By Megan Kelley
Review Writer
LAKE ORION — The Lake Orion Village Council has adopted a new policy for attorney attendance.
The policy was approved 6-0 by the council during its meeting on March 27 with their attorney, Peter Gorjac of Beier Howlett, also present at the meeting.
At its March 13 meeting, the council discussed the idea of creating a policy to change the attorney’s attendance at meetings as a way to potentially cut back on legal fees.
Concerns were raised by Councilmember Michael Lamb, who pointed out that the council had nearly depleted their budget for attorney fees despite still having several important matters that needed to be discussed in the upcoming months.
According to past village documents, in 2022 the village had a preferred vendor contract with Beier Howlett for legal services at a rate of $165 an hour. With two meetings a month, most of which are two to three hours, legal services for meeting attendance and reviewing documents and contracts have added up.
“This is meant to address the utilization of legal services overall,” said village Manager Darwin McClary.
The policy, which was drafted by McClary, essentially states that moving forward, if council members would like the attorney to attend a meeting or receive a legal option, the council would then adopt a motion to do so. That motion would be subject to approval from the council as a majority, not just a few members.
Additionally, legal services will be subject to the supervision and direction of the village manager, unless in situations where services are requested by formal action of the council.
Council President Jerry Narsh, Councilmember Ken Van Portfliet and Lamb all echoed each other’s comments in support of the policy, stating they felt it was cohesive and necessary.