Committee moves two outside-legal contract amendments to consent; staff cites software and staffing fixes for overages

The Finance & Administration Committee on Dec. 8 agreed to place two outside-legal services contract amendments on the consent calendar for the full Snoqualmie City Council.

Staff recommended increasing the city’s not-to-exceed amount for Madrona Law to $590,000 to cover a series of emergent 2025 legal matters and to bridge a staffing gap in the legal-assistant/deputy city-clerk role. "This is to approve to go up to 590,000 for a third amendment to increase to 590,000," the presenter said, noting prior amendments had raised the cap from an initial $50,000 to roughly $295,000 in mid‑2023 and then to about $508,000 in October 2024.

The committee also approved moving a $16,000 authorization for K&L Gates to the consent calendar. Staff explained that K&L Gates had originally been retained with a $50,000 authorization and later received an additional $80,000; emergent 2025 work resulted in an approximate $16,000 overage that staff said was covered in a recent budget amendment. Staff reported total spending for K&L Gates was roughly $94,000 in 2024 and about $27,000 in 2025.

Councilmember Johnson raised a broader concern: "this seems to be something that keeps happening that we keep spending over what we said we were supposed to spend," and urged better control. Staff and the chair responded that a recently filled legal-assistant position and new contract-tracking software with engineering controls should prevent future overages; staff also noted differences in how the two firms’ engagements were structured (Madrona under contract with a not-to-exceed clause; K&L Gates under an engagement letter).

Kara requested that the packet sent to council include the two prior Madrona agreements for context; staff agreed to add them. With no objections from committee members, both items were placed on the consent calendar for the next council meeting.