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09/07/2006 14:;32 FAX 612 373 0929 CREENE E,SPEIt PLLP �Ih�S{,•�ya�!� Christopher K. Miller, Interim City Mana�er September 7,2006 Page 3 Our experience in advising and representing cities as "responsible governmental units" under ��'A makes us sensitive to t��at statute's bias against prejudging or presuming the outcome of later land-use decisions. Because the purpose of environmental review is to inforrn decisions that will follow it, we would not take the approach of identifying what decision the city wishes to make following the conclusion of environmental review and to then work backward to identify the best path toward that outcome. Rather, our goal would be I•ti assist the city in performing the environmental review and in making appropriate decisions based on the results of that review. l�n some settings. we deliver our advice in a fully public manner. In other settings, however, it is both legal and most appropriate for us to deliver that advice to council members privately. We have not attempted to detemsir�e which setting would be appropriate in this matter. and would of course seek out the input of the council members and the �'is;:'� regular attorney regarding that question. While our role would be to provide advice and opinions that are truly independent, the City ��ntght consider whether it would be in the City's interests for us to invite representatives of developer and the plaintiff to meet with us separately. during the information-gathering stage. Rates and Hours. We substantially discount our regular rates when representing and advisin� public bodies. For clien�s who provide us with a substantial vc�l�ine of work, we sometimes provide i�urther discounts. For this matter we would propose to bill my tii�e at $250 per hour and Ms. VanderWi��'s time at $190 per hour. Those rates are 35 percent and 25 percent, respectively. �c�ow our regular hourly rates for private-sector clients. We expect that atlzers will offer to charge lower rates for this work. However, we would _ anticipate that the experience set forth at the outset of this letter will enable us to cut to the key _ issues most expeditiously, and thereby enable the City to achieve efficiencies that reduce the _ overall cost of our work. _ We would take various steps to avoid re-inventing the wheeL To accomplish this, Ms. _ VanderWiel or I would meet with city staff most familiar with the underlying area and ._ applications immediately upon our retention. We would also expect to re��iew the briefs and appendices in the underlying matter, and obtain background infonnation frsm counsel for the City in that matter. It is difficult to predict with eertatnty how many hours will be required to complete these tasks. In particular, we understand that providing the advice is only part of a dialogue with the City, and that depending on the circumstances, that dialogue may need to become extended. Because this work would be performed in the shadow of pending litigation, we als� understand that there is satne chance that the City's response to our advice would becom�. a subject of a new phase of that litigation. where is possible that our involvement may be required (whether as