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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTM-128-79 u 1 / J TO: His l4onnhi_p the Mayor and Members of Council IqIOM: IVan M. Hobbs, Chairman DATE: November 14th, 1979 SUBJECT: Council Resolution #EC-1018-79 "ITIAT Mavor Rickard be requested to appoint a committee members of Council to work �%ri.th the Town Manager to explore the possibility of appointing a full-time solicitor on staff based on much lowee cost than in th past." Council Resolution #C-1003-79 "THAT resolution #C-1018-79 passed on July 30th, 1979 be amended to provide that two members of Council be appointed to the sub-committee instead of one. " As a result of the above tw,o Council resolutions Mayor Rickard appointed Councillor Clarke, Councillor Hobbs and the Twit Manager to study and ma1:e a reconmenda,tion regarding the possibility of engaging a full-time solicitor for the Town of Newcastle. This Committee met on August 290, 1979 <ind revi_ewe the i.nformL' Lion t hat was obtained from twenty-three I,,Iuni_cipaliti_es in Ontario regarding the position of a Municipal Solicitor which consisted of appointment by-laws, organization charts, duties of the solicitor, and budget and expenditure summaries. After a careful review of this material it was agreed that the Town Manager would ask each Department IIead to review and outline projects which a staff solicitor could assist the Department Heads with and submit their comments to this Committee for consideration. The Department Head's submissions are as follows: D. SMITH, DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPP.WNT 1. The existing Planning Act in Ontario has been recognized as one of the most complex and far reaching pieces of legislation in the Province. The Act in its current form is the basis for complex legal and quasi-legal processes affecting the use, ownership and value of real estate. As you are aware, the Act sets) out the legal basis for Official Plans and Amendments, Restricted Area by-laws and amendments, consents including severances and plans of subdivision, and the means for implementing and/or reviewing those legal instruments including subdivision and site plan agreements, variances and appeals to the Municipal Board. Planning Authority in the Region of Durham is based on Part; VI of the Act to establish the Regional Municipality and describes in detail the powers and re-pom-;ihilities of es_mm i(xwo mttnicipo ity. Ti: is on this combined basis that the Planning Department iQ directly and indirectly responsible for the administration of two local area Official Plans, the preparation of a District Plan for the Town, Four selxtrate restricted area by-Laws, rezoning ;unR•ncbur Ikk ,;iLe 10m ;i.ml iml,divi,, k"j ;ilq•,InuV r,, ;;�w� i;inc.� . va.ri;t )c('., and potentially _incidental itans such as a. maintenance and occupancy by-law. A s_ign_iricaW pNgx) •Lion of this DclxirInHik's Lhmi is gxwL in the review f i and preparation of legal instruuments as described, and in the dissenination of information through enquiries on the status; and n<d.iire of tlx�se i terns. 2. Currently, the Department relies on the Town's Solicitor for legal interpretations and opinions on an essentially "ad-hoc" basis. Staff call for legal assistance on matters of "outstanding" concern or with obvious legal implications. Legal documents as described, are routinely drafted by staff serving in what might be termed a "pares-legal" capacity. This situation has t:mo significant disadvantages. Firstly, staff time is used for the preparation of -legal docuuents, time that could be freed for dealing with other n><rtters in an increasing workload situation. With the development of Courtice, Bowmanville and the former Village of Newcastle, we are expecting an unprecedented volume of subdivision and rezoning applications. The increased volume can only, result in increased "delays" in the "turn-around" time for applicationo,pefore the Department. � ) Ij Secondly, and related to the first point, staff will not be able to maintain the high standard of "para-legal" wont that, I believe, has been demonstrated in the past. With an expanding workload and continued pressures to process al,l_ i.cations as quickly as possible, 1 believe the quality of work will be sacrificed in favour of quantity. The probability of ei•iur will increase, as therefore will the need for remedial legal toil. 3. Currently, the Town pays for legal services on an item by item basis and tends not to avail itself of legal services in order to keep costs down. The hiring of a full time solicitor would generally improve the overall quality of legal and quasi-legal activities performed by this and other Departments, in that a greater