Closed Meeting for Courthouse Plans get Attention

A planned closed session of the City Council to review is attracting the scrutiny of Ward 3 Councilor Fred Howe and former City Councilor Matt Kelley. The closed meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at City Hall tomorrow. The certification of the closed session is slated as the 

If the closed session is approved, City Attorney Kathleen Dooley says the council will review an analysis of the proposals prepared by the consulting firm Arcadis. 

Dooley says that the presentation would include analyses of the components of the final price for each proposal. The City Council will also review financial reports from the design-build team companies, as well as Arcadis' own analysis evaluating the proposals. 

"There is a closed session authority for the confidential protections of that analysis," says Dooley, underscoring section 28 and 29 of the state closed meetings law, which allows for public bodies to hold confidential proceedings to protect its bargaining position.

Howe agreed that state public-private contracting laws allowed for the protection of certain elements of the proposals at this stage, but he wanted to make sure that any closed session discussions stick strictly to confidential topics.

"I have had conversations with the city attorney and told her my concerns," says Howe, who relates that the issue was brought to his attention by former City Councilor Matthew Kelley. "I've told her that the closed session should only address the things which could impact our negotiating position according to state law."

Howe says that his concern stems from a desire to keep the public informed on the courthouse proceedings.

"If the public is to be able to analyze and review for consideration these proposals, the need to be as close to the same information as we have," said Howe. "That does not preclude us from doing our job at the end of the day."

Dooley agrees, and emphasizes that the city will hold public hearings on the courthouse proposals. 

"There are certain public policy debates which will happen in public," says Dooley. "The council wants to hold that in open session, no doubt no question."

Howe also touched on a note of financial caution regarding the court proposals, asking where the money to build the project will come from.

"Right now, this court project, to me, is the beginning the end of the city if we're not careful in these economic times," said Howe. "This thing teeters on the edge of breaking the bank of the city."

The City Manager has recommended that the City Council set aside $39 million for construction of a new courthouse facility.

According to the City Council Calendar issued last week, there are no public hearings or meetings on the courthouse proposals yet scheduled. Preliminary timetables in the city's request for proposals would see the city award an agreement to build by the end of summer.