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Court rules for city of Alexander, dismisses case Thursday, May 8, 2008 Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - An Alexander businessman who built and maintained a retaining wall to prevent erosion on a city right-of-way adjacent to his property had no reason to expect the city to pay him for his trouble, the state Court of Appeals said Wednesday. The appeals court reversed a lower court decision to award Royal Doss $6,180 in a lawsuit to recoup his expenses. Doss sued the city of Alexander in 2006 for $30,000, claiming he was entitled to the money because he exclusively maintained the storm water drainage ditch for six years and told city officials he would charge the city for his work. He also argued the city was enriched by his services, which included spending $6,180 on the retaining wall, $19,500 for cleaning up junk piles in the alley near his restaurant and $4,320 for mowing the ditch for six years. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox later dismissed the claims for cleanup and mowing but awarded Doss damages for the cost of building the retaining wall. The city appealed, and in a unanimous ruling Wednesday, the Court of Appeals said Doss "could not have had a reasonable expectation that the city would have reimbursed him." "The alleged erosion of Doss property was not the type of emergency that would justify unilateral action," the court said, adding the city did not benefit from Doss deciding on his own to build the wall. |
