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181570 • 1 ORDINANCE NO. 18,157 2 B ©u 3 AN ORDINANCE TO DISPENSE WITH THE 4 REQUIREMENT OF PUBLIC ADVERTISEMENT FOR 10 5 DAYS TO SELECT BOND COUNSEL AS A 6 PROFESSIONAL SERVICE TO ASSIST WITH 7 NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE LEASE OF HOTEL SPACE TO 8 THE PEA3ODY GROUP; TO DECLARE AN 9 EMERGENCY; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 10 11 WHEREAS, Ark. Code Ann. § 19 -11 -801 to -806 (Michie Repl. 1998) permits the City 12 to contract for legal services on the bases of qualifications and not of price, and 13 WHEREAS, the ordinance to implement this statute requires that all notices for such 14 services should be advertised for a period of ten (10) days before a selection process occurs, and 15 WHEREAS, recent developments in the negotiations between the City, the Little Rock 16 Advertising & Promotion Commission ( "the Commission "), and representatives of the Peabody 17 Group indicate that an agreement to lease terms is close and, that acknowledgment of this 18 agreement can bring an end to these negotiations and potentially to litigation between the City 19 and M.S. Green -- Little Rock, which is currently in abeyance, and 20 WHEREAS, it is the hope of the negotiators for the City, the Commission and the 21 Peabody Group that some resolution can occur during meetings of the Commission and the 22 City Board of Directors to be held on December 20 and December 21, 1999, and 23 WHEREAS, prior to any such resolution it will be necessary for the City to obtain an 24 opinion from bond counsel that the proposed terms of the lease do not conflict with covenants 25 made by the City in the Trust Indenture it authorized when it issued $28,075,000 Hotel and 26 Restaurant Gross Receipts Tax Refunding Bonds in 1993, and 27 WHEREAS, the bond counsel for the City in that transaction -- the Rose Law Firm -- 28 cannot issue this opinion for the City because it currently represents the Peabody Group and, 29 to that end, has consulted with the City about this situation and obtained consent to represent 30 the Peabody Group, and �J L 1 WHEREAS, there are only a few firms in the central Arkansas area that are qualified 2 to render such a bond opinion, and all of these firms have been individually contacted and 3 provided access to the materials necessary for such an opinion and the opportunity to submit 4 their qualifications for selection by Friday, December 10, 1999, to be selected by Monday, 5 December 13, 1999, and 6 WHEREAS, this process will be a competitive selection process and & 64nly 7 modification being made this one time is to specifically waive the City's requirement for ten (10) 8 days published notice and to replace it in this single instance with five (5) days actual notice, 9 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF 10 THE CITY OF LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: 11 Section 1. The requirements of Little Rock, Ark., Rev. Code § 2- 243(e) (1988) are 12 hereby waived this single time so far as these requirements mandate a published advertisement 13 of a request for qualifications of bond counsel to assist the City with a discrete legal opinion in 14 one particular case because all eligible bond counsel in the central Little Rock area, as listed by 15 the National Association of Bond Lawyers, have been given actual notice of the City's need of 16 legal services and an opportunity to respond. 17 Section 2. The Board of Directors ratifies the actual notice made to the appropriate 18 law firms, as recognized by the National Association of Bond Lawyers, on Monday, December 19 6, 1999, and sets the time for response as Friday, December 10, 1999, at 12:00 noon in the 20 Office of Purchasing, Third Floor, City Hall, 500 West Markham, Little Rock, Arkansas. 21 Section 3. The Board of Directors states that this situation is unique and, further, that 22 it does not intend to approve such an ordinance in the future absent extremely unusual 23 circumstances. 24 Section 4. Emergency. The successful operation of a convention center hotel adjacent 25 to the Statehouse Convention Center, and the recent expansion of the convention center, is 26 essential to the public health, safety and welfare of the City. The current operation of the 27 Excelsior Hotel does not meet these demands and, to that end, the City is engaged in careful 28 and precise negotiations with the Peabody Group of Memphis, Tennessee, to undertake the 29 type of operation the City desires. The City's ability to complete these negotiations as desired 30 by all of the parties depends in part upon the opinion of bond counsel authorized by this [Page 2 of 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 0 ordinance but, there is not sufficient time to properly advertise the Request for Qualification and obtain the required opinion. The Board of Directors finds that there are only a few firms within the area who can meet an additional qualification of a listing by the National Association of Bond Lawyers necessary to render the required opinion. For all of these reasons, the City declares an emergency to exist and this ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage. PASSED: December 7, 1999 ATTEST: APPROVED: Ox6L��� Robbie Hancock, City Clerk APPROVED AS TO LEGAL FORM: Thomas M. Carpenter, Ci ttorney FA [Page 3 of 31 SW agy, T %ailey, Mayor