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RESO 2004-19 - Contract Thomas A. Leeper as City AttorneyRESOLUTION NO. 2004-19 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH THOMAS A. LEEPER TO PERFORM THE DUTIES OF CITY ATTORNEY. BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS, Section 1: That the Mayor is hereby authorized and directed to enter into, and the City Secretary is authorized and directed to attest to, a contract which is attached hereto as Exhibit "A" with Thomas A. Leeper to perform the duties of the City Attorney of the City of Huntsville, Texas. Section 2: That this Resolution shall be and become effective immediately upon and after its adoption and approval. PASSED AND APPROVED this the 6th day of October, 2004. ATTEST: Danna Welter City Secretary THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS By: Steed Smith, Mayor Pro Tem EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF HUNTSVILLE AND THOMAS A. LEEPER FOR THE POSITION OF CITY ATTORNEY STATE OF TEXAS COUNTY OF WALKER CITY OF HUNTSVILLE KNOW ALL PERSONS BY THESE PRESENTS THIS AGREEMENT made, entered into and effective this day of October, 2004, by and between the City of Huntsville Texas, a municipal corporation, hereinafter called "Employer," and Thomas A. Leeper, hereinafter called "Employee ", both of whom understand as follows: WITNESSETR WHEREAS, Employer desires to employthe services of said Thomas A. Leeper as Employee of the City of Huntsville, as provided by Article IX of the City Charter; and WHEREAS, it is the desire of the governing body, hereinafter called "City Council," to provide certain benefits, to establish certain conditions of employment, and to set working conditions of said Employee; and WHEREAS, Employee desires employment as Employee of said City of Huntsville; and WHEREAS, the parties acknowledge that Employee is, or will become, a member of the State Bar of Texas, International Municipal Lawyers (IMLA), and the Texas City Attorneys Association (TCAA) and that Employee is subject to the Codes of Ethics of these organizations; NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the parties agree as follows: Section 1: Duties Employer hereby agrees to employ said Thomas A. Leeper as Employee of said Employer to perform the functions and duties specified in said Article IX of the City Charter and applicable provisions of the City Code and to perform other legally permissible and proper duties and functions as the City Council shall from time to time assign. Section 2: Term A. Employee agrees to remain in the exclusive employ of Employer during the term of this agreement, and agrees not to become employed by any other employer until said termination as hereinafter provided, except as provided in Section 9 of this agreement. B. In the event written notice is not given by either party to this agreement to the other thirty (30) days prior to the termination as hereinafter provided, this agreement shall be extended on the same terms and conditions as herein provided, annually, without further action. C Nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the City Council to terminate the services of Employee at any time, subject only to the provisions set forth in Section 3 of this agreement. D. Nothing in this agreement shall prevent, limit or otherwise interfere with the right of the Employee to resign at anytime from this position with Employer, subject onlyto the provisions set forth in Section 4 of this agreement. Section 3: Termination and Severance Pay A. In the event Employee is terminated by the City Council during the term of this agreement and during such time that Employee is willing and able to perform the duties under this agreement, then in that event Employer agrees to payEmployee a lump sum cash payment equal to the number of days aggregate salary, and benefits described as follows: 90 days if terminated within the first two (2) years of employment and then, no severance pay thereafter. Employee shall also be compensated for all earned sick leave, vacation, holidays, and other accrued benefits to date. In the event Employee is terminated because of conviction of a felony or misdemeanor crime involving moral turpitude, then, in that event, Employer shall only be obligated to paysalary up to and including the date of termination plus any accrued vacation or holiday leave. B. In the event Employer at any time during the term of this agreement reduces the salary, compensation, or other financial benefits of Employee in a greater percentage than an applicable across - the -board reduction of all employees of Employer, or in the event Employer refuses, following written notice, to comply with any other provisions benefitting Employee herein, or the Employee resigns following a suggestion, whether f omal or informal, by the City Council that he resign, then, in that event Employee may, at his option, be deemed to be "terminated" at the date of such reduction or such refusal to comply within the meaning and context of the herein severance pay provision. 