Upon recommendation of Trustee Neil Wallace, Independence Township board voted unanimously to cancel their contract with Charlie Dunn and Giamarco, Mullins & Horton law firm.
‘We were told at the time the Cheshire Park thing arose that firm was being retained to help us through that,? Wallace said. ‘When Mr. Dunn was here, we were told that retention agreement had been done back in the spring and I don’t recall having an opportunity to review or approve it.?
Wallace said he was confident the township’s attorney could have handled the situation on their behalf.
‘I still remain that way ? I don’t want to see us confusing our attorney issues,? Wallace said. ‘The prior board went through a transition of attorney services that didn’t work out so well.?
Trustee Mark Petterson suggested perhaps it was time to put all consultants out for bid. Wallace said it is something that can be talked about, but now is not the opportune time because the board is ‘bogged down in budgets.? He also said it was tried recently with attorney services and didn’t work out.
‘We have a significant investment in the three primary outside consultants (township attorneys Secrest Wardle, township engineers Hubble Roth and Clark, and township consultant Richard Carlisle),? he said. ‘We need to be very careful about that review. I’m not rejecting that motion, and I’m just saying we need to be very careful about how we approach it.?
Petterson said he will bring the issue back in January.
? Trevor Keiser