Van Buren Twp. LDFA approves raising attorney fee to $375/hr.

At its half-hour meeting on Sept. 11, the Van Buren Township Local Development Financing Authority unanimously gave its blessing to raising the attorney fee of Kaveh Kashef from the current $300 an hour to $375.
The VBT board of trustees was poised to make the change at its Aug. 21 meeting, but the item was removed from the agenda so the LDFA could give its recommendation first at the request of LDFA recording secretary John Delaney.
After the LDFA’s decision, the township board put the raise in pay on its Sept. 18 agenda for approval.
The township entered into the $300 retainer agreement with the law firm of Clark Hill with Kashef as lead attorney on Oct. 18, 2012 to represent the township’s interests in the litigation against Visteon Corporation.
Kashef, who continues as the township’s lead attorney in the Visteon litigation, now is a shareholder in the Butzel Long law firm. He requested the adjustment in the attorney fee hourly rate to $375 effective Aug. 1.
VBT Supervisor Kevin McNamara said he asked LDFA member Doug Peters, a retired attorney, to look into this request. Supervisor McNamara said Peters went out and did a study and agreed the cost was fair.
“Even at $375, it’s a very fair rate,” Peters said. He recommended adding the words “flat rate” into the agreement so there is no confusion.
Peters said, “Attorneys never get cheated. The lower the rate, the minions are doing the work. The higher the rate, you get the lead attorneys.”
When asked if this would affect the township’s attorney Patrick McCauley, McNamara said it wouldn’t because McCauley is locked into the township’s rates.
Included as part of the LDFA meeting’s packet of information were pages from the United States Consumer Law, Attorney Fee Survey Report for 2015-16.
In other business, the LDFA:
• Directed Delaney and McNamara to gather information defining the job of LDFA secretary and recording secretary and present it at the next meeting, Nov. 14. Delaney said the LDFA is at a disadvantage because it doesn’t have confidential minutes or notes about what happened between 2004 and 2008 between the LDFA and Visteon. Peters said if Delaney kept copious, private notes that would put him in a position as a witness who could be deposed and the information used against the township. McNamara will ask township attorney McCauley for an opinion and Delaney will check with the state. Kashef reportedly is against the idea;
• Heard LDFA member Shareen Barker explain how the Van Buren Public Schools, where she is finance director, is starting a new process to set up the 2019-20 budget by using a firm called Edventure out of Ohio. She said a committee of 40 people from the community will be asked to meet five times between now and January, with the first three meetings educational. The process is called “decision-based budgeting.” She said the school district has had problems with developers in the district and they want to educate the public. She asked for suggestions on who would make good committee members. Peters suggested getting real estate people on the committee, “since they’re always pissing and moaning about how they can’t sell houses because of the schools.” Barker said they plan to reach out to the religious community, as well;
• Heard McNamara say that the township has been working with the YMCA to provide programming infrastructure, with the township getting 40% and the YMCA getting 60%. He said if the school is spinning off a building, “We could figure out how to use it. I don’t want to miss the opportunity.” He said the YMCA has been actively working to provide programs and they want to get into this area;
• Discussed that morning’s event at Grace Lake that had an American flag held high over Grace Lake’s new sign along I-275 by the township’s new fire department ladder truck. The sign had a message “Honoring the Fallen on 9/11.” Delaney had put the special event together and cut back trees so the sign could be seen. He said next year they’ll do better to get the announcement out about the event. He said it showcased the cooperation between the township and Grace Lake; and
• Heard LDFA chairman Michael Dotson refer to the shirt he was wearing that said “Vote on Nov. 6” and added that he can’t tell LDFA members how to vote, but the Wayne County Community College District has a millage question on the ballot that will not cost voters any more money if approved. [The proposal is to approve 2.25 mills perpetually for WCCC operations and would replace the millages now in place that will expire in 2020 and 2022.] After the meeting was adjourned, Dotson asked for support for the 100-mile bike ride he and his 16-year-old daughter Katie are making to help fund research to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. He said both he and his daughter are Type 1 diabetics and have been training for their rides.