Street repairs to begin
Despite Mayor Michelle Hobbs insisting the
council needed to select an attorney Monday night, a failed vote put the
decision off until the next meeting. After a long discussion the council voted
two to six against a motion selecting one of the attorneys who had submitted
proposals.
Four attorneys submitted proposals stating their
qualifications, three included fee schedules. Two of the attorneys attended the
meeting; Kimberly Eden and Kevin M. Lemley.
The discussion centered around cost versus
experience.
Lemley has been practicing law since 2005. He's
defended class-action law suits in both state and federal courts when he was an
associate with the Allen Law Firm, P.C.; was a staff attorney for the Arkansas
Public Service Commission; and advised government agencies regarding compliance
with various state and federal regulations when he was a counsel with Mitchell
Williams. He now has his own practice, Kevin M. Lemley, P.A.. He also recently
won a lawsuit against Arkansas Municipal league attorney John Wilkerson.
Before receiving her law degree in December,
2011 Eden worked for the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission and the Law Offices
of Gary Green (Personal Injury and General Practice). From 2012 to 2013 she was
with Hosto & Buchan, P.L.L.C. practicing debt collection law. Currently
Eden is an attorney with the Hoskyn Law Firm practicing family Law, probate,
estate planning, and general practice.
In his proposal Lemley says his standard rate is
$200 per hour but for the City of Alexander he will charge $150. While this is
$15 higher than the previous city attorney Lemley only charges for actual legal
work, not for time spent on the phone or responding to e-mails.
"As a matter of firm policy, we do not bill
for routine correspondences requesting advice or transmitting advice," he
states in his proposal. "We only bill time when actual legal work is
performed."
Eden did not provide a rate proposal. She said
during the meeting she understands the city budget is short and is willing to
work for, "whatever is left in the budget."
Alderman Andrea Bearden posed two questions to
the attorneys concerning loyalty and keeping the city legal. She asked them if
hired who would they be working for. Both said the city. When asked to be more
specific Lemley said the citizens of Alexander. She also asked if the mayor or
council is misquoting a law would they, "stand up and correct it?"
Both said yes.
Mayor Hobbs kept insisting the council select an
attorney because, "the Municipal League says we need a city
attorney."
David Schoen, an attorney with the Arkansas
Municipal League, was at the meeting and told the mayor and council members
they do need an attorney but, "you need to negotiate a rate of pay."
Even though some council members wanted to
settle the legal fee issue before selecting an attorney, Alderman Sam Gregory
made a motion to hire Kimberly Eden as the city attorney. Ceola Bailey seconded
the motion. Gregory and Bailey voted yes. Voting no were Farren Wadley, Juanita
Wilson, Andrea Bearden, Faye McKeon, and Lonny Chapman. Brad Scott was absent
so he was counted as a "no" vote.
Both attorneys were asked to submit a fee
proposal and e-mail it to the mayor. The mayor will then forward them to council
members.
Street bid approved
The council approved the low bid for drainage
and street repairs at nine locations along Alexander city streets. The low bid
of $41,696.82 was submitted by Gleason Tucker Construction of Ward. The other
two bids were from D&S Construction in Jacksonville for $45,202.00 and
K&S Masinary Construction of Sherwood for $47,650.00.
The nine areas to be repaired are AC Wallace at
2nd Street, Earl D. Miller, Robert Earl, Corner Stone Road in front of S&K Plumbing,
Brookwood Road at Lindsey Drive, Brookwood Road at Don Parker, West Azalea
Drive, Spruce Drive, and South Alexander Road at the firehouse. The drainage
repairs include removing tree stumps and cleaning out ditches, repairing
damaged culverts, rebuilding ditch banks, repairing sections of streets,
replacing culvert pipes, and removing debris from drains.
The next regular monthly meeting of the
Alexander City Council will be on Monday, July 21, 2014, 6 PM at City Hall. The
public is invited to attend.
This is the best Council we have had since the days of Aldermen, Mitchell, Huck and Ms. Daisy!
ReplyDeleteI was driving into the community the other day; coming in from Bryant the ‘back-way.’ Coming in on Brookwood, I encountered a pot hole and haven’t seen my car since. I took a rope and grappling hook and dropped down hoping to find it, but never heard it reach anything, no rock, no metal, no nothing, – TOO DEEP.
ReplyDeleteI asked some Navy Seals to go down there, a team of three accommodated and we haven’t seen them since either!
Now, I know this is a slight exaggeration, but I did talk to another citizen who told me, they had ruined a steel belt radial on it, and if it happened again they intended to take the bill to City Hall. To say this man was angry is likely as understated as the above is exaggerated. I told him we couldn’t afford to buy tires for the police cars; he responded, “Well, they’ll buy mine if it happens again. They are entrusted with the funds by me and by the state to keep these streets in decent condition’ we do not see any evidence of compliance!”
All this is to say, the article above is good news, and I HOPE IT INCLUDES SOME OF THESE POT HOLES!!!!!
louella you r completely correct, the drive from my house in Bryant to my friends on Don Parker is horrible. .Please get someone to put something in them to fill them with something!!!
ReplyDeleteWe aren't asking for gold fill here - just a little hot tar and gravel should do the trick.
ReplyDeleteRod Chapman used to cruise aroound looking for pot-holes to fill, never wirnessed or heard of him cooling his heels (or anything else) in the city hall office.
I'm not convicting these guys of not doing their job, I believe they do what the are told when they are told.
Nuff said?????
Hopefully this will be fixed very soon. I was called to City Hall yesterday afternoon to sign a check for the vender the Council chose to do the work. The mayor asks that I be the third signer on the check at the regular June meeting. The contractor was there picking up the check before I left the building. Also on my way home, the highway department was measuring the culvert in front of the human development center (you know where it sinks the road in) so maybe that will be fixed soon as well. Have a great day everyone.
ReplyDeleteFour attorneys submitted proposals stating their qualifications, three included fee schedules. Two of the attorneys attended the meeting; Kimberly Eden and Kevin M. Lemley. legal case management software
ReplyDelete