CONNEAUT — The cost of the city of Conneaut’s professional contract negotiator continues to grow, and City Council members want some answers, said Council President Thomas Udell.

Council plans to address the cost of the consultant, which has exceeded $40,000.

Last year, council authorized City Manager Robert Schaumleffel Jr. to hire the Cleveland law firm of Johnson, Miller and Schmitz to handle contract negotiations. The firms charges $225 an hour for its services.

To date, the city has paid approximately $32,000, but a recent invoice still to be paid will bring the total past $40,000, Finance Director John Williams said Wednesday.

City Council members recently have attempted to discuss the cost of the negotiator or a possible spending cap, but have been repeatedly cautioned by acting law director Luke Gallagher to hold their tongue, fearing their comments could affect contract talks still under way, adversely.

Even so, the matter deserves some dialogue, Udell said, and he predicted the subject will surface soon.

“There has been some conversation, but a (possible) cap hasn’t been determined yet,” he said Wednesday.

Udell said he can see why administrators don’t want to tip their hand at the bargaining table, but he said he believes council would benefit from a little more information. “We would have a little better understanding,” he said.

Talks with the city’s four unions began late last year. Last month, the city approved three-year contracts with its police officers and dispatchers. Still in the works are contracts with firefighters (Local 651 of the International Association of Fire Fighters) and public service employees (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees’ Local 2182). It’s believed the firefighters’ contract is headed to arbitration.

Unions say the city is paying big dollars to hire a consultant to do the job city administrators traditionally have handled.

“It’s a shame that just causes us to shake our heads that the current administration is wasting the tax dollars of the citizens of Conneaut to hire someone from outside the city to do the job of negotiations that all the past city managers and law directors did before them,” Mike Dalrymple, AFSCME Local 2182 president, said in a statement.

“It is our belief that the current city manager should sit down at the table, roll up his sleeves as we are, and work together with us to come up with ideas and solutions that will benefit everyone involved.

“With all due respect, the outside negotiator that comes at a cost, should not ever have been given this partial duty of the city manager’s. The citizens should expect a city manager to completely fulfill the duties of their jobs that they were hired to do,” Dalrymple says in the statement.

Sgt. Steve Gerics, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 51 president, said he didn’t see a need for a consultant. Police officers were willing to accept the same contract with no wage reopeners, which wouldn’t have required any special handling, he said.

Given the city’s claims it is destitute, Gerics was surprised money could be found to pay outside help.

“I’m a little astonished they were willing to pay for a negotiator,” he said. “That money could have been used for city projects or paid to employees. It’s a waste of money, money the city doesn’t have.”

Steve Sanford, IAFF Local 651 president, declined comment Wednesday.

“I have no idea where this is going to go,” he said.

Schaumleffel did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Last year, he defended the need for an outside consultant, saying contracts were complex and needed the attention of an expert.