The Avondale City Council Monday approved hiring its first city attorney.

Previously, Avondale would contract for legal services with an outside law firm.

Mayor Kenn Weise said the new hire will keep Avondale competitive as it grows.

“We’re improving new parks, we’re putting in a new 30,000-squar- foot care facility for our seniors and for our Care1st Resource Center," he said. "Having an attorney in-house who can kind of help our department heads go through some of the funding and some of the legal questions, having him right there is a big deal for us.”

Weise said this first ever city attorney is an example of the new Avondale city manager helping move the city forward.

Weise said Avondale has a population of 85,000 people and is still growing.

“And the west side right now is booming. We just approved 3,600 new homes over the next decade. And there was a lot of legal back and forth with that, when it came to development agreements," Weise said. "So I think, from a competitive edge, having an in-house legal team makes a lot of sense for us.”