Court Opinion

ID: 9578879
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 21:49:23.851441+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:04.738057
License: Public Domain

EDMONDS, J.,
dissenting.
Defendant’s property is within a local improvement district formed by the City for the purposes of construction of and assessments for a sanitary sewer system. Defendant’s *732property is approximately one-half mile from the boundaries of the City and is in an area that is surrounded on three sides by property within the City. According to its complaint seeking a mandatory injunction, the City’s sewer has been available for connection to defendant’s property since 1991, but defendant refuses to connect to it. This action seeks to compel that result, and the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the City. On appeal, defendant argues that the City does not have authority to compel her to connect to the sewer, that the City’s ordinance compelling her to connect is over-broad because her property is not within the City or adjacent territory, that a Lane County ordinance has preempted the City’s authority to compel connection and that the relevant City ordinance is unlawful or unconstitutional because owners of properties outside the City are not provided with the same exemptions from connection that are available to City residents. It is noteworthy that defendant does not raise challenges that her property is not within the local improvement district formed by the City or that its formation was defective.
The threshold issue is whether the City has statutory authority to compel defendant to connect to its sewer under the circumstances. The City relies on ORS 224.020. It provides:
“Whenever the council of any city deems it necessary or expedient to construct a sewer partially within and partially without the city, or to construct a sewer outlet, or do any other work, acts or things without the city for proper disposal of sewerage and drainage, the city, through its council, may acquire by purchase, condemnation or otherwise any property rights of way, easement and other rights without the city as may be needed or deemed essential for the construction of the sewer, sewer outlet, or other works. It may also provide for and do all things which may be necessary or deemed essential for proper construction of such sewer, sewer outlet, and for other works, acts and things which may be deemed necessary or essential for the proper disposal of sewerage and drainage from the city and adjacent territory.”
When interpreting a statute, our task is to discern the intent of the legislature by first examining the text and *733context of the statute. It is clear from the text of the statute that the legislature has authorized cities to construct sewer systems in areas beyond their territorial boundaries. It is equally clear from the text of the statute that the legislature has authorized cities to “do all * * * works, acts and things which may be deemed necessary or essential for the proper disposal of sewerage * * * from * * * adjacent territory.” Obviously, “proper disposal of sewerage” from adjacent territories cannot occur unless it is collected into the system through connections with residential plumbing systems. Thus, it is clear from its text that ORS 224.020 contemplates that affected individuals connect to systems constructed under the authority of the statute. Otherwise, the statute means that the cities are authorized to construct extraterritorial sewage collection systems, but no one is required to connect to them. The legislature could not have intended such a result.
The context of the statute confirms the meaning of the text. Unlike the other statutes relied on by the majority, ORS 224.020 is part of a statutory scheme that provides for the constructions of sewer systems and the assessment of benefitted properties both within and outside of City boundaries. See ORS 224.010 et seq. Specifically, the scheme expressly provides for assessment of properties outside the City and the collection of the assessments by the City. ORS .224.040. Under ORS 224.050, owners of affected property outside the City are granted “opportunities of remonstrance” and “notice” in the same manner as City residents. Under ORS 224.065, those individuals whose properties have been assessed may seek a writ of review under the provisions of ORS 34.010 to ORS 34.100. An assessment made on property under the statutes is lienable, ORS 224.090, and, as a result, property outside the City limits can be foreclosed on under ORS 224.110 or sold without foreclosure. ORS 224.120. Additionally, a city may construct extensions of the system beyond the city limits in adjacent territories under the terms and provisions applicable to the original construction as it continues to operate and control the system. ORS 224.140. In sum, the context, as well as the text of ORS 224.020, demonstrate clearly that the legislature intended that cities construct and operate sewerage systems and provide for the *734proper disposal of sewerage in areas adjacent to their boundaries.
Despite the express language of ORS 224.020 and its companion statutes, the majority holds that it cannot be properly inferred that the statute authorizes the City to compel defendant to connect to its sewer system. It reasons that because the statute does not expressly provide that a resident of an affected area must connect to a municipal sewer system constructed outside its boundaries, there is no indication that the legislature intended that result. As I have pointed out, one need go no further than to read the plain language of ORS 224.010 et seq to arrive at the opposite conclusion. Nonetheless, the majority undertakes a journey that encompasses case law and other statutes and ordinances to support its reasoning. However, even those authorities support my interpretation of the statute.
The majority relies first on the holding in Richards et al. v. City of Portland et al., 121 Or 340, 255 P 326 (1927), for the general proposition that the authority of a city to act beyond its boundaries must be clearly expressed. In my view, ORS 224.020 does precisely that, and Richards is instructive as to that conclusion. In Richards, the issue was whether a city could supply water to consumers beyond its corporate limits. The applicable law authorized the city to provide water only to its residents. The court said, “[p]ower granted to supply the inhabitants of the City of Portland with water does not carry with it the implied authority to furnish water to those who are not its inhabitants.” Id. at 345. The contrast between the facts in Richards and the facts in this case identify the difference between the two cases. Here, ORS 224.020 expressly authorizes the City to act beyond its boundaries and to construct sewer systems to provide for the “proper disposal” of sewerage from areas outside the City limits. (Emphasis supplied.)
Next, in an effort to bolster its conclusion, the majority turns to ORS 225.030 and ORS 222.855.1 The former *735authorizes cities to contract with individuals outside city limits for the City to provide sewer services. The latter authorizes annexation of areas within an urban growth boundary when a danger to public health justifies the compelled annexation. The majority asserts that those statutes are examples of where the legislature has clearly expressed an intention to subject property owners outside city limits to city authority and in comparison, ORS 224.020 is lacking in such specificity. That assertion fails to recognize that the all of the above statutes were promulgated by the legislature to address different problems and that each contains triggering language that is applicable to discrete circumstances.
For instance, the facts in Richards presented a set of circumstances where the City of Portland lacked the express authority to provide water to consumers outside the city limits. ORS 225.030, enacted in 1971, now addresses that issue by authorizing municipalities to provide utilities to consumers outside city limits . In a similar vein, the annexation of an area into a city under ORS 222.855 entails consideration of other, different considerations and requires a finding of a public health danger. That statute is part of a statutory scheme about abatement of health hazards. Neither ORS 222.840 et seq nor ORS 225.010 et seq purports to be the exclusive expression of the statutory authority of a City to construct a sewer system and provide for the proper disposal of sewerage from adjacent territories. If that had been the legislature’s intention, it would have not promulgated ORS 224.010 et seq. Clearly, the legislature has chosen to provide alternative means that authorize cities to provide sewer services outside their boundaries.
Perhaps the majority’s misunderstanding of the extent of authority granted by ORS 224.020 occurs because its literal reading of the language of the statute does not engage with the concept that statutes must be given their commonsense meaning. ORS 224.020 is a statute that expressly grants authority to a City to provide for the “proper disposal” of sewerage from adjacent territories. (Emphasis *736supplied.) “When a power is given by statute everything necessary to make it effectual is given by implication.” Fales v. Multnomah Co. et al., 119 Or 127, 133, 248 P 151 (1926). It belies common sense to believe that the legislature would propose to provide for the proper disposal of sewerage from territory adjacent to cities by the use of city sewer systems and grant cities the authority to construct a sewer system for that purpose without also granting the authority to compel connection to the system. When the purpose of the statute is to provide for the disposal of sewerage, it is necessary to effectuate that purpose through a connection with the source of the sewerage. The majority’s interpretation of ORS 224.020 leaves the statute’s purpose unfulfilled.2
The other argument made by defendant that warrants a brief discussion is the contention that her property is not in “adjacent territory” within the meaning of the statute. We held in Bell v. City of Corvallis, 25 Or App 821, 827, 551 P2d 125, rev den (1976), that the word “adjacent” in ORS 224.020 has its ordinary meaning. That is, the word implies that when two objects are not widely separated, they are “adjacent,” even though they may not actually touch. The maps in the record are revealing. Defendant’s property is at the southerly most part of an unincorporated area that bulges inside the City limits in a southerly direction several miles from the northerly boundary of the City. In that location, it is less than one-half mile from the edge of the City. *737Under the circumstances, the evidence is compelling that defendant’s property meets the requirement of the statute that it be “adjacent territory,” and a reasonable factfinder could not find otherwise.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
Warren and Leeson, JJ., join in this dissent.

