The Dillon Town Council has hired a new attorney, which will allow the town to move forward on a handful of business items that have been delayed since its previous town attorney resigned in July.

The Town Council voted unanimously at its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 27, to hire Erica Romberg, of Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman, as the new town attorney. Romberg joined the Town Council in-person during the meeting.

The Town Council interviewed Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman and another law firm at a meeting two weeks earlier. At the time, Mayor Carolyn Skowyra cited Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman’s pricing as the deciding factor in the decision.

“I believe the best candidate we interviewed tonight was Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman,” Skowyra said. “Their prices were more reasonable and in line with what we’ve been paying for counsel recently.”

Skowyra also noted the law firm’s experience with special districts, like the metropolitan districts the Town Council has approved in association with a developer’s plans to redevelop parts of the town core.

The town has not had a town attorney since mid-July, stalling progress on town business from capital projects to policy-making. The previous town attorney submitted her firm’s resignation after the Town Council went against her advice back in June, igniting a political firestorm over the separation of church and state when it voted 5-1 to allow a community church to use the town-owned amphitheater. The Town Council later retracted that decision.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson has previously said that the Town Council’s work on drafting an amphitheater-use policy has been stalled due to not having an attorney. He has also said that the lack of a town attorney has delayed capital projects, including water department projects, as well as a development agreement that would allow construction to resume at the condominium development known as Uptown 240.

Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman also serves as city attorney for Salida, Fort Morgan, Woodland Park, Las Animals, Avon, Lyons, Empire, Bow Mar, Fairplay and Hillrose, according to a letter from the law firm included in the Town Council’s agenda packet. It also reportedly serves as special council for the a metropolitan district in Edwards and the county attorney in Yuma County.