Dormont residents will see a new face on council at the next borough business meeting and another will soon follow.

Council voted Tuesday night to hire Wilkinsburg law firm Dodaro, Matta and Cambest, whose attorney, John Rushford, will serve as solicitor.

Council president Bill McCartney said members had previously ranked three firms and interviewed the top candidate in executive session last Tuesday.

The winning firm was selected for its expertise in labor law, real estate and municipal work. Council wanted a team -- rather than an individual -- so it can have legal expertise at its reach whenever necessary. The firm's team for Dormont includes Mr. Rushford, firm partner John Cambest and a paralegal.

Mr. McCartney said he and council Vice President Joan Hodson met with the firm from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday to brief them on various borough issues, including zoning for Cochran Nissan and Pitcher Park. Mr. Rushford will sit with council at the March 26 regular business meeting.

Council members John Maggio, Eugene Barilla and Laurie Malka were absent Tuesday night.

Council also hired Mechanicsburg, Pa., consultants Delta Development Group Inc., which maintains a North Hills office. The firm will provide an interim manager for the borough.

In addition to routine administrative tasks, the interim manager also will help organize borough records in the outmoded system, Mr. McCartney said.

Currently, it's "like going back into the library and going through pieces of paper" and better management would ensure the borough doesn't pass resolutions that have already happened, he said.

"We have a lot of stuff that needs to get done to bring us out of the 19th century ... into the 21st century," he said.

The interim manager, who hasn't been named yet, will serve five or six months, the projected timeline for finding a full-time replacement.

The board also formally approved the resignation of solicitor Deron Gabriel, who has remained on council awaiting his replacement.

In other news, a settlement agreement released Monday guaranteed former Dormont manager Gino Rizza $30,000 when he left the borough last month, according to a copy given to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The borough gave Mr. Rizza a $20,000 lump sum in his final paycheck -- based on a 2009 employment agreement -- and allowed him to use accumulated vacation days, and paid him for leftover sick days, according to the document.

Mr. McCartney said the agreement, signed Feb. 3 by him, Mr. Rizza and Mayor Tom Lloyd, was released without his knowledge or permission Monday due to a communication mix-up.

He subsequently emailed the document to the Post-Gazette, which last month filed a Right to Know request for details of Mr. Rizza's departure.

Mr. Rizza resigned Feb. 3. He was Dormont's ninth borough manager since 2001.

The document shows that Mr. Rizza was permitted to use vacation time from Feb. 6 to Feb. 24 at $288.46 a day, for a 15-day total of $4,326.90.

He was also paid $5,769.20 for 20 sick days.

First Published: March 15, 2012, 10:00 a.m.