 The majority also relies on the provisions of Lane County Code section 9.410 in its analysis. That ordinance has nothing to do with the statutory authority granted to cities by the legislature to construct sewer systems and compel connection to them. It was promulgated in order for the city to obtain a federal grant.

 The majority also asserts that if ORS 224.020 is construed to grant authority to the City to compel connection, that interpretation will effectively eviscerate the notice provisions of ORS 222.840 et seq. In effect, the majority is saying to the legislature by its argument that “if you don’t provide express notice provisions in a particular statutory scheme, we will not enforce it” in the absence of such a challenge. The majority has created an issue not raised below and not addressed by the parties. This record does not disclose what notice defendant had that she could become subject to a requirement that she connect with the City sewer. The parties are represented by able counsel, and it is apparent from the pleadings and their briefs that they have carefully narrowed the issues on which the case is to be decided, including issues that have constitutional implications. The concern of the majority is not the concern of the parties, and we should not inject our sua sponte legal rationale into a situation that could unknowingly disrupt the ability of municipalities to use the express authority of the statute to lawfully construct and operate sewer systems outside their City limits. It is not unimaginable that the majority’s decision will cost municipalities in this state millions of dollars in assessments and fees regarding already-constructed sewerage facilities. To the extent that the majority’s interpretation of the statute is prompted by a concern about the lack of notice to defendant, the majority has thrown judicial caution to the winds.