In an effort to overhaul its employment policies, the Frankfort Village Board recently approved spending $18,000 to retain a Utica law firm to assist in the process.
The village board on July 1 voted 5-0 to retain Petrone & Petrone P.C. for the next six months, with a $3,000 retainer payment each month, according to village records.
It will extend a previous agreement with the firm to act as special counsel. The prior agreement related to several claims and ongoing lawsuits against the village and its officials, all involving police Chief Steven Conley.
Conley has announced he will retire at the end of August.
The contract for the firm includes an hourly rate of $175 for attorneys and $100 for paralegals, according to village records. The retainer has dropped from $5,000, which the village paid for the first agreement period.
The firm will now assist village officials in updating and revising several of the village’s employment practices.
The process will also include development of an employee handbook that applies to employees outside of the collective bargaining agreement, progressive discipline and employment history documentation, according to village records.
These changes are being worked on as the village continues its search for a new police chief to replace Conley, who retired in part due to accusations of misconduct involving separate confrontations with a resident, county coroner and a fellow officer.
Village officials continue to discuss the process with recently appointed Public Safety Commissioner Mark Harris, who lost a bid for trustee in June elections. Harris has declined to comment on the position, saying it is an unpaid position.
The board met last week with Harris, conferring with special legal counsel via a conference call, but no decision was made following the meeting.
Petrone & Petrone officials have not returned calls requesting comment on their representation of the village.
The village board also recently picked another village attorney, parting ways with Herkimer attorney Nicholas Macri after six years.
Peter W. Hobaica, a Utica attorney with the Peter M. Hobaica law firm, was announced as village attorney at the July 15 reorganization meeting.
The hourly rate for the position remains at $150 per hour, and there is no retainer cost, according to village officials.
Macri said his workload, as village attorney for the villages of Herkimer and Middleville and with a night court practice, limited his ability to continue to devote the time to the village of Frankfort position.
Frankfort, N.Y. —