2 Section 4: Resignation In the event Employee voluntarily resigns his position with Employer during the term of this agreement, then Employee shall give Employer 30 days notice in advance, unless the parties agree otherwise in writing. In this event, Employee shall only receive accrued vacation and holiday leave and any sick leave that he may be entitled to under the City's Personnel Policies. Section 5: Disability If Employee is permanently disabled or is otherwise unable to perform his duties because of sickness, accident, injury, mental incapacity or heakh for a period of four successive weeks beyond any accrued sick leave and leave available under the Family Medical Leave Act, if any, Employer shall have the option to terminate this agreement, subject to the severance pay requirements of Section 3, Paragraph A. Section 6: Salary Employer agrees to pay Employee for his services rendered pursuant hereto, an annual base salary of $85,000, payable in installments at the same time as other managerial employees of the Employer are paid. At the conclusion of the third month review and evaluation provided at Section 7 below, if City Council deems Employee's performance satisfactory, the annual base salary shall be increased $5,000 from the next regular payperiod forward. In addition, Employer agrees to increase said base salary and/or benefits of Employee in such amounts and to such extent as the City Council may determine that is desirable to do so on the basis of annual salary review as a part of the annual performance evaluation process and at any other time the City Council deems appropriate. Section 7: Performance Evaluation A. The City Council shall review and evaluate the performance of the Employee following the third month of employment and at least once annually thereafter. Such review and evaluation shall be in accordance with specific criteria developed jointly byE mployer and Employee, and in accordance to the provisions of the Huntsville City Code and Personnel Policies. Said criteria may be added to or deleted from as the City Council may from time to time determine, in consultation with the Employee. Further, the Mayor of the City of Huntsville shall provide the employee with a summarywritten statement of the findings of the City Council and provide an adequate opportunity for the Employee to discuss his evaluation with the City Council. 3 B. Anni,ally, the City Council and Employee shall define such goals and performance objectives that they determine necessary for the proper operation of the City of Huntsville and in the attainment of the City Council's policy objectives and shall further establish a relative priority among those various goals and objectives, said goals and objectives to be reduced to writing. They shall generally be attainable within the time limitations as specified and the annual operating and capital budgets and appropriations provided. C. In effecting the provisions of this Section, the City Council and Employee mutually agree to abide by the provisions of applicable law. Section 8: Work Hours It is recognized that Employee must devote a great deal of time outside the normal office hours to the business of the Employer, and to that end Employee will be allowed to take time off as he shall deem appropriate during said normal office hours. Section 9: Outside Activities Employee shall not spend more than 10 hours per week outside of normal City working hours in teaching, consulting or other non Employer - connected business without the prior approval of the City Council. Additionally, Employee may spend necessary time to wind up a limited number of private law practice matters which are not reasonablypractical to transfer to another attorneyorto conclude by October 1, 2004. Employee's outside activities shall not interfere or conflict with any duties or responsibilities required under this agreement including the number of hours. Section 10: Vacation and Sick Leave Employee shall accrue and have credited to his personal account, vacation and sick leave at the same rate as other general employees of the Employer except that, at the time of employment, Employee will be credited with two (2) weeks of vacation leave and one (1) week of sick leave. Vacation and sick leave shall be subject to provisions as outlined in Section 3 of this agreement, upon termination of Employee. In addition, if Employee voluntarily resigns as described in Section 4 of this agreement, Employer agrees to compensate employee for all accrued vacation and sick leave up to and including the final date of employment. Section 11: Health and Life Insurance Employer agrees to provide hospitalization, surgical, and comprehensive medical insurance and life insurance for Employee equal to that provided all other employees of the City, and to pay the premiums thereon on the same basis as for other employees of Employer. 