Jaxtheimer v. Sharpsville Borough

Citations

• 238 Pa. 42
• 85 A. 994
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 921

Syllabus

<p>Boroughs — Contracts—Time of contract — Posting and advertising ordinance — Act of .April 8,1851, Sec. 8, P. L. 820.</p> <p>1. A resolution of a borough council that the bid of a firm of contractors “be accepted subject to the entering into of a contract by them with the borough, as provided for in the printed specifications,” is not in itself a contract within the meaning of Section ’3 of the Act of April 3, 1851, P. L. 320, which provides that such a contract cannot be entered into before the ordinance authorizing it has been posted and advertised for a period of ten days after its final passage.</p> <p>2. If a formal contract in strict conformity with the printed specifications including the furnishing of bonds as required by the specifications is entered into between the borough and the contractors twenty-one days after the passing of the resolution, nineteen days after its posting, and thirteen days after its publication, the contract will be binding upon the borough.</p> <p>3. An acceptance of an offer to be effectual must be identical with the offer and unconditional. Where a person offers to do a definite thing, and another accepts conditionally or introduces a new term into the acceptance, his answer is either a mere expression of willingness to treat, or it is a counter proposal, and in neither case is there an agreement.</p> <p>Boroughs — Ordinance—Paving contract — Preparation of contract — Burgess—Borough engineer — Paving or Street Committee.</p> <p>4. Where a borough ordinance provides that the specifications for a paving contract should be prepared or procured by the burgess and paving committee of council, it is immaterial as affecting the validity of the contract that they were in fact prepared or procured and reported to council by the borough engineer and the street committee, if it appears that there was no special paving committee; that what was intended by that term was the standing street committee; and that for the current year the street