CCP 05-08-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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~ ~~HILLS . . MEMORANDUM DATE: May 8, 2006 AGENDA ITEM: 7E TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: Michelle Wolfe, City Administrator' SUBJECT: Motion to Approve Retaining Jeffrey W. Coleman for Legal Services Related to the City Hall Arbitration Case BACKGROUND Thc City of Arden Hills will be entering into an arbitration hearing on June 19, 2006. This arbitration concerns the still-open contract for the construction of the Arden Hills City Hall. During the summer of 2003, the City participated in a mediation process with the General Contractor, Rochon, in order to try and settle the dispute. The mediation process was not successful, so the detennination was made to proceed to arbitration. The arbitration has been scheduled and rescheduled several times. However, the arbitrator has indicated that he will . allow no further delays and thc hearing will commence on June 19. DISCUSSION Until recently, our City Attorney Jerry Filla has been exclusively representing the City in this case. As thc problems with the building have continued and more testing has been conducted, the case has continued to grow in complexity. Therefore, Dave Scherbel and I feel strongly that it would significantly enhance our case if we added the representation of an attorney who specializes in constmction law. We reccived references from the arbitrator, metro building officials, and expert witnesses. We are recommending attorney Jeffrey W. Coleman be retained to assist Mr. Filla with this case. I have attached a smnmary ofMr. Coleman's qualifications as well as a proposal from him dated May 3, 2006. Of note is the fact that Mr. Coleman is not only a qualified attorney, he also has a Master's Degree in Structural Engineering and a Baehelor's Degree in Civil Engineering. These services are more expensive than what we typically pay for legal representation. However, I believe this is a case where his specialized expertise will greatly increase our chances for a successful arbitration. In addition, staff will work with our City Attorney to keep legal expenses as low as possible and reasonable, looking for alternatives for accomplishing tasks wherevcr possible. We will also make every attcmpt to recoup any expenses possible via the arbitration process. .