CC - Minutes - City Council - 5/13/2014 (3)

Home

Prescott City Council Regular Voting Meeting May 13, 2014 Page 3 directed the City Attorney to file a Notice of Appeal (in relation to the Pure Wafer case), she questioned whether a decision had been made at the Executive Session and whether a Notice of Appeal had actually been filed. Jon Paladini, City Attorney, said because the order of the Judge came down as a judgment, which started the 30 day time clock, and the Notice of Appeal had to be filed within 30 days, this was the first Council meeting the action could be agendized to precede with the appeal. He said the Notice of Appeal had been filed to preserve the City's right to appeal the case. No other action had been taken. The action is to authorize the City to proceed forward. Councilwoman Wilcox asked if the Council had been provided any information regarding the cost of an appeal. Mr. Paladini said that he thought he provided that information in a memo. Councilwoman Wilcox indicated she did not receive the memo. Councilwoman Wilcox said there was a fine line between directing the attorney to file a Notice of Appeal and making a decision to appeal a case. A decision cannot be made in Executive Session and the Council needs more information before it decides to appeal a case, as it can be expensive and may or may not be the right thing to do. Mr. Paladini said this item asks Council to make a decision to allow outside Counsel to proceed forward with the appeal in this case. He said the discussion for the reasons why were done in Executive Session. Councilwoman Wilcox said it seemed there was direction given to him to file a Notice of Appeal. Mr. Paladini said it was done in order to preserve the City's right. If the City had not been able to file the Notice of Appeal, the City may have lost the ability all together. Councilwoman Wilcox said that it seemed that item could have been an action item on the Regular Meeting Agenda the same day as the Executive Session, if that had been the intent. Councilman Blair said Councilwoman Wilcox's question regarding cost was answered in the Executive Session. Mr. Paladini said he recommended going into Executive Session because he was not comfortable talking about legal strategies in an ongoing litigation case, in public. Councilwoman Wilcox said she did not think they needed to go into Executive Session if the Council had been provided information about the cost. She said she was concerned about the process and would like to see an open meeting decision scheduled the same day or soon after an Executive Session. MAYOR PRO TEM LAMERSON MOVED TO AUTHORIZE THE ATTORNEY TO FILE AN APPEAL IN CASE NO. CV-13-08236-PCT-JAT, PURE WAFER ADV. CITY OF