September 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 38

LAW REVIEW

Uncovered Drain Trench
Similarly, in the case of City of Texas City v. Woodkins, 2017 Tex. App.
LEXIS 4917 (5/31/2017), the state
appeals court considered the applicability of the state recreational use
statute to a liability claim involving
a bicycle accident. In her lawsuit
against the defendant City of Texas City, plaintiff Joyce Woodkins
alleged she sustained multiple injuries on city-owned land. Woodkins alleged her injury was caused
by a premise defect: an uncovered

Woodkins was riding her bicycle
on a sidewalk in the city-owned
Carlos Garza Sports Complex when
she unexpectedly crashed into an
" uncovered and unmarked trench "
that caused her to fall.
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Parks & Recreation

drain trench. Woodkins was riding
her bicycle on a sidewalk in the
city-owned Carlos Garza Sports
Complex when she unexpectedly
crashed into an " uncovered and
unmarked trench " that caused her
to fall.
The trench extended across the
sidewalk and was 6 inches deep
and 30 inches wide. The trench
served as a drain, directing rain
runoff from the parking lot across
the sidewalk into a grassy area.
There were two trench drains that
crossed the sidewalk where Woodkins fell. Each drain was designed
to be covered by a 169-pound metal plate; the edges of the plate sat
in an indentation in the adjacent
sidewalk so that the plate's top was
flush with the sidewalk.
According to Woodkins, one
of the drains was missing its met-

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al plate when she encountered it.
Woodkins sued the city, alleging
negligence and gross negligence.
In response, the city argued it
could not be held liable because
" the recreational use statute limits
the governmental unit's liability
for premise defects when the injured party is engaged in a recreational activity. "
As characterized by the city,
under the recreational use statute,
the city " did not owe Woodkins
a greater degree of care than that
owed to a trespasser, " i.e., the city
could be held liable " only if it was
grossly negligent or acted with
malicious intent or bad faith. "
Moreover, the city claimed
" Woodkins could not establish
gross negligence without evidence
that the City had actual knowledge of the alleged premise defect. " According to the city, the
pretrial evidence did not show the
city had the requisite knowledge
of the uncovered trench necessary
to support a claim of gross negligence. On the contrary, the city
claimed its lack of knowledge was
established by " affidavits from two
city employees who testified that a
crew member was assigned to the
complex for routine maintenance
on the day of the incident and the
two previous days. " According
to these affidavits, " there was no
work request regarding the drain
or cover. "
In the opinion of the trial court,
the pretrial record did not conclusively establish that the state recreational use statute precluded any
liability under the circumstances
of this case. The trial court, therefore, denied the city's plea to dismiss Woodkins' lawsuit. The city
appealed.

September 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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