Council agrees in principle to hire Berkeley Group for interim services and recruitment pending contract edits

The Louisa Town Council voted to accept in principle a proposal from the Berkeley Group to provide interim management and recruitment services, with final approval contingent on edits to the contract language. The agreement in principle covers an executive search fee of $20,000 (with $10,000 due up front) and interim staffing billed at $150 per hour for up to 16–24 hours weekly, for a period not to exceed four months.

Council members emphasized that the decision is conditional on negotiated changes to ambiguous contract clauses. "They are offering to provide the services at a $150 per hour, anywhere between 16 to 24 hours on average per week," said the Chair during the presentation of the proposal. A council member summed up the fiscal trade-off: "I think we might wind up with a much better candidate, choices of candidates if we spent the money on the front end so that we could get it we could make it back on the back end." The amended motion approved by roll call directed staff and counsel to finalize contract edits addressing several flagged terms before the town executes a final agreement.