11-13-1990 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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ORONO COUNCIL MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 13, 1990 Goetten asked Bernhardson to comment on h.is opinion is regarding lawsuits and the notification of Council. Bernhardson replied, "As far as lawsuits are concerned, if the Council wishes to be notified of those, Staff would be happy to notify you either individually or collectively." Peterson asked whether ten inspections is normal for a septic system. Mabusth replied, "After the problems that we had with this septic system, we wanted Loren to work very closely with the on- site septic tester. I think Michael conveyed some specific directions to Loren before he went on vacation. Michael may wish to expand on that. I can tell you that it was necessary to have seven to eight site inspections done when I had a septic system installed. There were three inspectors at some of those inspections. In the case of the Mayor's home, the septic system was installed incorrectly. It was necessary to do additional septic testing for expansion on another end of the septic system." Gaffron added, "The normal situation with a mound system would be that we would be inspecting before work begins, and another inspec;:ion would be done when they rough up, when the sand and rock has been added and the pressure pipe is installed. • Another inspection would be done when the grading work is complete. When Loren noted that he made ten half hour inspections, I suspect that he was out there probably more than half an hour for any number of those inspections. We wanted him to be out there as much as possible, to oversee the work of this contractor who had done the work incorrectly First. We wanted to make sure it was done right the second time." Nettles said, "I have trouble with the idea that because someone happens to be a public official, that any lawsuit that is brought against them, should automatically be made public business. A lawsuit is a very personal thing. Lawyers are trained to maintain the confidences of their clients. Before the City agrees to disclose such information to the Council, I think that should be considered. This case provides a good example. That same night that Mr. Gehrman was here, it happened that one of the lawyers from the firm that originally brought the suit on Landmark Construction's behalf was here." Ms. Swanson indicated that the lawyer was not their attorney. Nettles continued. "The attorney stated that his firm did not respond to a Summary. Judgment Motion and let the thing be dismissed because we determined it was not a good lawsuit to pursue. Therefore, the City would have been debating, or causing 5 -