Dillon’s town attorney has submitted her resignation after the Town Council went against her advice and voted to allow the Dillon Community Church to continue to hold Sunday services at the town’s amphitheater.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson confirmed that Kathleen Kelly, of Kelly PC, submitted her resignation Wednesday, June 12. Johnson said the resignation will take effect in 30 days, in accordance with the terms of the town’s contract with the law firm.

“It’s been nothing but positive. We’ve enjoyed working with them,” Johnson said on Thursday, June 13. “We’ve appreciated their sound legal advice and have nothing but respect for Kathleen, (her partner Melinda Culle) and their previous attorneys that worked here.”

Mayor Carolyn Skowyra, who was not in attendance at the Tuesday, June 11, Town Council meeting, said, “Kelly PC has served the town of Dillon loyally for 6 years, and it is disappointing to see our council treat our attorney this way.”

Kelly did not return a request for comment.

Back in April, Kelly and Dillon events director Jessie Klehfoth told Town Council to consider passing a formal policy clarifying the rules for outside groups that want to use the Dillon Amphitheater.

The Dillon Community Church has been using the amphitheater for decades, some 42 years, according to recent accounts by church leadership. But Klehfoth said the town has increasingly received requests from other groups — from corporations to nonprofits and other religious entities, along with couples looking to get married — to use the space.

Kelly at the time advised the Town Council of potential constitutional issues with allowing a religious group to use the amphitheater space but not other groups. She also provided legal advice on the matter to the Town Council during two executive sessions last month.

On Tuesday, when a draft policy was before the Town Council, Kelly advised that the First Amendment means that the town government cannot become “overly intertwined with religious activities.”

But the Town Council voted unanimously against the draft policy, which didn’t carve out a space at the amphitheater for the Dillon Community Church. Some members said they thought a better policy could be drafted which would allow the Dillon Community Church, as well as other groups, to use the space.

Then, the Town Council voted 5-1 to reinstate the previously informal policy that had allowed the Dillon Community Church to hold services at the amphitheater, at least temporarily while a new policy could be drafted.

On Thursday, the Freedom from Religion Foundation — a national nonprofit dedicated to the separation of church and state — said that the Dillon Town Council’s decision “impermissibly advances religion.”

“They should listen to their attorney,” the foundation said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, while reposting a Summit Daily News article on the Town Council decision.

Johnson said he was not surprised to see a statement from a group like the Freedom from Religion Foundation after the Town Council’s decision Tuesday. While the foundation has not announced plans to sue Dillon, its website states that it has filed lawsuits that “have ended a wide range of egregious First Amendment violations.”

“I think there is a lot at stake here,” Johnson said. “This again goes to the recommendation to (the Town Council to) adopt the policy that was in front of them. This is the exact reason this was in front of council.”

“But, ultimately it is the Town Council’s decision,” he added.

Dillon Town Council member Kyle Hendricks, who was the lone “no” on the vote to reinstate the informal policy allowing the church to use the amphitheater, said on Thursday that Kelly’s resignation was “unfortunate” but added, “I honestly totally understand.”

Hendricks said he is worried that the decision by the Town Council exposes the town to a potential lawsuit.

“It’s a horrible position to put ourselves in purposely,” Hendricks said. “I’m not sure how the five council (members) were able to come up with this decision. It does not seem well thought out and in the best interest of Dillon.”

Hendricks added, “It bothers me that there are members of the Dillon Community Church on the Town Council and nobody seems to care.”

Town Council member Dana Christiansen on Tuesday had called for the Town Council to reconsider its contract with Kelly PC at a future meeting. Christiansen declined to comment Thursday on the town attorney’s resignation.

On Tuesday, Christiansen said, “If it’s me, I’m paying my attorney to find solutions, not to throw obstacles in the way of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Johnson said that with the resignation of the town attorney, the town is going to have to issue a request for proposals seeking a new law firm to represent it. If a new law firm has not been selected to represent the town within 30 days, when Kelly PC’s resignation takes effect, Johnson said that town will have to look at potentially canceling Town Council meetings.

“Anything going for formal approval goes through the town attorney’s office,” Johnson said. “There is a process behind everything that comes before the council, and if we don’t have that position filled, we’re putting the town at risk.”