Harlow v. Borough of Beaver Falls

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania October 31, 1898

Harlow v. Borough of Beaver Falls, 188 Pa. 263 (Pa. 1898)

41 A. 533; 1898 Pa. LEXIS 605

Dean, Fell, Green, Mitchell, Pee, Williams

Opinion of the Court

Pee Curiam,

The defendant .undoubtedly had a lawful right to make the contract for services upon which the plaintiff’s claim is founded. It was not ultra vires in any sense. The subject-matter of the contract was entirely within the municipal functions of the defendant. The service being in part performed and then suspended for a lawful reason, by the act of the defendant, the plaintiff was entitled to be paid for the service he had rendered. The assignments of error are all dismissed.

Judgment affirmed.

Reference

Full Case Name: J. H. Harlow v. The Borough of Beaver Falls
Cited By: 12 cases
Status: Published
Syllabus: Municipalities — Boroughs— Contract— Water supply. Where a borough having power under the general borough law to provide a supply of water for its inhabitants has entered into a contract with an engineer to supply plans and specifications for waterworks, and work has been done under the contract, and subsequently the Supreme Court enjoins the borough from building the waterworks because of the existence of a contract of the boi-ough with a private water company, the injunction does not render the contract ultra vires, the subject-matter being entirely within the municipal functions of the borough, and the engineer may recover under his contract for the work actually done.