Several familiar faces were welcomed back to the Powell City Council on Monday night, along with one newcomer.

Mayor John Wetzel, Ward 1 Councilman Geoff Hovivian and Ward 2 Councilman Floyd Young were each sworn in to new four-year terms while Troy Bray officially became a councilman representing Ward 3.

Along with the incumbents, Bray won his seat in November’s general election, when he defeated Councilwoman Lesli Spencer. This is Bray’s first role as a public official, but he’s long been involved in politics, including with the Park County Republican Party and the Sons of Freedom. He had several supporters in attendance for Monday’s 15-minute meeting.

As for the incumbents, Wetzel will continue the mayoral role he’s held since 2017; Young is beginning his fifth council term and Hovivian his second.

In one of its first acts, the new council voted to also stick with some other familiar faces, unanimously choosing to retain Copenhaver, Kitchen & Kolpitcke as the city’s attorneys and Bret Allred as the municipal judge.

Although the yearlong attorney contract is technically with the firm of  Copenhaver, Kitchen & Kolpitcke, it’s effectively with Alexa Rolin and Scott Kolpitcke, who handle the city’s legal work. They’ll again receive $48,000 this year for 20 to 30 hours of work each month. Any extra work that falls outside the contract will be billed at $200 an hour.

The city hired Rolin and Kolpitcke last year, after longtime city attorneys Sandee Kitchen and Scott Kath departed the role. The switch in lawyers — and from a salaried role to an independent contractor — allowed the city to cut its budget for the city attorney from $106,789 in the last fiscal year to $59,000 this year.

Among other duties, the attorneys provide legal advice, draft and review contracts, prepare ordinances and prosecute violations of city ordinances in municipal court.

Separately, the council unanimously voted to stick with Allred, who has held the role since mid-2017. Allred is also moving from a salaried role to an independent contractor.

For each of the next two years, he’ll receive a flat $21,600 to preside over the court. That represents a $3,600 bump from the past two years. However, because the city will no longer need to pay Social Security taxes or worker’s compensation for the independent contractor, the net impact on the city budget will be around $1,900 a year.

A total of 210 misdemeanor citations were handled in Powell’s municipal court in 2024. Most cases are resolved without a hearing or a single hearing, with only two trials in the past decade. Allred’s contact is based on 10 to 20 hours of availability each month.

Rolin has said more cases could come through the municipal court in the future thanks to the city’s new traffic school and deferral program for some citations.

(Editor's note: This version has been corrected to reflect that many cases are resolved without a hearing and that there have been two trials in the past decade. It also has been updated with a more exact number of citations.)