Chris Latimer will return as Starkville’s board attorney this term after a new contract for his legal services was approved Tuesday.
Latimer was the only person to submit an offer after aldermen requested proposals for counsel last month.
The new contract, which was approved on consent Tuesday and will run through 2021, removes the $100,000 annual cap on non-litigated matters present in his previous deal and increases hourly rates for services.
Specifically, the agreement will charge $140 per hour for work completed by shareholders and $125 per hour for associates of his Mitchell, McNutt and Sams firm — up from $125 per hour for attorneys’ fees — and $70 per hour for work completed by paralegals. In the old deal, paralegal work was charged at $55-per-hour rate.
The same provisions outlining billing for work on bond issuances — 1 percent of a bond issuance up to $3 million and 0.5 percent of any bond issuance over $3 million, with out-of-pocket expenses billed separately — are present in the new contract, but a new paragraph was added allowing the city to employ outside counsel if deemed in its best interest.
His overall scope of work — providing counsel on the administration of municipal government; preparing official actions of the mayor and board; serving as litigation counsel for the protection of both the municipality and public officials against liability; representing Starkville in state and federal courts, and before administrative boards and commissions; and providing on-demand legal services and advice regarding labor, employment, taxation, finance, purchasing, contracts, regulations and other legal issues — remains the same.
Latimer began serving as board attorney in 2009 and still held the job when aldermen made a call for outside proposals last month.
A vendor report outlining payments to Mitchell, McNutt and Sams from Oct. 1, 2013, to July 4 shows the city has paid the firm $617,456.73 since the start of Fiscal Year 2013-2014.
Latimer did not respond to a text message following Tuesday’s meeting.
“Mr. Latimer has done a good job observing on the other side of the table for the last four years and has kept us on track so far this year. We did only have one applicant, but we were satisfied with his work,” said Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk, who also chairs the Starkville Budget and Audit Committee. “Most of his fees will be due to us aldermen initiating billable hours. It’s up to all of us — the city, mayor, board and department heads — to manage how much we spend on legal fees. We can manage it. I hope we will be mindful of our taxpayer’s money and call upon him when the time is right.”
In other business, aldermen also approved:
■ a variance relief for 29 lots from front and side setback requirements in the final phase of Country Club Estates development
■ $1,570 in in-kind sanitation services for the Aug. 17-20 Sturgis Bike Rally
■ Re-appointed Historic Preservation Commissioner Ryan Ashford to his Ward 2 position
■ Hired Stephen Coleman and Kendrick Bishop as maintenance workers for the sanitation department after two other employees recently resigned
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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