Agenda - Council Work Session - 06/04/2013

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Jo Thieling, City Clerk May 17, 2013 Page 3 of 4 15. Updates on relevant new legislation and case law affecting municipal government. Non - retainer Hourly rates of $140 /hour, over and above retainer: 1. Personnel matters requiring in excess of three hours consultation, research or negotiation (the first three hours on a project are covered under the retainer). 2. Union negotiations and contract preparation. 3. Legal research and opinions on general legal matters in excess of eight hours (the first eight hours on a matter are covered under the retainer). 4. City, EDA and /or URA real estate sales and /or acquisitions. 5. Easement drafting and acquisition process. 6. Administrative hearings, litigation, and other contested cases, including eminent domain. 7. Civil forfeiture matters, including court appearances and litigation. 8. Special assessment proceedings, including work with the City's appraiser and assessment appeal work. 9. Other legal matters not included in the retainer set out above. Hourly rates of $160 /hour for all land use and development matters where the developer or applicant is required to reimburse the City for legal services. The City's Request for Proposals specified that the proposal must set out a fee arrangement that would cover a four -year period. Our initial proposal set out an hourly fee covering the required four -year period. However, because our retainer proposal contains many assumptions that are not able to be verified until we have spent some time as the City's attorney, we would prefer that this retainer agreement cover a two -year period, giving both the City and our office a chance to assess the accuracy of the assumptions in this proposal. As stated in our interview, our goal is to establish a long- term relationship with the City that is mutually beneficial for both parties. I expect that both parties would be in a position at the end of two years to enter into a longer -term fee agreement with greater confidence that the terms of that agreement provided the best value for all concerned.