Dolores trustees accept town attorney's resignation, hire new firm

The Dolores Board of Trustees voted Monday to accept the resignation of Town Attorney Ethan J. Sumrall, effective November 1, and in the same meeting approved a legal services agreement with another firm.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Source: Town of Dolores minutes and public notices

Resolution 723, accepting the resignation, passed unanimously, according to the minutes of the October 12 regular meeting, posted on the town’s website. Resolution 725, approving a legal services agreement with Holligan Westendorff, PLLC, also passed unanimously. The minutes record no dollar figure for the agreement and give no reason for the resignation.

Both items were on the agenda the town posted ahead of the meeting; the Current’s preview has the agenda as it stood. The effective date and the outcome were not known then.

Building codes clear a first reading

Ordinance 594, adopting the 2024 International Codes, passed its first reading unanimously. The town’s building official presented information on the codes before the vote.

The town has since set the next step. A public notice posted Tuesday says the board will hold a public hearing on the ordinance at its regular meeting on Monday, November 9, at Town Hall, 601 Central Avenue, and that it may then consider the ordinance for second reading and adoption. The notice says copies of the proposed ordinance and the codes themselves can be reviewed at the Town Clerk’s office during business hours, or online through the International Code Council.

These are building codes, and are not the state wildfire resiliency code the board turned down in September.

The other action items

A non-exclusive easement for fiber optic facilities at 101 Railroad Avenue, Resolution 724, also passed unanimously.

No numeric tallies are recorded for any of the four actions; each is minuted as carrying unanimously. Five of the six seated board members were present — Mayor Chris Holkestad, Mayor Pro Tem Chris Curry and Trustees Josh Maule, Billy McCoy and Marie Roan. Trustee Derek Beckman was absent. The seventh seat has been vacant since Trustee Linnea Peterson’s resignation took effect October 1; applications closed this month and the board is due to make an appointment in November.

The agenda had listed a possible executive session. The minutes record that none was held, and that no conflicts of interest were declared.

Presentations

Montezuma Search and Rescue asked the town to consider letting the organization use or lease town-owned property as a staging area. The minutes record the request as a presentation; no vote was taken, and the item was added to the board’s list of future agenda topics.

The board also heard and discussed the 2026 Region 9 and Montezuma County Housing Needs Assessment, prepared under the state housing law SB24-174.

The town treasurer presented the preliminary 2027 budget and reviewed the meetings and public hearing ahead of it. The town has set those hearing dates in a separate notice.

Reports and what is coming

In trustee reports, the mayor raised the question of addressing Flock license plate reader cameras, and two trustees spoke to it. The cameras are now on the board’s standing list of future agenda items, along with culvert maintenance and cleaning, a fast track resolution, affordable housing and the Search and Rescue property request.

Four residents spoke during public comment, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the wildfire code, finishing park improvements in the 2027 budget, and the Riverside Trail improvements.

The town manager told the board the Parks Committee wants to help with the GOCO project, and reported a Colorado Department of Transportation grant opportunity for a safety study.

The meeting ran from 5:29 p.m. to 7:15 p.m.

Source: the Board of Trustees meeting minutes for October 12, 2026 and the town’s notice on the proposed building codes ordinance, both on townofdolores.colorado.gov.