This article has been updated to reflect the Innsbrook Board of Trustee's denial of Wags and Whiskers' amended site plan, not their original site plan. The Record regrets the error. 

The Innsbrook Board of Trustees approved a contract with Hamilton Weber for attorney services and postponed a decision on an amended contract with Village Planner Todd Streiler at their July 8 meeting. 

The village had previously been contracted with the Graville Law Firm for those services. According to former Board Chairman Dan Reuter, the village’s contract with Chris Graville’s law firm was for associates to work with the village. 

Due to controversies surrounding the denial of the amended site plan for the Wags and Whiskers Animal Shelter and the construction of the new village hall, Chris Graville had stepped in to work with the village at a significantly discounted rate. 

Graville told the board he would not continue as the village attorney at the current rate and the village opened a request for proposal for attorney services. 

Hamilton Weber was one of four law firms to submit bids for the contract and although they were not the low bid, Board Chairman Cynthia Bowers said the village felt their proposal provided the best value. 

That contract was based on billable hours for the law firm at a rate of $275 per hour for work conducted by partners and $195 an hour for work conducted by associates. 

The board also received proposals from law firms Curtis, Heinz, Garret & O’Keefe, Cunningham, Vogel & Rost and Lashley & Baer. 

Trustee Mike Caton said the rates for those firms varied depending on which individual attorney would be conducting work for the village. 

Brad Pryor was present at the meeting to represent Hamilton Weber and will be stepping in to serve as the village attorney. 

The contract was approved unanimously. 

“Welcome, Brad, to our team,” said Bowers. “We will be putting you to good use.”

The board also considered an amended contract with Village Planner Todd Streiler. The village is looking to reduce Streiler’s role. 

Previously, Streiler had served as the village planner for the last two years and recently, his work had focused on the completion of the village’s new comprehensive plan. That plan was approved at the board’s June 17 meeting. 

Bowers said Streiler had also had an outsized role in the administrative operations of the village following former Village Clerk Carla Ayala’s departure. He also lent a hand while current Village Clerk Karen Denson and Deputy Clerk Jackie Kemp learned the ropes of municipal government. 

“He was doing minutes for us, and he was doing resolutions for us, and he was being like a pinch hitter,” said Bowers. “So I think that we are going to be doing a better job managing what we’re going to be tapping in on, and using his expertise in a way that’s best going to (advance) the village.”

Streiler’s previous contract was for $3,000 a month, along with a rate of $125 an hour for any work in addition to his contracted hours. 

Bowers said the new contract would remove the automatic monthly fee and Streiler’s pay would decrease to an hourly rate of $120. 

The village would also have the authority to terminate it at any time with a 30-day notice. 

Caton took issue with some of the other provisions in the contract and wanted the board to take more time to review it. 

“My understanding of what we’re doing with this agreement is that it would be a short-term agreement and that we would consider doing a request for proposals in a few months to see what kind of value we’re getting,” said Caton. 

Caton said there was also an automatic renewal provision in the contract, which he felt was not a part of the village’s discussions with Streiler. 

He wanted the agreement to include more oversight on Streiler’s work. He said in its current iteration, Streiler would be assigned work by either Bowers or Planning and Zoning Chairman Allen Huddleston. 

Caton wanted the agreement to spell out that prior to providing any services, Streiler would be required to provide a budget as well as an estimate of how many hours he would log. 

“There should be some control over if he’s going to go over that number,” said Caton. “There should be some approval from the board that he needs to spend more money.”

Streiler is not currently contracted with the village and was not present at the meeting. 

The board voted unanimously to postpone a decision on the agreement and directed newly minted Village Attorney Pryor to review the contract before their August 12 meeting.