STROUD, Judge.
Handy Sanitary District ("plaintiff") appeals from an order entered 25 April 2012 directing it to perform all of its obligations under a Wastewater Services Agreement between plaintiff and Badin Shores Resort Homeowners Association ("defendant") and a consent order entered by the trial court on 9 March 2011. Plaintiff also appeals from a 12 July 2012 order settling the record on appeal and omitting the hearing transcript from the record. For the following reasons, we affirm the trial court's 25 April 2012 order and dismiss plaintiff's appeal as to the 12 July 2012 order.
On or about 12 March 2009, plaintiff and defendant signed a Wastewater Services Agreement ("Agreement") wherein plaintiff agreed to provide various wastewater services to defendant in exchange for a preset rate of pay per occupied lot. On 22 July 2010, plaintiff filed a complaint and petition for preliminary injunction in Superior Court, Montgomery County, alleging that defendant had refused plaintiff's multiple attempts to provide the contracted-for services and requested that the court issue an injunction
Defendant filed a motion to dismiss, answer, and counterclaim in response. Defendant raised multiple affirmative defenses, including that Article II of the Agreement contained an unfulfilled condition precedent, namely that the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources ("DENR") had to issue a permit allowing operation of defendant's sewer system prior to operation of the system. Defendant also counter-claimed for declaratory judgment, requesting that the court declare that no contract existed, or, in the alternative, that the above provision of the Agreement was a condition precedent to the operation of the contract.
On 9 March 2011, the Superior Court entered a consent order requiring defendant to permit plaintiff to enter its land and connect defendant's properties to plaintiff's sewer system, maintain the current system, and within thirty days of entry of the order defendant was required to provide plaintiff with a list of occupied lots to calculate the appropriate fee. The consent order "resolve[d] all pending claims between the parties with prejudice."
On 20 January 2012 defendant filed a motion to show cause, requesting that the court enter an order for plaintiff to appear and show cause why its failure to maintain defendant's wastewater system as agreed did not constitute contempt of the court's consent order. The Superior Court, Montgomery County, entered an order to show cause on 23 January 2012, to which plaintiff responded with a counter motion to show cause, alleging in part that because DENR has not yet issued a permit, it was not required to provide services to defendant. The court then held a hearing on the issues presented and, by order entered 25 April 2012, made findings of fact, concluded that Article II of the Agreement concerning the DENR permit was not a condition precedent, and ordered plaintiff and defendant to perform all of their contractual duties. Plaintiff filed written notice of appeal on 25 April 2012.
Plaintiff argues that the trial court's findings of fact did not support its conclusions of law and that the trial court erred in concluding that Article II of the Agreement was not a condition precedent.
It is important to note at the outset that the initial agreement was modified and incorporated into the consent order. Thus, the contract in place at the time of the alleged breach by plaintiff was the Agreement as modified by the consent order.
Hemric v. Groce, 169 N.C. App. 69, 75-76, 609 S.E.2d 276, 281-82 (citations and quotation marks omitted), disc. rev. denied, 359 N.C. 631, 616 S.E.2d 234 (2005).
The trial court made the following relevant findings of fact and conclusions of law:
Plaintiff does not challenge any finding of fact as unsupported by the evidence. The contents of the initial agreement and the consent order are undisputed. Plaintiff correctly notes that the court's findings 9 and 10 concerning the lack of ambiguity in the contract are actually conclusions of law reviewed de novo. See Myers v. Myers, ___ N.C.App. ___, ___, 714 S.E.2d 194, 198 (2011) ("Our review of a trial court's determination of whether a contract is ambiguous is de novo."). Plaintiff does not, however, argue that either the Agreement or the consent order is ambiguous. Indeed, it argues that the plain language of the Agreement "clearly indicates" a condition precedent. Thus, the only question is whether the trial court erred in concluding that Article II was not a condition precedent.
Defendant argues that plaintiff is bound by its contrary prior judicial admission and ought to be judicially estopped from making this argument on appeal because its original complaint requested specific performance, which necessarily assumes no unfulfilled
Id. at 375-76, 432 S.E.2d 855 (citations, quotation marks, and brackets omitted).