volume of work mould rightfully receive legal scrutiny. The hiring of an in-House solicitor may result in short-term costs to the Town above current expenditures for legal services. Higher short term costs should in my view be considered as an investment in the long term administrative capability of the Corporation. It is important to have the administrative infrastructure in place to meet increased demands for services as the Town of Newcastle grows. J. HA MAN, FIRE CHIEF Departmental requirements for a Solicitor at present are mostly used for information in regards to the legal responsibility of the Department. Any major problems generally are handled through a Fire Marshal 's order served under "The Fire Marshals Act", through the Ministry's Office. In conjunction with the proposed Maintenance By-Law, and if Council were to adopt the new "Ontario Fire Code" (comnents sulrnitted to D.Slni_th,Direetor of Planning) then the requirements for a Solicitor would greatly increase. i I T. A. FANNING, DIRECTOR OF CONW1UNITY SIRVICES In past years any problcnis involving arenas, pules, tx-)ols or nmicipa.l buildings, it was handled by the insurance canpanies. The following are areas where legal assistance could be of use to our department: Union matters, amployee contracts, use oC land and buildings for recreation, figure skating instructors etc. H. G. WIMT, CHIEF BUILDING OFFICIAL Occasionally the Building Department requires legal advice on the Building Code Act and Regulations as well as sane prosecutions. Interpretation on zoning matters are handled through the Planning Department. Most of the problems encountered by the Building Department could be handled by a Staff Solicitor. h. S1M1 SON, HY-1_,AW 1?N1,01 ('1?MI,;N'1' 0110101Z At the present time, this departments occasional use of a solicitor has involved approximately half a dozen occasions when telephone consultation was required regarding preparation of action in court. I believe there has only been one occasion for this department to request a court appearuice from the legal firm of Sims, Morton, McInerney & Brady. However, it would have to be considered whether cases such as our present situation of defending our Parking By--Law against Rae's Auto Parts could be handled routinely by a staff sol:i_ci_tor. Would this also include trial prosecutions of Town By-Laws? Thcrefoi:-c, at this time, l,his doparl.nicni: has vel.y I H'Lle conce.I•B or not the 'Town should amplo,y a NIL time sol_icitot-. J. DUNHAM, DIRECMR OF PUBLIC WORKS After consideration of your request for advice regarding the need for a full-time Staff Solicitor, it �kould ippear that, insofar as this Department is concerned, the primary matters in which legal services are required are as fol_l_ows: (a) Expropriation of land. At the present time we are actively involved in three expropriation 1�.roc�xxl i ngs n:unel y fol•: (i) Lot 29, Concession 3, Clarke (Culvert) (ii ) lol. 35, Coiicossio ii 13, I>ul ingi,on (Realignment) ( i i_i ) 0)L1I-Li Devctolaur'nt - ;�Luiui OtiL1"d I (b) l�_)a.d Closinv I -4- I (c) Land Acquisition relative to road, bridge and culve:r�t construction (d) Boundary Agreements (e) Easement Agreements For the purpose of this review the Committee reviewed the actual and b , budgeted expenditures of the Municipality for 1977, 1978 and 1979 to- ;,e. YEAR BUDGET ACTUAL 1977 $27,000.00 $23,540.00 1978 18,000.00 35,210.00 1979 18,000.00 6,400.00 to April 30, 1979 In addition to the above figures it was noted that considerable amounts are paid for special items,for example, O.M.B. Hearings where legal specialists are required also labour relations etc. I Based upon the financial information received the Cor►flm .ttee projected a budget for a legal department as follows: i Solicitor projected salary $28,000.00 30% benefits 9,000.00 $37,000.00 Legal Secretary projected salary 15,000.00 W1 benefits 4,500.00 19,500.00 Office Equipment and Supplies 20,000.00 Projected yearly cost based in 1979 dollars $76,500.00 These projected costs do not reflect the requirements to hire legal specialists ;Lnd based urx)n prior yeah; expel•ience Lhey 1IMPc 1XT"gXM $1_0,000.00 to $50,000.00 per year and these costs are usually budgeted for by the various departments and in some instances we are able to recover funds on specific items, e.g. subdivision agreements. I Based upon the information and the projected costs in setting up a legal department we would respect[Lilly r ec-,cxrnnend as follows: 1. That the information presented by this Committee be received and filed, and 2. That this Ad-Hoc Committee be disbanded as they have fulfilled the teens of reference as stated in resolution 02-1063-79. 3. That the Council review the Abject again within the next two ,year;s.