Though no one appears in a

rush to replace current City Attorney Rick Lindsey, the Peachtree City

Council has been prodded into studying whether it's time to hire its own

in-house counsel.

Councilman Dan Tennant has

spearheaded the issue, saying at last week's council meeting that part

of the increase was due to a 30 percent increase in Lindsey's hourly rate.

While other council members

agreed the increase was largely due to a larger work load Lindsey has

handled this year, most were hesitant to bother analyzing whether an in-house

attorney could save money.

"At $130 an hour, I think

it's somewhat of a bargain, said Councilman Steve Rapson, noting that

his employer, Fulton County, recently spent $220,000 to hire a new assistant

district attorney.

So far this budget year, Peachtree

City has spent $177,543 of the budgeted $190,600 for city attorney and

city solicitor services from Lindsey, according to city records. That

reflects a 14 percent increase in the payments for the court solicitor

service (up $9,422) and a 34 percent increase in funds used to defend

the city in court (up $10,842).

In the 1996 fiscal year, the

total expenses recorded for the city attorney and solicitor positions

were just over $101,000. Just $106,293 was spent for both services during

the entire 1999 budget year.

However, in fiscal year 2000,

the payments jumped to $151,769: a 42 percent increase. Most of that increase

$41,248 was also due to increased work as court solicitor and defending

the city in various lawsuits, according to city records.

The city also pays Lindsey

for other professional services such as legal opinions, drafting ordinances

and reviewing other legal matters. Since 1996, that payment category has

also increased significantly, from $24,651 to $58,413.

Councilwoman Annie McMenamin

said to hire an attorney experienced with municipal law in cities with

similar growth issues could become incredibly expensive. She also said

Lindsey has proven to be very accessible whenever he was needed.

Mayor Bob Lenox agreed that

the recent spike in attorney's fees was significant, but if the city had

lost any of its lawsuits Lindsey worked on, it would cost more than Lindsey's

current amount of compensation, he argued.

Rapson added that Lindsey brings

other resources to the table through his law firm, Webb, Lindsey, Collins,

Jones and Wade LLC.

Tennant argued that given the

recent increase in legal bills, it would be prudent for city staff to

determine at what point it makes financial sense to hire an in-house attorney.

"At some point, it has

to be more efficient to have our own attorney," Tennant said, adding

that he wasn't sure if the city's current needs warranted such a move.

"I don't see our legal bills going down. We may well be best served

with outside counsel representing Peachtree City."

"There are a lot of other

places that don't have their own full-time city attorney," said Councilwoman

Carol Fritz.

Lenox said council could decide

to hire different persons to serve as city attorney and city solicitor.

Currently, Lindsey represents the city's legal interests and also serves

as the chief prosecutor in city court.

Local resident Murray Weed,

who formerly served as the in-house legal counsel for Lowndes County,

volunteered to help the city study the issue. He quickly added that he's

not interested in the job at all.

"Councilman [Steve] Rapson

is correct: there are hidden costs ... an in-house attorney probably won't

pay off," Weed said.

Weed noted that some municipalities

consider it a conflict of interest for the same person to serve as city

attorney and solicitor since there could be a time the city attorney is

called upon to defend the city municipal judge.

It was decided that Weed could

work with finance director Paul Salvatore and Rapson, the city's former

finance director. Rapson suggested studying the legal bills over the past

five years to get a good handle on the situation.

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