OCN

Volunteers reporting on community issues in Monument, Palmer Lake, and the surrounding Tri-Lakes area

OCN > 2604 > Palmer Lake Board of Trustees, March 12, 25, and 26 – Search for town attorney grinds on

Palmer Lake Board of Trustees, March 12, 25, and 26 – Search for town attorney grinds on

Highlights

  • The Palmer Lake Board of Trustees moved to negotiate with a second law firm after the first firm withdrew its proposal amid staff concerns, while ongoing efforts to hire legal counsel faced internal disputes and disclosure questions.
  • The board ultimately directed staff to pursue an agreement with WHF after a failed vote favoring JVAM, with subsequent controversy over attorney Findlay's disclosure of prior contacts and a decision to reopen negotiations with JVAM if fees are reduced.
  • WHF withdrew its proposal following a special meeting and the town's recommendation to withdraw, with WHF stating it disclosed contacts promptly and interpreted the RFP requirements differently.
  • Separately, the Buc-ee's annexation withdrawal request moved closer to completion as Dietze and Davis prepared to finalize the town's acceptance of the withdrawal.
  • Three Planning Commission vacancies remained unfilled despite applications from Shana Ball, Kent Hutson, and Susan Miner, with board votes split on proceeding to appointment without trustees Jurka and Beltran present.
  • The town received a clean, unmodified audit for 2024 from Hinkle and Co. CPAs, noting proper segregation of duties and no material weaknesses, while addressing questions to complete a follow-up discussion on a specific amount.
  • The next regular board meetings are scheduled for April 9 and 23, with workshop and meeting details available on the town website.

By James Howald and Jackie Burhans

In March, the Palmer Lake Board of Trustees (PLBOT) continued its efforts to find an attorney to represent the town. It approached three law firms and chose one with which to negotiate. Interim Town Administrator Glen Smith, who was leading the search for an attorney, raised a concern with the board’s choice. In response to Smith’s memo, the law firm withdrew its proposal.

The board then directed staff to begin negotiations with a second firm. Smith reported progress on the town’s effort to wrap up the withdrawal of the annexation application by Buc-ee’s, which the town has not been able to accept due to its lack of an attorney.

The board tried, unsuccessfully, to fill three vacant seats on its Planning Commission.

Hinkle and Co. CPAs gave the board a report on its audit of the town’s 2024 finances.

Law firms interviewed

At a workshop on March 12, the board heard presentations from JVAM and Wyatt, Hamilton, Findlay (WHF). Zuckerman Legal was invited but chose not to attend.

Kent Whitmer, a partner at JVAM, told the board most of his firm’s clients were on the Western Slope, but the firm intended to expand to the Front Range. Whitmer said he grew up in Denver, went to law school at Denver University, and had an MBA. He first practiced law in Wyoming but came back to Colorado. He had experience with title law, estate planning, and water law and served as Fraser’s town attorney.

Daniel Findlay, a partner at WHF, said it was a small family firm. He studied law in North Carolina and represented the Town of Florence. Findlay emphasized his responsiveness and his work with towns and communities.

Board selects WHF

At the March 12 board meeting following the workshop, Mayor Dennis Stern said he preferred JVAM.

Resident Amy Hutson, who served on the Planning Commission and, briefly, on the Board of Trustees, said that Trustee Roger Moseley had contacted the applicants outside of the board’s process and had communicated with the Town of Florence using his personal email. Hutson said an open records request to the Town of Florence showed an email from Moseley’s personal email. Hutson faulted Moseley for not using his town-issued email address for town business. Trustee Beth Harris was copied on the email. Harris said she did not ask to be copied on the message and did not actively participate in the exchange between Moseley and the Town of Florence.

Moseley said he would not recuse himself from votes to select an attorney, and his communication was an attempt to find legal referrals as requested by Palmer Lake town staff. He said he had deleted the email to the Town of Florence from his personal email account to save space.

After some additional discussion, the board voted on Stern’s recommendation to move forward with JVAM. The motion failed, with Trustees Mike Beeson, Tony Beltran, and Stern voting in favor and Trustees Harris, John Marble, Moseley, and Atis Jurka voting no. Ultimately, the board asked staff to pursue an agreement with WHF.

Concerns raised with WHF

At a special meeting on March 25, Smith said attorney Daniel Findlay had not disclosed his conversations with Moseley in December and January by text and videoconference regarding the position of town attorney even though the request for proposal (RFP) said that “any prior contact” should be disclosed by the applicant. Smith argued this was not fair to the other applicants for the position and not a good way to start the relationship with a new attorney. Smith recommended terminating the agreement with WHF.

In his defense, Moseley said he had disclosed his contact with one of the applicants at the Jan. 8 Board of Trustees meeting. He said his contact took place before the RFP was made public. Smith said his issue was with Findlay’s lack of disclosure as required by the RFP.

Resident Laura McGuire read a transcript from a previous meeting of Moseley’s claim that he had “never met this lawyer before,” labeling that statement as false.

Resident Shana Ball, who held a seat on the board until she was recalled, said the board’s actions were putting the town in danger of losing its insurance coverage as well as legal representation.

Resident Susan Miner said the language of the RFP said any contact should be disclosed and did not set any timeframe for when the contact occurred.

