The Dillon Town Council has selected a law firm to represent it as its new town attorney.

After interviewing two law firms at its meeting Tuesday, Aug. 13, the Town Council instructed Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson to negotiate a contract to hire Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman as the new town attorney. That contract is expected to be before the Town Council for approval at its next meeting, Tuesday, Aug. 27.

Johnson said that the hiring of a town attorney will fill a critical role left vacant when the previous town attorney resigned earlier this year. The town has not had a town attorney since mid-July, stalling progress on town business from capital projects to policy-making, he said.

“Our hope here is to get the new firm up to speed as to what is going on in town,” Johnson said. “… We’re really trying to focus on some of these items that have been delayed such as different policy matters that have been delayed, trying to bring those forward in the next 60 to 90 days so that as we move into 2025 we can keep things on track and not get bogged down.”

One of the policies that will be up for further discussion when the Dillon Town Council hires a new attorney is the policy governing amphitheater use, Johnson said. The Town Council began discussing a formal policy for what groups can use the Dillon Amphitheater after it was brought to the town’s attention that the Dillon Community Church has been using the space for decades, but other groups have also requested to use the venue.

The previous town attorney submitted her firm’s resignation after a discussion in June about the amphitheater-use policy, where she advised that allowing the church to use the venue could violate the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment separation of church and state. At that meeting the Town Council voted to allow the church to continue services at the amphitheater at least temporarily this summer, before later reversing that decision at a subsequent meeting.

The Town Council still has to hash out the details of that amphitheater-use policy. With a new town attorney on board, progress can also be made on a potential policy to allow neighborhood block parties and various capital projects can again start moving forward, including water department projects, Johnson said. 

He added that a development agreement for the stalled 240 Lake Dillon Drive condominium development previously known as Uptown 240 has also been “bogged down because of this whole town attorney transition” and may soon be able to move forward.

Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman currently 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.

In its letter to the Town Council, Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman listed hourly municipal rates of $245 for services provided by a partner, $230 for services provided by counsel and $95 for services provided by a paralegal. 

Collins Cole Flynn Winn Ulmer, the other firm interviewed by the Town Council on Tuesday, Aug. 13, priced its services at $415-$450 per hour for a partner, $280-$370 per hour for an associate and $210-$250 per hour for a paralegal, according to the law firm’s proposal to the town.

The Dillon Town Council interviewed the two law firms during a work session, then discussed the candidates qualifications behind closed doors during an executive session. Mayor Carolyn Skowyra said after the executive session that the town would be moving forward with Wilson Williams Fellman Dittman.

“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. They had a lot of experience with special districts.”