State v. Board of Chosen Freeholders
State v. Board of Chosen Freeholders
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Under the provisions of laws 1892, page 308, as amended in 1902, page 3(50, and in 1906, page 53, and again in 1908, page 153, the hoard of chosen freeholders of the county of Bergen undertook, upon the report of a committee of -the board recommending it, to build a bridge over the Hackensack river between Railroad avenue in Ridgefield Park, and Riverview place in Hackensack, and for that purpose passed a resolution on November 2d, 1908, at a regular meeting, setting forth that the construction of such a bridge was “necessary,” “advisable” and “a public necessity.” The resolution further provided that the cost of the proposed bridge should not exceed $158,000. Plans and specifications for the construction of the bridge had been ordered and adopted, and proposals or estimates for doing the work in accordance therewith were duly advertised for and received. On July 24th, 1908, the proposals were received, and on October 29th, the
The prosecutors as taxpayers challenge the legality of the board’s action. Section 1 of the act of 1906, page 93, authorizes and empowers the board of chosen freeholders, “whenever in any county of this state it shall be necessary or advisable to erect a bridge,” to so declare by resolution, to be adopted by not less than a majority of all the members of the board. There can be no question seriously made that, under this provision, the power to determine the advisability of and necessity for a bridge over the river, was vested by the legislature in the board, and unless this discretion can be shown to be illegally or fraudulently exercised, it cannot be disturbed. State v. Freeholders of Essex, 3 Zab. 214; McKinley v. Freeholders of Union, 2 Stew. Eq. 164; Ferguson v. Passaic, 31 Vroom 404.
The prosecutor insists that the board illegally exercised the power vested in them, because the bidders did not base their estimates upon similar work, and were not upon an equal footing in that regard. The force of this objection is derivable from the fact that, after the bids had been received, the board of chosen freeholders found it necessary, upon the ground of economy and practical construction, to order some changes to be made in the work. The specifications required the bidders to state their price for constructing the entire bridge, and reserved to the board the right to extend or diminish the amount of work to be done, and for that purpose required the bidder to state a unit price upon certain material and classes of work therein specified. The original plan required six
Our attention is next called by the prosecutor to the claim that the board bad no power to erect this structure at the points mentioned, because it cannot at present be joined by any existing public highway. It is a sufficient answer to this objection to state that we consider the testimony makes it manifest that the proposed bridge can and will be so joined to existing thoroughfares. Railroad avenue in Ridgefield Park on the east side of the river is an established highway, and Henry place and Eiverview place on the west side of the river, it is quite clear from the testimony, are dedicated streets,
We do not find it necessary, therefore, to determine the contention raised and elaborated by counsel for the prosecutors as to the legal inability of the county to construct a bridge without a public approach, and leading on either side to private land, for the reason that we do not perceive that it arises on the facts of this case. In our judgment, chapter IS and chapter 64 of the laws of 1906, affecting a cognate question, must be read in pari materia. Vane v. Newcombe, 132 U. S. 220; United States v. Freeman, 3 How. (U. S.) 556; Blade Interp. 204.
We conceive, therefore, that ample power is conferred by both acts not only to construct the bridge with its necessary abutments and approaches, and to empower the county to issue bonds for the pajment of the cost thereof, but to authorize the condemnation of land if necessary for the purpose, which land may be condemned so far as this statutory enactment is concerned, after the board has resolved to construct the bridge.
We see nothing of force in the contention that, because the federal war department did not give its assent to the construe-
The resolution in question is affirmed, with costs.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.