Superintendent Tom Hiebert told the Cochrane-Fountain City School District that attorney fees for the district's actions involving sand mining ran $22,677 from April through July.
    
The district has an attorney from Weld, Riley, Prenn & Ricci in Eau Claire. Regular rate is $130 per hour.  Hiebert said the law firm only billed the district $100 per hour for time worked on mining issues in July, saving some $6,000.
    
Hiebert claimed that other lawyers representing mining interests were charging as much as $400 per hour.