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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 05 1989 Lawyers begin work on ordinancesLawyers begin work on ordinances By George Ricker A large part of the work in prepar- ing ordinances to satisfy the require- ments of this year's airport referen- dum will fall on the shoulders of Jon- athan Potter. Potter is a member of the Washing- ton, D.C., law firm . of Cutler & Stanfield, which was retained last week to draft the ordinances required by the charter amendment and to de- fend the city against any litigation arising out of the passage of those charter amendments. Potter told the Sebastian Sun on Tuesday he will be working directly under the supervision of Eliot Cutler, a senior partner in the firm, who will be actively involved in the drafting of the ordinances. The charter amendment, com- monly called the airport referendum, was passed by the voters of Sebastian on March 14 with 1,528 voting in favor of the amendment and 1,110 opposed. There were 5,101 registered voters in the city at the time of the election. Among other things, the charter amendment requires the development of ordinances, imposing a noise re- striction of 65 dBA and a landing fee of, at least, $5 on aircraft using the airport within 90 days after its ap- proval. Following passage of the ordi- nances, the city has another 30 days to implement them. The ordinances in question must be approved by the Sebastian City Coun- cil no later than June 14. Potter said his job is to collect the necessary material for the ordinances, to consult with other members of the law firm who have expertise in vari- ous areas of aviation law and to help prepare the language of the ordi- nances. He said Cutler will be heavily in- volved in all aspects of the preparation and will be supervising his activities. See Attorney Page 5-A Attorney (from 1-A) When Cutler came to Sebastian last week to be interviewed, and subse- quently hired, by the City Council, Potter accompanied him. He re- mained in Sebastian the next day, April 21, and worked with City Man- ager Robb McClary in developing background material on the airport. Potter said he worked on the origi- nal language of the charter amend- ments. Since joining the law firm last October, he has been devoting his time exclusively to aviation and envi- ronmental matters, he added. After graduating from law school and being admitted to the bar last summer, Potter was hired by the firm. He said it was his first job as a practic- ing attorney. He said Cutler & Stanfield have a verbal separation agreement from the Citizens Airport Watch (CAW) and are in the process of drafting a written agreement. Cutler had told the City Council it would be necessary for his firm to sever its ties with the political action committee before it could represent the city of Sebastian. Cutler & Stanfield had been re- tained by the CAW to assist with the preparation of the airportreferendum, he said. Cutler would not discuss any fees the organization might have paid. . Since the firm has no attorney li- censed to. practice law in Florida, Potter said there was a possibility they might have to retain aFlorida attorney to assist in certain types of litigation. However, he added that he considered the possibility• a remote one. Most of the law related to airport matters is federal law, Potter ex- plained, and most of the cases would be heard by the federal courts. He said the federal court system generally practices reciprocity, allowing mem- bers of the bar in states other than the one in which a specific court may be located to practice before it. In the event of a lawsuit before a state court, Potter said the firm might apply for a waiver, which would al- low attorneys from the firm to repre- sent the city in court in a specific case. He said the rules on granting such waivers vary from state to state,'and he was not sure of the general practice in Florida. Beyond that, Potter said Cutler & Stanfield's attorneys would be work- ing closely with Sebastian City Attor- ney Charles Nash. "Both Nash and Cutler have the same client now," he said. The firm already has contacted consultants to do the noise and eco- nomic studies that were agreed to by the City Council last week, Potter said. "We are on a fast timetable," Potter said. When he appeared before the City Council, Cutler told the council he estimated the two studies would cost a combined total of about $10,000. However, in agreeing to have the studies done, the City Council did not place any limit on their cost. In recommending the studies, Cut- ler said he dill not believe they were absolutely necessary to defend the ordinances called for by the charter amendment, but added that he be- lieved the studies would give the city a much stronger case.. On Tuesday, Potter agreed with that assessment. "The chief benefit of having the consultant is to prevent litigation," he said. Since the consultant studies will be completed before the ordinances are finalized, Potter said he felt the data developed by the studies would give the city a much better position in the event of any lawsuits. Cutler also advised the City Coun- cil that the necessary legal work to draft the ordinances would cost from $25,000 to $50,000. In a letter to McClary, dated April 4, Cutler said his firm charged a rate of from $65 to $275 an hour, plus expenses. McClary said, in a memo dated April 5, that Cutler had told him the "blended" hourly rate for the law firm's services would be about $160 or $170 an hour. In making the motion to hire the firm, the City Council imposed no limit on the fees the firm might charge. McClary has maintained the legal fees and other costs of implementing the charter changes will be paid out of the airport enterprise fund. Oppo- nents of the referendum have sug- gested that may be a misuse of the money, which, they say, is intended to be used for the maintenance and improvement of the airport. No legal opinion on the use of air- port funds to pay attorneys' fees has been sought by the City Council, and none has been offered. Cutler declined to comment on the matter, although he said, as did Nash, that it appeared to be appropriate "on its face." However, he added that he did ndt want his firm to be involved in researching how it was going to be paid. He said the question would be more properly directed to the city at- torney or other legal counsel. In his appearance before the City Council, Cutler also said the cost of defending the city in litigation could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending upon the nature of the suits, who was bringing them and how many there were. Potter said he is looking forward to working with McClary to develop the regulations and ordinances that will implement the charter amendment. He said he expects to make one or two more trips to Sebastian before the final drafts of the ordinances are pre- sented to the City Council.