Settlement reached with Helena law firm

Beginning roughly seven years ago, a lawyer for a Helena-based firm who served as administrator of an EPA grant took for the firm’s fee a percentage of the grant to Lincoln County.

As it turned out, that wasn’t the proper mechanism for the firm of Doney Crowley to get paid and its error cost the county more than $100,000.

A March 20 settlement between Lincoln County and Doney Crowley calls for the firm to pay $120,000 to reimburse the county.

The firm and one of its attorneys, R. Allan Payne, served for a time as general counsel for the Lincoln County Board of Health and as outside legal counsel for Lincoln County. The firm took 20 percent of the EPA grant funds as administrator.

In August 2017, with Lincoln County’s cooperation, the EPA’s Office of Inspector General began investigating apparent “excessive drawdowns” from the grant funds. Lincoln County had contacted EPA when the county first learned the payment arrangement might not be allowed.

Federal regulations require that grant administrators like Doney Crowley be paid on an hourly basis. An EPA investigation ultimately led to the agency ordering Lincoln County to repay EPA $105,697.

The Board of Health and Lincoln County, through their respective counsel, began negotiating with Doney Crowley. Those negotiations eventually yielded the settlement reached last month.

Payne, a Libby native, could not be reached for comment.

A statement from the Board of Health noted that it and Lincoln County were “pleased to bring this matter to a resolution and move forward to focus on the important issues facing Lincoln County.”