For the second time in recent months, Bellevue Council did not have the votes necessary to approve paying the borough’s bills due to concerns about the hiring of a new solicitor last December. That solicitor, however, says that his hiring was completely legal and no further action is necessary.

With three council members and the mayor absent from the Sept. 28 meeting, a motion to pay the borough’s bills failed in a tie vote. Voting in favor were council members Kathy Coder, mark Helbling and David Gillingham Jr. Opposed were Jane Braunlich, Linda Woshner and Susan Viscusi.

The same thing occurred earlier this summer, when a tie had to be broken by the mayor to get the bills paid.

The problem surrounds the hiring of solicitor Tom McDermott last December. State law provides that a group of lame duck elected officials cannot legally bind incoming officials to a contract. Council was advised by its former solicitor not to take action until the new council was seated in January.

Council member Linda Woshner said she had spoken with other municipal solicitors and been advised that individual council members could be held financially responsible for payments to the solicitor if the hiring was found to be illegal.

“I will not jeopardize my assets,” Woshner said at council’s meeting on Tuesday.

McDermott agreed with the existence of the law regarding lame duck contracts, but said that his hiring was legal because he does not have a contract with the borough. The solicitor said that he is an at-will employee who can be fired by council at any time.

Both Woshner and council member Jane Braunlich disagreed, stating that council intended to hire a solicitor for a one-year period. In fact, the borough’s advertisement for proposals from law firms, published last October, specifically requests proposals for a one-year period beginning Jan. 11, 2010.

McDermott said that whatever the advertisement said, the only record that matters is the minutes of the meeting at which he was hired, which do not mention any specific length of time.

Furthermore, McDermott said, the state borough code specifically states that solicitors are hired as at-will employees.

He failed to convince some members of council, however, and the bills were approved for payment only after it was determined that no invoice from the solicitor was among them.