Council weighing possible change in legal services

The Orchard Lake City Council is mulling over a trio of proposals for legal services to determine whether the city should change attorneys or retain long-standing city attorney Thomas Ryan for another year.

Ryan has been the city’s attorney since 2001.

According to Mayor Bruce McIntyre, it’s prudent to seek proposals regardless of the service rendered in the past.

“It’s the consensus of council that any time a contract expires, we should review the possibilities and it’s not unusual to do so,” McIntyre said.

Requests for proposals were sent out in December resulting in five respondents; two of the respondents elected not to submit proposals.

In each of the three proposals received, the retainer fee would cover attendance at council meetings; monthly calls; ordinance drafting; routine legal assistance; in addition to prosecutions conducted at the 48th District Court for police and code enforcement citations.

“If a matter goes to the Circuit Court level it’s excluded from the retainer,” said City Clerk Janet Overholt-Green.

Other provisions and costs proposed by each of the three bidding law firms vary. For example, billing hours differ between each law firm depending on who does the work, such as a law partner or paralegal.

McIntyre and Councilman Jerry Kosmensky will interview representatives of the three law firms and draft a recommendation prior to the Feb. 22 City Council meeting.