By Megan Kelley

Review Writer

During their Feb. 8 regular meeting, Lake Orion’s Downtown Development Authority board approved a Request for Proposal (RFQ) for permanent legal services and formed an interview and evaluation team to proceed with the process.

On the interview and evaluation team are DDA Secretary Hank Lorant, Treasurer Matt Shell and Chairperson Debbie Burgess.

Currently, the DDA and Village share the same attorney — Mary Kucharek of Beier Howlett. However, during their December meeting, the board voted to hire Robert Davis of the firm Davis Burket Savage Listman as the board’s backup attorney at an hourly rate of $95 an hour, $70 less than Kucharek’s hourly rate.

The decision to change legal counsel began last year after several months of legal sparring between the village and DDA after an attempt to remove Township Supervisor and DDA board member Chris Barnett from the DDA board. During the proceeding, Kucharek worked with and provided legal services to both the village and DDA creating what several board members considered to be a “conflict of interest.”

Additional issues arose when DDA Executive Director Molly LaLone informed the board that she had found items on the July bill from Beier Howlett that did not belong and had requested they be removed.

By September, the board had decided to move forward with an RFQ for backup legal services should a conflict between the village and DDA arise again.

After hiring Davis as their backup attorney at a much lower rate than they’re currently paying, the board decided to move forward with an RFQ for permanent legal counsel in the hopes that they can either retain the same $95 per hour rate permanently or possibly receive and even better rate.

The board is expected to receive proposals by March 10 and hold interviews at the end of the month. It is anticipated that the board will make their decision on permanent legal counsel during their April 12 meeting.