Mark Waller faulted Moseley and the board for lacking integrity and pointed out the board could be sued by other applicants who could argue the decision process involved “inside knowledge.”

Trustee Beeson said the requirement to disclose prior contacts was listed in the RFP among items the proposal “should include,” rather than the “required submittals,” and questioned whether WHF was truly non-compliant.

Moseley explained that his outreach to WHF was done on the advice of the Colorado Municipal League general counsel to encourage firms to apply because they “might be reluctant to come to a place in turmoil.”

Instead of immediately terminating the negotiation with WHF as Smith suggested, the board reached a consensus to invite the lead attorney from WHF to attend the regular board meeting scheduled for the following day.

WHF withdraws its proposal

At the regular board meeting on March 26, Smith passed on to the board a letter from Whitt Wyatt, a principal at WHF, withdrawing its proposal to provide legal services to the town. Wyatt said the decision was made after a review of the special meeting the day before and in response to Smith’s memo recommending that the town withdraw from the negotiation. Wyatt added that WHF had disclosed all contacts with Moseley immediately when asked by Smith, and it interpreted the RFP disclosure requirements differently than Smith did.

In response to a comment from Beeson, Smith said he had called WHF to ask them to attend the board meeting but had gotten no response until he received the letter withdrawing its proposal. Town Clerk Erica Romero said she had been calling WHF since Friday with no response.

Following additional discussion and comments from the public, Stern moved to direct Smith to reopen a negotiation with JVAM. Beeson said he would second if JVAM would make a substantial cut to its fees; otherwise, he thought the town should look elsewhere. Beeson, Harris, Marble, and Stern voted in favor. Moseley voted no. Beltran and Jurka were excused from the meeting.

Buc-ee’s annexation withdrawal request closer to completion

Smith updated the board on the work of Dietze and Davis, the law firm hired by the town to complete its acceptance of Buc-ee’s request to withdraw its application for annexation. Attorney Karl Kumli would meet with representatives of Buc-ee’s in April, Smith said, adding he expected the loose ends of the annexation to be resolved soon.

Three vacancies on Planning Commission go unfilled

At the March 26 board meeting, Romero told the board that there were three applicants for the three open seats on the Planning Commission: Shana Ball, Kent Hutson, and Susan Miner. Ball’s application emphasized her terms on the Board of Trustees and the Planning Commission. She also served as fire chief and contributed to the town’s Master Plan. Miner served on the board, on the Planning Commission, and worked on Master Plans for the town and the Elephant Rock property. Hutson chaired the Master Plan Advisory Team in 2022.

Stern said he would like to hear from each of the applicants, all of whom were present.

Moseley said he and other trustees had asked for a workshop to consider the details of all workshops and commissions. Since that workshop had not been held, he said it was inappropriate to proceed with any appointments. He said Jurka, who was excused, had messaged him to ask the board to postpone any appointments until Jurka was present to vote.

Stern disagreed, arguing that the Planning Commission had cancelled work due to a lack of quorum. He wanted to proceed with the appointments. Romero said she was directed by the board to advertise the vacancies, had not been asked to stop seeking potential appointees, and mentioned the board had made two appointments to the Parks and Trails Commission at recent meetings. She added that she had been diligent in trying to schedule workshops on several topics but received few responses from board members.

Harris asked for examples of business that had been delayed due to the vacant seats, and Planning Commission Chair Charlie Ihlenfeld said as many as two Planning Commission meetings had been cancelled due to a lack of quorum. Harris moved to continue the appointments until Jurka was present. Beeson said he wanted the full board to vote on the appointments. During the discussion of the motion, Ihlenfeld said he wanted the board to vote immediately, and the applicants were all highly qualified.

Harris amended her motion to continue the appointments until Jurka and Beltran were both present to vote. Her motion passed, with Beeson, Harris, Marble, and Moseley voting in favor, and Stern voting against.

2024 finances pass audit

Jim Hinkle, on behalf of Hinkle and Co. CPAs, gave the board a report on his audit of the town’s 2024 finances. His report included an unmodified, or “clean,” opinion. The audit showed proper segregation of duties—previous audits had expressed some concerns about this issue. Hinkle said he did not find any deficiencies or material weaknesses, adding he found “nothing negative to say.”

Hinkle addressed some questions he had received before beginning his audit. He said the actual expenses were less than the budgeted expenses in some cases because of changes to the accounting standards. Moseley said he thought $991,000 was not properly accounted for and asked to have an offline conversation about that; Hinkle agreed to Moseley’s request.

Following Hinkle’s report, the board voted unanimously to accept Hinkle’s audit report, with the stipulation that any questions Moseley had would be answered in no more than a week. The board also directed staff to have Hinkle and Co. proceed with an audit of the town’s 2025 finances.

A workshop was scheduled for March 27 for Hinkle to meet with Moseley and other board members to allow Hinkle to address any outstanding questions about the 2024 audit report.

**********

The next regular board meetings are scheduled for April 9 and 23. See the town’s website at www.townofpalmerlake.com to confirm times and dates of board meetings and workshops. Meetings are typically held on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at the Town Hall. Information: 719-481-2953.

James Howald can be reached at jameshowald@ocn.me. Jackie Burhans can be reached at
jackieburhans@ocn.me.

Other Palmer Lake Board of Trustees articles

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *