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County Counsel recommending the Board:
1) Make findings in accordance with Section 3.13.030 (C) of the County Ordinance that due to the temporary or occasional nature of legal services pertaining to the Mitigation Fee Act, the ongoing aggregate of work to be performed is not sufficient to warrant addition of permanent staff; and
2) Approve and authorize the Chair to sign the Fourth Amendment to Agreement 990 (552-S1711) with Abbott & Kindermann, Inc., for Legal Services pertaining to the Mitigation Fee Act, increasing the total compensation amount by $100,000, for a new total not to exceed $400,000.
FUNDING: Risk Fund.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The County currently has an agreement for legal services with Abbott & Kindermann, Inc. to provide legal services to the County in the action entitled George Sheetz & Friends of El Dorado County v. County of El Dorado, El Dorado Superior Court case No. PC20170255. The existing agreement has a not to exceed amount of $300,000 and is funded through the Risk Fund. To date, the County has paid approximately $270,000 under this Agreement. Although this case is in its later stages, recent developments have the potential to require additional legal services in an amount beyond the current contract amount. To ensure that the representation and defense of the County can continue, County Counsel is recommending that the Agreement be amended to increase the not-to-exceed amount by $100,000, for a new total of $400,000.
This litigation was originally filed on June 5, 2017. During the past eight years, the case went from the El Dorado County Superior Court (Superior Court) to the Third District Court of Appeal (3rd DCA) to the California Supreme Court (CA SC) (petition for review denied) to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS). It was then remanded back to the 3rd DCA for further proceedings in accordance with the decision of SCOTUS. In those proceedings, the County prevailed with the 3rd DCA finding that t...
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