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Libby council authorizes legal-services agreement over AFFF/PFAS preparedness
Summary
The City of Libby approved a resolution authorizing a legal-services agreement to allow the city to pursue potential claims related to AFFF/PFAS in the future; the council treated the step as preventative and approved the agreement after brief public comment questioning the resolution language.
The City of Libby voted to authorize a legal-services agreement related to AFFF and the broader class of PFAS compounds, approving a resolution that authorizes execution of the contract.
Mayor Williams presented the resolution and accompanying agreement, which the record describes as a preventative measure: the council was told there are currently no signs of PFAS contamination in the city’s water or sewer but the agreement would allow the city to participate in future cost-recovery efforts if needed. The mayor read a list of firms that would make up the legal team as part of the record; the transcript lists the firms as read into the record (names as recited in the meeting record may be incomplete or garbled).
Councilor [mover] made the motion to approve the legal-services agreement and the related resolution; another councilor seconded the motion and the mayor called for a voice vote. Before the vote, a member of the public who identified himself as ECR (referred to in the record as “Mister Orb” or “Mister Orr”) challenged a ‘‘whereas’’ clause in the resolution that states the city is committed to identifying parties responsible for increasing water-treatment costs and avoiding passing remediation costs to customers. The commenter said that clause was false, calling it “a bold faced lie” and urged the council to remove the language before approving the resolution.
The council moved ahead; the mayor called for aye and, with no recorded opposition, declared the motion carried. The mayor instructed staff to sign and forward the agreement.
The action is described in the meeting record as a resolution authorizing execution of the legal-services agreement; no specific contract number or final detailed fee schedule was read into the record. The mayor and city administrator said the step is precautionary and that the city is committed to providing clean drinking water to customers.
Next steps: the mayor directed staff to finalize signatures and return executed documents to the council’s files.
