County of Annapolis legal expenses surpassed $1 million from 2017 to 2020

The Municipality of the County of Annapolis accrued more than $1.3 million in legal expenses from 2017 to 2020.

At a Jan. 19 meeting,

Coun. David Hudson said a number of Annapolis County residents have been inquiring about the municipality’s legal fees. He requested a report outlining how much has been spent on legal services within the last three years.

The final figure — $1,322,082 — was presented during a regular monthly council meeting on Feb. 16.

Acting chief administrative officer Louis Coutinho broke the legal expenses down into five main categories: $635,950 relating to the internet project, $379,795 relating to Valley Regional Waste, $11,640 relating to the Gordonstoun private school project, $8,080 on other matters and $286,616 for general legal services.

“This amount is for legal fees only and does not include any settlement costs on existing files,” states a supplementary legal expenses report filed by Coutinho for the Feb. 16 meeting.

The original figure presented to council during a Feb. 9 committee of the whole meeting did not include the $286,616 for general legal services, which Coutinho said was inadvertently left out of the initial report.

“We’ve been asking for quite some time to get these figures and I truly appreciate the work that went into it,” said Coun. Wendy Sheridan in a video recording of the Feb. 9 meeting.

“I know it wasn’t easy and… finally we have them.”

Warden Alan Parish said via email on Feb. 17 that next steps, if any, regarding the recently disclosed legal expenses have yet to be determined.

Asked if the legal expenses from 2017 to 2020 greatly exceeded what would historically be spent by the municipality in a three-year period, the warden said: “Although I have not researched the amounts of past legal fees, I feel it is safe to say that this is likely a lot more than the County has historically spent on legal services in a threeyear period.”

The legal matters responsible for the bulk of the spending are ongoing.

“Regarding the internet project and waste-related disputes, we have been in contact with the other parties to the lawsuits,” said Parish.