Council approves three‑year legal services contract with Bergland Baumgartner & Glazer, adds clarity on lead counsel and appellate services

The East Bethel City Council approved a three‑year municipal legal services contract with Bergland, Baumgartner & Glazer (BBG) at its April 27 meeting, adding contract language to name Mark Berglund as lead municipal and prosecution attorney and to clarify that appellate work is included.

Why it matters: The city’s municipal-law contract defines who provides in‑house counsel, prosecution services and access to necessary law‑enforcement databases; clarifying lead counsel and appellate responsibilities affects continuity and budget predictability.

Scott Baumgartner, speaking for BBG, apologized for an omission in an earlier draft and noted the revised contract removed language that would have charged the city separately for appellate costs. He said the final contract language names Mark Berglund as the lead municipal services and prosecution attorney. Baumgartner explained the firm has negotiated BCA (Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) access in a pooled way across jurisdictions to reduce individual city costs.

A council member noted that the RFP had specified appellate services as part of the vendor obligations and asked that language be explicit in the contract. Baumgartner responded that firm intent is to handle prosecution "from start to finish" including appellate matters and offered to add explicit wording if the council desired. Council members then moved and seconded a motion to approve the agreement with the requested additions; the motion passed with no recorded opposition.

Next steps: Staff will finalize the signed contract to commence on June 1, 2026, and include explicit contract language confirming the lead‑attorney designation and that appellate services are provided under the agreement.