Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutHall & Associates-1/13/2014Mayor BUCK CLARK CITY OF W TERLOO, 00WA CITY HALL m 715 Mulberry Street Waterloo, IA 50703 (319) 291-4301 Fax (319) 291-4286 Council Communication City Council Meeting: COUNCIL Prepared: MEMBERS Dept. Head Signature: .............. DAVID JONES !1'ard 1 CAROLYN COLE Ward 2 HAROLD GETTY Ward 3 QUENTIN M. HART Ward 4 RON WELPER. Ward 5 BOB GREENWOOD At -Large STEVE SCHMITT At -Large January 13, 2014 January 5, 014 Number of Attachments: None SUBJECT: Agreement with Hall & Associates Submitted by: Mayor Clark Recommended City Council Action: I recommend that Council adopt a resolution to approve an agreement for Hall & Associates to represent the City regarding the Clean Water Act. Summary Statement: Hall & Associates has technical experience representing other cities with regard to the Clean Water Act. Expenditure Required: Source of Funds: Policy Issue: Alternative: more cost. Not to exceed $10,000 Sewer Fund User Fees None The city could research these issues, but likely at Background Information: The US Environmental Protection Agency and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources have been working to require more enforcement of these regulations. CITY WEBSII't: www.cityofwaterlooiowa.com WE'RE WORKING FOR YOU! An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer Telephone: (202) 463-1166 Mayor Buck Clark City of Waterloo Iowa 715 Mulberry Street Waterloo, Iowa 50703 HALL. & ASSOCIATES Suite 701 16201 Street, NW Washington, DC 20006-4033 Web: http://www.hall-associates.com Reply to E-mail: jhall@thall-associates.com October 11, 2013 RE: City of Waterloo - CWA Compliance Concerns Dear Mayor Clark: Fax: (202) 463-4207 This letter follows our discussion today regarding your concerns with the City's wet weather compliance responsibilities and response to EPA's enforcement initiative. As you indicated, the City of Waterloo is interested in retaining Hall & Associates ("H&A") as their legal/regulatory consultant, to assist in the resolution of this matter. We are pleased to submit the following outline of our qualifications and proposal to address your concerns. Qualifications H&A is a full-service legal/regulatory/technical consulting firm that specializes in resolution of complex Clean Water Act ("CWA") permitting and compliance matters. The firm's practice has particular expertise in such areas as NPDES permitting, compliance and enforcement, WLA and TMDL evaluation/assessment, water quality standards evaluation/ revision, watershed planning, pollution credits trading, municipal and industrial coalition building, and CWA legislation. The firm represents municipal organizations and individual municipal/industrial facilities throughout the country. H&A integrates both legal and technical disciplines related to CWA compliance and permitting which ensures that all aspects of regulatory compliance are thoroughly evaluated. Our staff is composed of regulatory consultants, engineers, and attorneys (with approximately seventy-five combined years of CWA permitting and water quality impact assessment experience). This blend of talent facilitates our comprehensive review of proposed regulatory issues and ensures that our recommended strategies are legally and technically sound. Mayor Buck Clark October 11, 2013 Page 2 Proposed Scope of Services We understand that the City needs a rapid assessment of its current regulatory posture, so that a response can be provided to EPA on the scope of corrective measures that may be appropriate. This will require a review of the relevant federal/state correspondence and any engineering assessments that the City has, regarding the scope and causes of wet weather discharges. To accomplish this review and provide funding for some follow-up inquiries, we suggest a not -to -exceed budget authorization of $10,000.00. We will proceed on a level of effort basis within the authorization and will not exceed this funding amount without express authorization from the City. Please return a signed copy of this letter which will provide confirmation that we are authorized to proceed as discussed above. It is our understanding that you will be sending us a packet of information for our review. Once that information has been thoroughly reviewed, we will provide you with detailed feedback on our assessment of the situation and recommended strategy to address EPA's concerns. Attached for your records are our rate schedule and billing procedures. We look forward to working with you on these issues. Please call if you have any questions regarding this proposal. Sincer John C. Hall cc: James E. Walsh, Jr. City Attorney Enclosure AUTHORIZATION TO PROVIDE SERVICES: City of Waterloo 2013 STATEMENT OF BILLING PRACTICES For your information, the following outlines our fee schedule and billing practices. The firm bills on both flat fee and level of effort bases. Our time on this matter would be billed at our normal rates for the type of work involved. These hourly rates currently range from $180 to $360 for attorney's and $130 to $260 for technical/regulatory personnel. Specific hourly rates for the calendar year 2013 are: John Hall Gary Cohen Bill Hall Philip Rosenman Associate Attorney Research Associates Law Clerk $360.00 $310.00 $260.00 $205.00 $180.00 $130.00 $ 85.00 These rates may be adjusted upward during the pendency of this matter as a result of general billing rate increases, usually at the beginning of the calendar year. Prior notice will be given before any billing rate increases become effective. The rates quoted above do not include other charges such as long-distance telephone, delivery charges, reproduction and computer processing, LEXIS or similar computer research, filing fees, travel expenses, and any out-of-pocket disbursements made by the firm. All such expenses are increased by ten percent (10%) to cover time associated with management and bill processing. Telephone, copy, and print charges will be billed on a proportional basis. Our practice is to only bill time for travel that occurs during work hours; weekend travel is fully billed. Daily billings associated with meetings or client briefings will normally not exceed 8 hours, unless work is being conducted throughout the day to meet a deadline (e.g., litigation or permit filing). For flat fee contracts, fifty percent (50%) of the fee is due upon commencement of the work; at half completion of the task(s), twenty-five percent (25%) of the fee is due; and the final twenty- five percent (25%) is payable when the finished work product(s) is delivered. Work products may not be used by or for the benefit of any entity other than the client which commissioned the work and are retained as the joint intellectual property of Hall & Associates. For level of effort contracts, monthly invoices will be issued which are due and payable within 30 days, In some cases, depending upon the amount and complexity of the work, a retainer fee may be required at the commencement of a level or effort engagement. Invoices or statements of work in progress are rendered, on a monthly basis, and a 1.5% monthly interest rate is charged on invoices which are thirty (30) days past due.