Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations

The State Supreme Court has upheld a lower court ruling that the Metropolitan District Commission must pay a cyclist $2.9 million in damages after she crashed into a gate on a bike path at the West Hartford reservoir.

The court stated in its ruling that the MDC, which is treated as a municipality under the law, was not immune from the suit filed by the cyclist, Maribeth Blonski.

The MDC is a specially chartered municipal corporation that maintains several reservoirs and water treatment facilities in East Hartford, Windsor, and 11 other Hartford-area towns. The public is allowed to walk, run, and bike on the trails that run through the MDC�s land in West Hartford.

When Blonski brought the suit against the MDC, she claimed that the water authority had �failed to erect barriers� that would block vehicles but allow bike traffic to safely pass through. She also said that the water authority �failed to properly warn� cyclists either through markings or signage of the gate.

A jury in 2010 found that the MDC had been negligent. The MDC had appealed the judgement.

Referencing its maintenance of the reservoir, the court this week said that the gate had an �inherently close connection� to the MDC�s �proprietary function of supplying water to residents of the district.�

This is evidenced by the fact that the purpose of the gate was to protect the water supply, the court said.

The court stated that the operation of a water utility �for corporate profit is a proprietary function� and that municipalities are liable for �negligent acts committed in their proprietary capacity.�

�When a governmental entity engages in conduct for its own corporate benefit in a manner that poses an unreasonable risk of harm to others, we can perceive of no reason why it should not be held responsible for all of the consequences of that conduct, just as a private person would be,� the court said in its opinion.

After experiencing a rash of vandalism, theft, litter, water contamination, and the sale and use of drugs and alcohol in 1976, the MDC installed two, yellow-painted gates to restrict access to the property�s road system. Workers occasionally left the gates open when maintenance work was being performed.

But following the terrorist attacks in September 2001, the water authority decided to keep the gates closed at all times in order to protect against any threat of water contamination.

On May 16, 2002, Blonski, the plaintiff in the case, visited the West Hartford reservoir to tape a video segment for a mountain biking television show she hosted.

After shooting some footage, Blonski and her friend went for a ride on Red Road, a paved three-mile loop. The path has markings separating the bike lane and indicating which way cyclists should travel.

�She was riding with her head down at approximately 20 to 30 mph, in the direction of the closed gate, and against the designated direction for bicycle traffic,� the court noted in its ruling.

Blonski had testified that the gate �suddenly appeared in front of her �out of nowhere� � and had attempted to slide underneath it. Blonski instead hit the gate with her head, resulting in cervical spine damage and other injuries. The woman suffers from chronic pain, difficulty breathing, permanent disability in her neck, and other ailments, the court said.

In 2011, a new law took effect that now grants municipalities protection from lawsuits by people injured on town property. The law, however, carved out exceptions for faulty roads, buildings, pools, playgrounds, sports fields, and courts.

The law took hold after public outcry when the MDC said it was considering closing its land to the public after being ordered to pay the $2.9 million.