Walsh v. City of Columbus
Walsh v. City of Columbus
Opinion of the Court
The judgment of the district court, reversing the judgment of the court of common pleas, can only be justified on the ground that the improvement of a public park, within a municipal corporation, is provided for by some provision of chapter 48, 49, or 50, of the municipal code. It is claimed by the defendant that authority to make the improvement is thus derived, and consequently, that inasmuch as the cost of the improvement exceeded $500, the contract was void for failure to advertise for bids for the work and materials, as required by section 502. Our investigation has led us to the conclusion that this section has no application to the case. The laying out of public grounds, or parks, and their improvement, are provided for in chapter 27 ; •and as respects grounds purchased without limitation or •condition as to their use, or appropriated in pursuance of section 507, the provisions of that chapter, and those of chapter 20, referred to in section 399, confer the power to lay out ■ and improve such grounds, and prescribe the mode in which ■such power is to be exercised. Whenever the council shall determine, by resolution, to lay out and improve any public grounds or park, it is made the duty of the mayor to appoint, with the consent of the council, three resident freehold electors of the corporation as commissioners for that purpose, who are constituted pai’k commissioners, and invested with power to appoint a superintendent and all other necessary employés, and to prescribe their duties and fix their compensate i, ?.ubT ject to the approval of the council; and in addition the.oro, they are clothed generally with the same powers, and charged with the same duties, so far as the same are applicable, as are vested in and required to be performed by the trustees of ■cemeteries, by chapter twenty-six. § 399. Section 366 of
It was in performance of this duty, that the committee was •appointed by the council, and in contracting with the plaintiff to fill up the depression in the park, the committee only employed the usual means to effect one of the objects for which it was created, and which the city hound itself to see accomplished 'by accepting the conveyance from Goodale, with the conditions it imposed. Hence, the contract .of the committee with the plaintiff was the contract of the city, as much so as a contract made for a similar purpose by park commissioners, for the improvement of a park, the ground for which was ocmt•demned under the statute, or acquired by purchase.
Judgment of district court reversed,> a/nd that of the common pleas affi/rmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.