Agenda - Council - 08/06/2018 - Laserfiche WebLink

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THE LAW OFFICES OF DANIEL W. VOSS, PLLC 3109 Hennepin Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55408 Tel. 612-822-2152 Daniel W. Voss e-mail: danvoss(a�voss-law.net January 2018 Mr. Brad Schmidtbauer President North Valley, Inc. 20015 Iguana St. NW, Suite 100 Nowthen, MN 55330 RE: ctral Park Parking Lot-Eey Dear Brad: I am writing in regards to your inquiry regarding the need to obtain mechanic's lien waivers from the subcontractors that worked on the above referenced project. A mechanic's lien cannot be legally filed and enforced against public lands. Simply put, public streets are not subject to mechanic's liens under the mechanic's -lien statute. See Jordan v. Bd. of Educ., 38 Minn. 298, 39 Minn. 298, 299, 39 N.W. 801, 801-02 (1888); Comstock & Davis, Inc. v. City of Eden Prairie, 557 N.W.2d 213, 215 (Minn. App. 1997), review denied (Minn. Mar. 18, 1997) (recognizing that quintessentially public land is not lienable). That is why there is a payment bond statute. The purpose of the payment -bond statute is to protect the interests of those performing "public work to which the mechanics' lien statute does not apply." Wilcox Lumber Co. v. Sch. Dist. No. 268 of Otter Tail County, 103 Minn. 43, 45, 114 N.W. 262, 263 (Minn. 1907); The same policy that prohibits mechanic's liens on quintessentially public land prohibits liens on quintessentially public improvements as well. See Burlington Mfg. v. Bd. of Courthouse & City Hall Commr's, 67 Minn. 327, 327, 69 N.W. 1091, 1091 (1897) (holding that public buildings on public land are exempt from liens); Jordan, 39 Minn. at 299, 39 N.W. at 801-02 (holding that a public schoolhouse is not subject to a mechanic's lien). The rationale of the courts centers on the importance of protecting quintessentially public assets, land or otherwise, from forced sale. The Ctntral ParkiParking Lot =strutted fair the. city of Fan9ey _ are of a quintessentially public nature. Hence, it would be unnecessary and pointless to obtain mechanic's lien waivers from NVI's subcontractors.