A Dillon Town Council that includes three members who residents voted to remove from office at an election earlier this month is scheduled to consider an amendment to a metro district on Tuesday, March 11.

Dillon Town Manager Nathan Johnson said he had originally moved the agenda item related to the Triveni Square Metro District to the March 25 meeting, by which point the newly-elected council members will be seated. 

Dillon Town Council procedures require at least two council members to add items to an agenda, but Johnson said at least four council members wanted to keep the metro district item on the March 11 agenda. The town’s attorneys indicated there is no legal reason that the item can’t be on the March 11 meeting, he said.

“I don’t know which route that is going to take,” Johnson said. “From a staff perspective, our position was that we were going to let the new council decide these things because the voters voted. Unfortunately, that is not the current tact.”

Dillon residents at the recall election voted to recall council members Dana Christiansen, John Woods and Renee Imamura. But the three will remain on the council for the March 11 meeting because the election results will not be certified until after 5 p.m. on March 12, allowing for overseas ballots to be counted, Johnson said.

In interviews Monday, March 10, the three outgoing council members told Summit Daily News that they intend to vote on the metro district matter. Meanwhile, all three of the newly-elected council members said they feel the metro district decision should be tabled until the new council can be seated to reflect the will of the people.

The Triveni Square Metro District is a funding mechanism meant to help finance infrastructure for projects Developer Jake Porritt is proposing in town. It was a topic of much debate in the run-up to the recall election.

The amendment to the metro district’s service plan that the council will consider Tuesday would modify the metro district’s inclusionary area to add a site where Porritt has proposed retail and workforce housing. It would also add town-owned properties near the Pug Ryan’s Brewery, where Porritt has proposed a grocery store, restaurant and parking structure, to the inclusionary area and remove 312 Dillon Ridge Road, a location where Porritt had previously considered for workforce housing.

“We’re just trying to tie up some loose ends to enable that workforce housing to move forward,” Christiansen said. “It shouldn’t be a controversial issue at all. It has to be included in the metro district for the funds for the infrastructure to be available.”

Imamura said that the council approved the metro district service plan in 2023, and it “is not going to be, and cannot be, renegotiated.” She said that the council has been working with Porritt for three years and that the newly-elected council members “spread misinformation and lies about the metro district.”

“I was elected in 2022 by the people. They wanted the revitalization of the town,” Imamura said. “Every decision I’ve made I stand by. After tomorrow, the new council can go at it, but, right now, I have one more council meeting.”

Ahead of the election, Porritt’s attorney issued a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action against then-candidate and recently-elected council member Barbara Richard alleging that Richard disseminated false and misleading information, among other claims. As of Monday, Summit Daily found no lawsuits in Colorado state or federal courts against Richard, and Richard denounced the effort as baseless and an attempt to quell her First Amendment rights to free speech as she campaigned.

Woods said that he plans to do his job as a council member until the new members are sworn in. Asked how he would respond to citizens who feel the newly elected members should get to vote on the metro district matter, he added, “I don’t respect the people that caused us to be recalled based on lies. Any request that they have — that’s a joke. I don’t care what they say. They can kiss my (expletive).”

But incoming council member Linda Oliver said the townspeople exercised their “democratic right” by recalling the outgoing council members, and that the decision to move forward with items Tuesday is a “contradiction” of the people’s will. Oliver said its important for the new council members to be able to do more research on the metro district and make decisions related to it.

“I think it’s disrespectful and a blatant disregard to the community that voted them out,” Oliver said. “It’s a rushed vote. … Therefore, I feel they should either not be able to vote on it or delay the vote.”

Richard agreed. She said that development and the metro district were the main issues that Dillon residents were concerned about, leading to the successful recall election, and she is hopeful the council will hold off on a decision until the new members can be seated.

“They’ve been recalled, and yet they’re going to vote on something to do with the metro districts and (Porritt’s company) JGJP Dillon,” Richard said. “It’s just not fair to the community.”

Incoming council member Josh Samuel also said that he believes it’s “inappropriate” that the outgoing council members intend to vote on the metro district matter Tuesday. Samuel said that the amendment vote would be an opportunity for the council to request more information about the developer’s projects and more metro district oversight.

“The community, on more than one occasion, has voiced their concerns that they want more of a process and they want more due diligence,” Samuel said. “The recalled council members have said they’re listening, but this is actually a prime example that they’re not.”