4 Section 12: Retirement Employer shall provide and payfor Employee's participation in the retirement plan of the Texas Municipal Retirement System in a manner and rate consistent with all other employees of the Qty of Huntsville. Section 13: Dues and Subscriptions Employer agrees to budget and to pay for professional dues and subscriptions of Employee necessary for his continuation and full participation in national, regional, state, and local associations and organizations necessary and desirable for his continued professional participation, growth, and advancement, and for the good of the Employer. Said dues and subscriptions shall include, but not be limited to, Texas City Attorneys Association, International Municipal Lawyers Association, Texas Bar Association and their regional and local affiliate organizations. Section 14: Professional Development A. Employer hereby agrees to budget for and to pay for travel and subsistence expenses of Employee for professional and official travel, meetings, and occasions adequate to continue professional development of Employee and to adequatelypursue necessaryofficial functions for Employer, including but not limited to the TCAA Annual Conference, the IMLA Annual Conference, the National League of Cities, the Texas Municipal League, and such other national, regional, state, and local government groups, committees and conferences approved in the budgetary process or separately approved in advance by Council. Participation in said professional development activities shall be considered a part of the Employee's work related duties and Employee shall not be required to use accrued leave for such participation. B. Employer also agrees to budget for and to pay for travel and subsistence expenses of Employee for short courses, institutes and seminars that are necessary for his professional development and for the good of the Employer. Section 15: Indemnification In addition to that required under state and local law, Employer shall defend, save harmless, and indemnifyEmployee against anytort, professional liability claim or demand or other legal action, whether groundless or otherwise, arising out of an alleged act or omission occurring in the performance of Employee's duties as Employee, unless arising from Employee's willful misconduct. Employer will compromise and settle any claim or suit and paythe amount of any settlement or judgment rendered thereon, provided however, that any settlement shall be subject to the review and approval by Employee. 5 Section 16: Bonding Employer shall bear the full cost of any fidelity or other bonds required of the Employee under law or ordinance by virtue of his employment. Section 17: Residency Employee should continue to reside in the City during his employment with the City. Section 18: Other Terms and Conditions of Employment A. The City Council, in consultation with the Employee, shall fix any such other terms and conditions of employment, as it may determine from time to time, relating to the performance of Employee, provided such terms and conditions are not inconsistent or in conflict with the provision of this agreement, the City of Huntsville Charter or other law. B. All provisions of the City of Huntsville Charter and Code, and regulations and rules of the Employer relating to vacation and sick leave, retirement and pension system contributions, holidays, and other benefits and working conditions as they now exist or hereafter may be amended, shall also apply to Employee as they would to other employees of Employer, in addition to said benefits enumerated specificallyforthe benefit of Employee except as provided herein. Section 19: Notices Notices pursuant to this agreement shall be given by deposit in the custody of the United States Postal Service, postage prepaid, addressed as follows: (1) EMPLOYER (2) EMPLOYEE: Home address Mayor City of Huntsville 1212 Ave. M Huntsville, Texas 77340 -4608 Thomas A. Leeper 1924 Avenue N1/2 Huntsville, Texas 77340 Alternatively, notices required pursuant to this agreement maybe personally served in the same manner as is applicable to civil judicial practice. Notice shall be deemed given as of the date of personal service or as of the date of deposit of such written notice in the course of transmission in the United States Postal Service. 6 Section 20: General Provisions A. The text herein shall constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof. B. This agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of heirs at law and executors of Employee. C. This agreement shall become effective commencing October 1, 2004. D. If anyprovision, or any portion thereof, contained in this agreement is held unconstitutional, invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this agreement, or portion thereof, shall be deemed severable, shall not be affected, and shall remain in full force and effect. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the City of Huntsville, Texas, has caused this agreement to be signed and executed in its behalf by its Mayor Pro Tem, Steed Smith, and duly attested to by its City Secretary, and the Employee has signed and executed this agreement, both in duplicate, the day and year first written above. Danna Welter City Secretary 7 Steed Smith Mayor Pro Tem Thomas A. Leepe Employee