10/03/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 10/3/2000 total of allowed attorney fees and costs, therefore, equaled $95,221.74. This fee and cost award was within the limits of the amount which was authorized and appropriated by the City Council. It also represents a significant reduction in the amount sought in the Chamber's original fee application, which was $202,606.44. The Chamber has agreed that it will accept this reduced award and, accordingly, the City has tendered the total payment awarded to the Chamber's attorney. • The other ruling out of the United States District Court in the Chamber case was the Court's denial of the City's motion to vacate the Court's January 21, 2000, interlocutory order which had declared the City's old Sign Code to be unconstitutional. While the Law Department is disappointed in this ruling, it was not entirely unexpected and, in light of the recent resolution of other important issues in the case, and the adoption of the City's new Sign Code this Spring, it is not recommended that this ruling, or any other ruling in the case for that matter, be appealed by the City. Moreover, it is also important to note that the United States Supreme Court, in the case of City News & Novelty v. City of Waukesha which is pending before it, has scheduled oral argument in November to hear a "prior restraint on speech" issue which is similar to the issue which was addressed by the United States District Court in the Chamber case. You will recall that it was the District Court's ruling on the "prior restraint on speech" issue which was the most troubling aspect of the District Court's interlocutory ruling in January. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision on this prior restraint on speech issue may resolve the concerns which the Law Department had over the District Court's ruling on the similar issue in the Chamber case. • Secondly, in the Parcel E case, the appellees, on September 25~' filed their Appellees' Brief in the Eighth District Court of Appeals. The City's Reply Brief to that Appellees' Brief is due to be filed with the Court of Appeals on Manday, October 9. This appeal, involving the constitutionality of the City's zoning of Parcel E for office use only, has not yet been set for oral argument, and a decision by the Court on the merits of the appeal will probably not be forthcoming until sometime next year. • Thirdly, the Law Department has received notice from the American Arbitration Association that a hearing date of November 27, 2000, has been set for the arbitration of a grievance filed by a City dispatcher on the issue of what overtime rate is required, under the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement between the OPBA and the City, to be paid to dispatchers who work overtime on a holidays. The question for the arbitrator to answer is whether dispatchers who work overtime hours on a holiday are entitled to be paid time-and-a-half, or instead double-time, for those overtime hours. • Director of Law Michael Gareau successfully underwent his scheduled surgery last Thursday and is making an excellent recovery from that surgery. Finance Director Copfer: 1) The August revenue and expenditure reports were delivered to Council and the directors today. 2