Berkeley County Public Service District v. Vitro Corporation of America, a Corporation

Summary

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia reversed a declaratory judgment that had obligated Vitro Corporation of America to pay the Berkeley County Public Service District a $275 monthly minimum for industrial and sanitary water for forty years, plus $23,595 in accrued charges. Construing the November 18, 1958 water contract as a requirements contract in which the 'obviously dominant measure' was water 'as Vitro shall require,' the court held that no minimum charge for industrial water was fixed in the contract and that, once Vitro closed its plant in good faith and required no water, no recovery could be had for any charge for unused water. The court further held the contract unambiguous as a matter of law, making parol evidence of negotiations and witness interpretations inadmissible; that the trial judge was not disqualified; that the declaration exceeded the pleadings by adjudicating the fire-protection charge; and that Vitro's summary judgment motion should have been granted. The judgment was reversed and a new trial was awarded to Vitro.