DocketNumber: No. 95-0049838-S
Citation Numbers: 2000 Conn. Super. Ct. 12126, 28 Conn. L. Rptr. 458
Judges: HAMMER, JUDGE TRIAL REFEREE.
Filed Date: 9/29/2000
Status: Non-Precedential
Modified Date: 4/18/2021
Prior to the filing of the plaintiff's complaint in the replevin action on December 19, 1994, the town had commenced an action for injunctive relief against ATC on May 19, 1994, in which it alleged that although the parties had agreed to cooperate in order to obtain financial assistance from the state for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the American Thread mill complex, ATC had "breached the agreement by removing and continuing to remove valuable and historic property from the Complex."Town of Windham v. ATC Partnership, Superior Court, judicial district of Windham at Putnam, Docket No. 94-0048597-S. The town's first selectman, CT Page 12127 Walter Pawelkiewicz, stated in the affidavit attached to the complaint that two lump sum tax payments were made by ATC in the spring of 1993, but that although an arrangement for monthly payments of $15,000 had been made, no additional payments were made thereafter, and that ATC's total tax liability at the time of $251,755.82 was a "tremendous burden" on the town administration and the taxpayers of what he described as one of the most economically distressed communities in the state.
The court file in the above-captioned case also contains a letter dated May 19, 1994, from counsel for ATC to the town's attorney which stated that "I have indicated to you that contrary to the allegations of the complaint, my clients have not removed anything from the premises and have no immediate plans to do so [and therefore] I have agreed, without court order, that my clients agree not to remove any contents until there is a hearing in regard to this matter." It should also be noted that although a court hearing was apparently scheduled for October 6, 1994, the action was withdrawn by the town on September 29, 1994.
The original complaint alleged only that the defendants interfered with the plaintiff's right to immediate possession of the property, that they sought to prevent its removal from the real estate, and that the defendants' retention of the listed items of equipment and machinery constituted conversion. The defendants moved to strike the complaint on the ground that one of the essential elements of a cause of action for replevin under General Statutes §
The amended revised complaint dated September 22, 1995, which was filed in response to Judge Sferrazza's decision, alleges that "[t]he defendants are wrongfully detaining plaintiff's property and have failed, neglected and refused to return [it] and have prevented the plaintiff from removing same from said real estate." All of the parties to this action, namely, the town of Windham and Northeast, as well as the Windham Mills Development Corporation (Windham Mills), which acquired title to the mill complex on November 10, 1994, about two months after its taking by Northeast as the condemning authority for the town, have filed a number of special defenses, one of which invokes the doctrine of sovereign immunity as to each defendant.
The property which is the subject of this replevin action is described CT Page 12128 throughout the complaint as "personal property", although the alias tax warrant dated May 18, 1994, and signed by the tax collector for the town of Windham pursuant to §
Jacob Pinson, an ATC partner who had been actively involved in discussions with the town concerning the proposed rehabilitation of the former mill complex, testified that the bulk of the machinery and equipment that was seized pursuant to the alias tax warrant was located in the main building known as Mill Two, on the first floor of which was a "huge machine shop" consisting of equipment and machinery bolted to the floor, but he acknowledged that he could not put a value on any individual item (other than a generator in the basement and some of the lathes in the machine shop), and in response to a question as to whether he meant the property was priceless or that it had no value, he stated that "they all have a value, and some of them are priceless", and concluded his testimony on direct examination, over the defendant's objection, by giving his own estimate of the value of the contents of the buildings as being between $250,000 and $400,000.
Pinson also testified that the machines were installed in the main building when it was originally constructed in the "late eighteen hundreds", and that any textile mill of that vintage would necessarily require and regularly utilize the machinery and equipment housed therein, but that the value of most of the property seized could be estimated only in terms of any historical significance that it might have. He also stated that at the time of the sheriff's seizure and the posting of the legal notice to that effect on May 19, 1994, he and Joshua Sandman, another ATC partner, who were attempting to gain access to Mill Two, were stopped by town police officers who told them that they no longer had the right to enter any of the buildings of the mill complex.
Pinson also testified on cross-examination that there had been no bill of sale given by Eastern Connecticut Industrial Park Associates in July of 1987, when title to the "land with all the buildings and improvements thereon situated" was conveyed to ATC by warranty deed, and it took possession of the machinery and equipment which the plaintiff now claims CT Page 12129 to be its own personal property. He also stated that ATC never declared the property that was seized as personal property to the town assessor because any taxes had long since been paid by the original owner of the mill complex.
David Page, a Windham County deputy sheriff, identified the tax warrant that he had served at the direction of Linda Theriault, the tax collector for the town of Windham, and testified that she told him at that time that the town was concerned about the machinery and equipment being taken out of the buildings in the mill complex and that she directed him to seize the property "in lieu of taxes" and to prevent the property from being removed from the premises, but that he would not characterize the property which was the subject of the seizure as "personal property" as described by plaintiff's counsel in the course of his questioning. He stated that he did nothing except to secure and protect the property and to post public notice of its seizure, and that he did not make "a final return of service [until] March 31, 1997."
In this connection, it should be noted that the defendants, Northeast and Windham Mills, filed a so-called "offer of judgment" on April 8, 1998. The purported "offer" was that ATC remove from the defendants' premises, at its own expense, the property that had been seized and secured pursuant to the alias tax warrant.
