Finance Committee approves $20,000 amendment to Midtown legal-services contract

The Santa Fe Finance Committee on May 27 approved Amendment No. 3 to a legal services agreement with Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP, increasing the not-to-exceed amount by $20,000 to a new total of $412,160.25, including New Mexico gross receipts tax, for legal work related to the Midtown redevelopment project.

The amendment (item 23-0635) was discussed after Councilor Lindell asked why the contract required a third increase. “I'm just curious why has something different happened on the project that we need to because this is amendment number 3,” Lindell asked the committee.

Erin McSherry, the city attorney, told the Finance Committee the city’s use of the firm has expanded with the project’s changing needs. “It just depends on how complex the dispositions are,” McSherry said, noting the firm initially assisted with a disposition agreement for Aspect Studios and later with closing documents and a new disposition for the Mata parcel.

McSherry said the city has extended the firm’s term “in order to have coverage for additional phases of the redevelopment” and that fees have been driven by the complexity and timing of those disposition phases.

Committee members discussed available budget authority for the work. A staff speaker said there is funding in upcoming budgets and in the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency to cover additional legal work, and the committee moved and approved the amendment by roll call. Councilor Lindell, Councilor Lee Garcia and Chair Romero Worth recorded “yes” votes. The motion passed.

No ordinance or change to the redevelopment plan was adopted as part of the vote; the committee approved only the contract amendment to increase the existing legal-services cap. City staff said future work will include additional disposition agreements and closing documents tied to Midtown and that the amount billed will depend on how extensive those phases prove to be.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP has been serving the city on Midtown-related matters since the disposition and closing work began; staff said the firm’s scope has expanded as the city moved from initial developer negotiations to detailed dispositions and closings with the New Mexico Finance Authority and others.

The item was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion and took place during the Finance Committee meeting on May 27; fuller governing-body consideration was noted as forthcoming at final passage or subsequent meetings.

Details about specific billing line items, hourly rates, or contract task orders were not provided during the committee discussion.