Verardi v. Sharpsburg Borough
Verardi v. Sharpsburg Borough
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Appellant appeals from the refusal of the lower court to grant a preliminary injunction enjoining the appellees, Borough of Sharpsburg (Borough) and its officers, from awarding certain contracts.
The sole question involved in this appeal is: Where a borough advertises for bids on items costing in excess of $1,000, are the notice requirements of The Borough Code (53 PS §§45001-49313) satisfied where the said advertisements appear in a newspaper which is published within the county but not within the borough?
Appellees published bids for mechanical equipment needed by the borough in two Pittsburgh newspapers
Plaintiff-appellant contends that the advertisement for bids should not have been made pursuant to the above section, but rather, should have been made in compliance with §109 of The Borough Code, Act of 1951, July 19, P. L. 1026, No. 217, 53 PS §45109, which, in part, states: “Wherever, in any of the provisions of this act, notice is required to be given in one newspaper in the county, such notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation published within the limits of the borough affected. . . .” (Emphasis supplied).
There is a weekly newspaper of general circulation published within the Borough of Sharpsburg. Appellant contends, therefore, that appellees acted in violation of The Borough Code by not advertising in the Sharpsburg paper, and that no contracts can be awarded on the basis of bids secured following advertisements outside of the borough.
The lower court held that the advertisements for bids satisfied the notice requirements of The Borough Code since they were published in a newspaper of general circulation circulating in the borough, even though not published within the said borough, in compliance with §1316 of The Borough Code, 53 PS §46316. We think the court below was correct.
The confusion in determining which of the two above-quoted sections of The Borough Code applies in the
The lower court properly construed the two provisions in question so as to give effect to both, holding that the requirements of §1316 (53 PS §46316) govern with respect to advertisements on bids or contracts, while §109 (53 PS §45109) is a general provision applicable in those situations where The Borough Code is indefinite in its advertising requirements. The same result would follow if it were held that the two provisions were in irreconcilable conflict, since, under the above-cited section of the Statutory Construction Act (46 PS §563) the general provision, §109 of The Borough Code, must give way to special provision §1316 of The Borough Code.
The above principles of statutory construction are in conformity, both with the requirements of the Statutory Construction Act and the decided cases (the act being, in the main, a compilation and codification of the decisional law).
Accordingly, since there was a proper application of the relevant principles of statutory construction, the action of the court below in refusing to grant a preliminary injunction was proper.
Decree affirmed at appellant’s costs.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Verardi (et al., Appellant) v. Sharpsburg Borough
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published