Palmer Lake Trustee and Mayor Pro-tem Amy Hutson has resigned.
The latest development in an ongoing saga between the town, its trustees, and Texas-based Buc-ee's travel plazas came Friday, the day after trustees voted 4-3 to table a public hearing about zoning the land until after a townwide vote on the proposed annexation could take place.
The town is considering whether or not to annex land south of County Line Road and west of Interstate 25 for the purposes of a new Buc-ee's. For that to happen, the town trustees, in part, need to change some of the area's zoning. Palmer Lake's planning commission recommended against the proposal last month, just days before a special election recalled two trustees and required a popular vote for the approval of any annexations.
The vote at Thursday's special meeting was another controversial one, with some trustees saying that without moving forward on the hearing and rezoning conversations, the public would not have a clear picture of what they're approving or denying in an election.
Hutson, who voted to table the discussion, also voted to adjourn the special meeting, which passed by the same 4-3 margin. "I don't want to be here all night," she said to jeers from attendees.
In a message posted on the town's website, Hutson said, "My skin is too thin and I'm too bitter at this point to carry out my office."
"I have been yelled at, defamed, accused of wrongdoing, and sued," she said. "And by the way, if (the Board of Trustees) did get to vote on Buc-ee's, I was going to vote No. Good luck finding someone who knows the master plan and code as well as I do who has a kind servant's heart."
In the meantime, a lawsuit against Palmer Lake by accountability group Integrity Matters was dismissed on Friday, according to a statement from the town.
Hutson is the third trustee to resign this year; the first was Mayor Glant Havenar in June. The second was current Mayor Dennis Stern, who, facing recall, resigned his position so that trustees could appoint him mayor.
However, two other trustees were recalled in September, which means of the seven-member board, there are three new members plus whomever replaces Hutson. According to the town code, the remaining trustees "may select and appoint, from the duly qualified electors of the town, a suitable person to fill the vacancy, who shall hold the office until the next regular election."
The next regularly scheduled Board of Trustees meeting is set for Thursday. An agenda is not yet available.