This court, before discussing the legal issues raised by the somewhat unusual underlying facts of this case, deems it to be not that our Supreme Court, on the basis of the same facts, albeit in the context of a civil rights action against various town officials, has already considered and ruled upon the plaintiff's federal and state constitutional claims that the town should be liable in damages for the "intentional abuse of [its] power of eminent domain [because of] the wilful, arbitrary and capricious seizure and condemnation of its property [in that it] had ordered the Windham tax collector, the defendant Linda Theriault, to levy an improper alias tax warrant on the personal property contained in the complex [and because the town] had ordered [its police officers] to prevent the plaintiff from exercising control over, and gaining access to, the complex and the [property contained] therein." ATCPartnership v. Windham, supra,
"Connecticut law defines fixtures as items which have become part of real property because the party annexing them to the realty intends that result." In re Spano,
The rule stated in Capen v. Peckham, supra, was applied in a case which involved conflicting claims to a factory bell that was placed in a tower built for that purpose, where the plaintiffs claimed that it was not a part of the realty because it did not come under the description in the mortgage deed of "fixed machinery", and therefore was not conveyed by the deed. Alvord Carriage Mfg. Co. v. Gleason,
Machinery in a factory, such as a textile mill, may be considered to be CT Page 12131 personal property "when it is not firmly attached to the building, and can be moved without injury to it, or to the machinery itself [but such machinery] is not necessarily personal property [because that] depends upon the manner of its connexion with the realty [and] where this is not [shown] it may as well be presumed, that it was so affixed as to constitute it, while thus connected, a part of the building, as otherwise." Baldwin v. Walker,
The rationale followed by our Supreme Court in these early cases is consistent with the proposition "that any and all machinery essential to the proper functioning of a plant, mill, or similar manufactory is a fixture, or is at least so presumed to be, irrespective of the manner in which it is annexed to the realty and even though it is not attached thereto at all." 35 Am.Jur.2d, Fixtures § 102 (1967). This view is sometimes referred to as the "integrated industrial plant doctrine" which is held in some cases to be the controlling test and apparently represents the modern trend of the decisions. Id.
Section
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in a replevin action for the recovery of generators (which was decided long before the assembled or integrated industrial doctrine was adopted in that state), held that the generators were intended to be permanently attached to a building "as an integral and component part of the construction necessary in conducting the business for which the structure was erected [and that a] writ of replevin is effectual for the delivery of personal property only."Bullock Electric Mfg Co. v. Lehigh Valley Traction Co.,
Machinery and equipment "placed in an industrial establishment for permanent use, and necessary to the operation of the plant, become fixtures and hence a part of the real estate, regardless of whether they are physically attached thereto." Pennsylvania Chocolate Co. v. HersheyBros.,
Although the Pennsylvania doctrine as articulated in its case law has not been expressly adopted as such by our Supreme Court, when the rule stated in Capen v. Peckham, supra, is applied to the facts offered by ATC itself through Jacob Pinson in the course of the condemnation trial, this court must conclude that "at the time the annexation was made [by the then owner, the American Thread Company] that a permanent accession to the freehold was intended to be made by the annexation [of the machinery and equipment]." Id., 94; see also Tolles v. Winton,
For all of the foregoing reasons, the court finds that ATC has failed to establish the first essential element of a replevin action under the statute governing such actions, namely, that the machinery and equipment that ATC seeks to replevy in this case were not "goods or chattels" within the meaning of §
A municipal corporation "is a person in law, capable of inflicting injuries, and liable to suit by him who suffers them, unless they flow from or are incident to the performance of a governmental duty [and municipal] duties are governmental when they are imposed by the State for the benefit of the general public." Judd v. Hartford,
Municipal officials must necessarily be given a wide discretion in the performance of their duties and courts should not scrutinize their actions too closely unless they are clearly illegal and in abuse of their discretion because "[t]imidity and doubt would govern their performance of public duty [since the] affairs of government cannot be conducted with absolute exactitude, and public officials cannot be expected to act in all cases with certain judgment." Wadsworth v. Middletown,
The question of whether a replevin action may be maintained for the recovery of property in the possession of a municipal corporation depends upon whether such property was acquired by the municipality in the exercise of a governmental function, as distinguished from a proprietary or business function, and where the property was acquired in the exercise of a governmental function, the remedy by way of replevin is not available to a litigant who claims that it was wrongfully detained. 66 Am.Jur.2d, Replevin § 38 (1973). "There is no doubt but that the collection of taxes is a governmental function"; 18 McQuillan, Municipal Corporations (3d Ed. Rev. 1993) § 53.54, p. 388; and that the "doctrine of governmental immunity protects a municipality from suit for torts committed while its employees or officers are performing [tax collection] functions." Wall v. City of Raleigh,
Where a taxpayer asserts that the collection of a tax was made illegally or irregularly and without notice to him, equitable relief should be denied based upon considerations of public policy because "[i]t would interrupt the collection of taxes, one of the most important attributes of the sovereign power [and] one of its most vital functions." Arnold v.Middletown,
The court finds, therefore, that the plaintiff has not proved that the machinery and equipment seized pursuant to the alias tax warrant were "goods or chattels" within the meaning of General Statutes §
Accordingly, judgment is entered in favor of the defendants, the town of Windham, Northeast Economic Alliance, Inc. and Windham Mills Development Corporation.
Hammer, JTR
Gauvin v. City of New Haven , 187 Conn. 180 ( 1982 )
Judd v. Hartford , 72 Conn. 350 ( 1899 )
Wall v. City of Raleigh , 121 N.C. App. 351 ( 1996 )
Wadsworth v. Middletown , 94 Conn. 435 ( 1920 )
Wilcox v. Madison , 106 Conn. 223 ( 1927 )