Yelm approves contract for prosecutor, civil services, amends contract with consultant

Yelm City Councilors unanimously approved two different contracts with Dille Law and amended one contract with Stowe Development and Strategies during a meeting at Yelm City Hall on Tuesday, Aug. 11.

Kathy Linnemeyer, Yelm City Clerk, highlighted the first of two contracts with Dille Law, which would retain Dille Law for prosecutor services in Yelm.

According to Linnemeyer, Yelm City Council previously approved a contract with Dille Law for attorney services in 2021. The contract has since expired and Dille Law engaged with Yelm to speak about renewing his services at the same cost of $4,800 monthly. Additionally, Dille Law would bill the City of Yelm at the rate of $255 per hour for all trials and appeals. This information can be found in the Yelm City Council agenda packet from Tuesday, Aug. 11.

“There’s no changes to the contract or the services,” Linnemeyer said. “The one small change that is made is the previous contract was written to automatically renew for a one-year term and it had an end date of Jan. 1, 2025. This contract does not have the end date. It renews every year for a one-year term.”

Linnemeyer added that there is a clause within the contract for cancellation that requires a 30-day notice. She said if the City of Yelm decided to change attorney services for whatever reason, it would take a letter and 30-day notice to cancel out the contract.

“We’re not tied into any length of time if there are changes to be made,” Linnemeyer said.

Councilor Joseph Richardson asked Linnemeyer if the city attorney would be obligated to fulfill their duties during that 30-day notice period — to which Linnemeyer answered with “yes.”

Yelm City Councilors unanimously approved the first of two contracts with Dille Law.

The second contract with Dille Law, this time for civil services rather than prosecutor services, was also unanimously approved by Yelm City Council.

Linnemeyer noted this is “exactly the same as the other contract.”

“It’s the same exact amount that we’re paying currently,” she said. “There’s no increase in the cost for changes in the services for this contract.”

Lastly, Linnemeyer highlighted amendment #1 to the professional services agreement with Stowe Development and Strategies at the value not to exceed $20,000.

She noted that the City of Yelm recently approved and completed the first contract with Stowe for work in Phase 1 of the community revitalization fund (CRF) district at the value of $20,000.

“Bob is working with Todd (Stancil) on this, and the Mayor (Joe DePinto) and Cody (Colt) all to develop this. He’s very instrumental in this whole process to work with,” Linnemeyer said. “They’ve met with the county and started discussions with the county, and as you know, they’re also working still through with the fire department. It’s a pretty complicated process and having someone who has the expertise to work through these things and make sure it’s done correctly is important to the project.”

Councilor Terry Kaminski asked if there’s a time limit for this amendment, or if it’s just through Phase 2? Mayor Joe DePinto responded and specified that it’s for Phase 2.

“I think they charge hourly and there’s a pool that it draws from,” DePinto said. “We don’t anticipate it going over on this one.”