The relevant language from the Agreement states that "Handy shall provide full wastewater service to BSR under this Agreement beginning no later than 90 days after the Badin Lake Area Sewer System is granted a full permit by the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and is fully operational." As plaintiff argues, this language contains the word "after", a word that may indicate a condition precedent. See id. at 376, 432 S.E.2d 855. The Agreement also makes clear, however, that the parties' duty to perform was to begin before DENR granted the permit by stating in Article 9(B)(a) that "Handy will operate the BSR Wastewater System until the connection is made to Handy's Wastewater Collection System. Handy will operate under the BSR permit if permitted to do so by DENR." There is no evidence that DENR has forbidden plaintiff from operating under defendant's license, as contemplated by the Agreement, or otherwise attempted to prevent plaintiff's performance.
Moreover, the consent order called for immediate performance by both parties, as requested by plaintiff in its initial complaint, and in no way implied that performance by either party was to be delayed until DENR issued a permit. "The [consent order], usually reflecting the intricate course of events surrounding the particular litigation, also should be interpreted in the light of the controversy and the purposes intended to be accomplished by it." Hemric, 169 N.C.App. at 75, 609 S.E.2d at 282. In plaintiff's complaint, it requested immediate access to defendant's lots in order to begin performance. Defendant raised several affirmative defenses, including that Article II was a condition precedent to performance. If defendant had been correct that it was a condition precedent, plaintiff would not have been entitled to specific performance as it had requested. See In re Foreclosure of Goforth Properties, Inc., 334 N.C. at 375, 432 S.E.2d at 859. Thus, the issue of whether Article II was a condition precedent was a central part of the controversy. The consent order "resolve[d] all pending claims between the parties," including defendant's claim that Article II was a condition precedent. By requiring immediate performance of the contractual duties by both parties, the consent order necessarily disposed of any potential condition precedent. See id. ("A condition precedent is an event which must occur before a contractual right arises, such as the right to immediate performance." (emphasis added)).
Plaintiff also argues that the sequence of the articles in the contract gives prior articles, such as Article II, superior force over the subsequent articles, such as
"[C]onditions precedent are disfavored by the law. Only where the clear and plain language of the agreement dictates such construction will a term be viewed as a condition precedent to performance of a contractual obligation." Stewart v. Maranville, 58 N.C. App. 205, 206, 292 S.E.2d 781, 782 (1982) (citation omitted). Because the plain language of the Agreement and the consent order required immediate performance, inconsistent with the existence of a condition precedent, we hold that the trial court did not err in concluding that Article II was not a condition precedent to performance.
Plaintiff also contends that the trial court abused its discretion in denying its request to include the hearing transcript in the record on appeal. We conclude that this issue is not properly before us and dismiss plaintiff's appeal as to this issue.
North Carolina Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Allen, 146 N.C. App. 539, 543-44, 553 S.E.2d 420, 423 (2001) (citations, quotation marks, ellipses, and brackets omitted).
Plaintiff has not filed a petition for certiorari regarding settlement of the record. Nor has plaintiff included in the record before this Court a supplement including the disputed transcript pursuant to Rule 11(c) of the North Carolina Rules of Appellate Procedure. N.C.R.App. P. 11(c) ("If a party requests that an item be included in the record on appeal but not all other parties to the appeal agree to its inclusion, then that item shall not be included in the printed record on appeal, but shall be filed by the appellant with the printed record on appeal in three copies of a volume captioned `Rule 11(c) Supplement to the Printed Record on Appeal,' along with any verbatim transcripts, narrations of proceedings, documentary exhibits, and other items that are filed pursuant to Rule 9(c) or 9(d); provided that any item not filed, served, submitted for consideration, or admitted, or for which no offer of proof was
In summary, we affirm the trial court's 25 April 2012 order because the court did not err in concluding that Article II of the Agreement was not a condition precedent and dismiss plaintiff's appeal as to the 12 July 2012 order regarding settlement of the record on appeal.
AFFIRMED; DISMISSED.
Judges McGEE and HUNTER, JR., ROBERT N. concur.