01-22-2025 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Fischer and Members of City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE: January 22, 2025 RE: Civil Legal Services Agreement between the City of Little Canada and Eckberg Lammers, P.C. ACTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED: Staff is requesting the City Council's consideration in approving a Civil Legal Services Agreement between the City of Little Canada and Eckberg Lammers, P.C. BACKGROUND: On June 12, 2024, the City Council approved the issuance of a request for proposals (RFP) for City Attorney Civil Legal Services. Following the Council approval, the RFP was released and proposals were due on July 8, 2024. A total of eight firms responded to the RFP. Initial interviews of firms were conducted on July 16 & 17 by a subcommittee consisting of Council members Amanda Gutierrez and Teresa Miller and City Administrator Heineman. Each of the eight firms that responded was interviewed by the subcommittee, resulting in two firms Eckberg Lammers, P.C. and LeVander, Gillen & Miller, P.A. being invited to participate in a final interview process with the entire City Council on July 24. Following the interviews, the City Council selected Amanda Johnson from LeVander, Gillen & Miller, P.A. and directed staff to move forward with drafting a contract for civil legal services. The decision to work with LeVander, Gillen & Miller was due to Attorney Amanda Johnson’s professional background in a variety of areas, including land development experience. On August 14, the City Council approved an agreement between the City of Little Canada and LeVander, Gillen & Miller for Civil Legal Services. Since the contract was approved, City Attorney Amanda Johnson has played a pivotal role in several projects including drafting cannabis ordinances, drafting the Development Agreement for the Rice and Demont (RIDE) multi-family housing project, and reviewing the single-hauler organized collection contracts with Republic Services and Waste Management. In December of 2024, City Attorney Johnson informed staff that she had decided to change legal firms from LeVander, Gillen & Miller, P.A. to Eckberg Lammers, P.C. After conversations with City Council members at a workshop on January 8, staff was directed to work with City Attorney Amanda Johnson to change the contract from LeVander, Gillen & Miller to Eckberg Lammers for civil legal services for the City of Little Canada based on her recent work for the city.