Council ratifies termination of city's legal services agreement with Peak Law

The Emigration Canyon Town Council ratified a mayor-initiated termination of the city's legal services agreement with Peak Law after a short discussion and a voice vote.

A council member moved to "ratify mayor Brem's cancellation' . . . termination of the legal services agreement with Peak Law," and another council member seconded the motion. The motion was approved by voice vote; no roll call was recorded and no detailed tally was provided.

Council member Brenda Harris said she would support the ratification but criticized how the situation unfolded, saying the council had been subjected to "pressure brought to bear on us as a municipality by an outside entity that effectively amounted to an ultimatum," and adding, "that's not how things should work." Another council member thanked Harris for raising the process concerns and urged that feedback be routed appropriately to the relevant parties.

The presiding official said the next step will be for the council to reconvene to decide whether to issue a request for proposals for legal services or to hire counsel directly; that decision was not made at the meeting.

The council also acknowledged staff members Molly and Cameron for their work during the transition.

The council moved to adjourn following the vote; no further action on hiring counsel was taken at that meeting.