The Smithfield Town Council has extended their contract with longtime town attorney Robert A. “Bob” Spence Jr. with Spence and Spence, P.A.
Under the contract, Spence will continue to bill the town $185 per hour for legal services. He will attend all regularly scheduled town council meetings and at the request of the mayor or town manager will also attend planning board and board of adjustment meetings.
Spence has agreed that his law firm will not represent any clients with any potential case against the Town of Smithfield including personnel and employment actions and cases stemming from action by the Smithfield Police Department and Planning Department.
The Town has budgeted $60,000 to pay Spence this year. The cost for town legal fees varies from year to year:
FY 15-16 $58,062.79
FY 14-15 $26,079.75
FY 13-14 $41,551.05
FY 12-13 $27,938.97
FY 11-12 $60,385.45
Town Manager Michael Scott said this is the first year the Town has separated out the attorney fees into a separate line item. “As of November… we had paid about $19,950 in attorney fees, which is about 8.5% under budget for the year.”
