625031
License: Public Domain

D. F. Walsh, J.
(dissenting). For the reasons *713stated in Ross v Consumers Power Co, 93 Mich App 687; 287 NW2d 319 (1979), I must respectfully dissent.
The construction of a sewer system, even one as vast and as complex as the one involved in this lawsuit, is not, in my judgment, an activity which "can be effectively accomplished only by the government”. Parker v Highland Park, 404 Mich 183, 200; 273 NW2d 413 (1978). Many of the power and communication systems which service this nation and other industrial nations throughout the world, and which are larger and more complex than this sewer system, were constructed and are effectively maintained and operated by private, investor-owned, utility companies.
I would affirm the trial court’s denial of defendant’s motion for summary judgment and rule that the defendant is not entitled to the defense of governmental immunity under the facts of this case.