by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Should the City of Sartell contract for its own full-time attorney?
That was a question city-council members pondered at their last meeting, Nov. 28.
The topic was raised by council member David Peterson as the council was considering renewal of a contract with the City of St. Cloud for legal prosecution services, something Sartell has done for many years. Sartell also contracts for a city attorney, currently Stan Weinberger, and sometimes – but rarely – with another legal firm for specialty work such as condemnation proceedings. The contract with Weinberger costs about $9,000 per year.
In 2015, Sartell decided to expand the services it receives from St. Cloud to include some issues regarding city personnel, as well as labor questions, and some assistance with development and miscellaneous issues.
The St. Cloud contract has cost Sartell the same amount of money since Jan. 1, 2015. The current contract proposal calls for an increase to cover increased costs of legal-department salaries, which climbed to 2 percent this year and an anticipated 3 percent for 2017.
Under the terms of the contract, Sartell would pay $3,938 per month for the service – or about $48,000 per year.
Sartell Police Chief Jim Hughes told the council he and the police department members are happy with the current legal arrangement with St. Cloud for prosecution purposes. At one time, when the department called for quotes, the total costs from private attorneys would be between $60,000 and $70,000. In addition to prosecutions, the legal service in St. Cloud is an excellent resource for questions from the Sartell Police Department because those attorneys are often dealing with the same issues and are knowledgeable about them.
Council member Peterson said a time may come when costs go higher, a “tipping point” when the city might want to consider getting its own “in-house” full-time attorney. How close is the city to that tipping-point right now?, Peterson wondered.
Sartell City Administrator Mary Degiovanni said staff could check other cities and even consider how much it would cost to contract with a county (Stearns or Benton) compared to St. Cloud.
Hughes noted having just one attorney might be a drawback because there are many issues and time constraints that could not be handled at the same time by just one city attorney.
After further discussion, the council voted unanimously to approve the contract with St. Cloud. In the meantime, Degiovanni and city staff will check into other cities, other options. By approving the contract, the council is not locked into a full-year agreement for the contract. Degiovanni said the city could back out of it in the next month or so, depending on the results of research.
Council members Steve Hennes, Pat Lynch and Ryan Fitzthum said they are fine with the current contracted arrangements, but they also said they are open-minded about having options researched.
