Update: The name of the finalist has been corrected to Dillon Cottingham.
At a Sept. 15 special meeting, the Pagosa Area Water and Sanitation District (PAWSD) Board of Directors selected two finalists for the position of district manager, which will be vacated following current District Manager/Engineer Justin Ramsey’s retirement.
The meeting opened with PAWSD board member Alex Boehmer presenting the conclusions of the PAWSD manager recruitment subcommittee, which included Boehmer and PAWSD board chairman Gene Tautges.
Boehmer explained that the subcommittee received seven applications total and had one finalist before receiving an additional application approximately five minutes before it closed applications at PAWSD’s most recent regular meeting on Sept. 11.
He stated that this applicant is a mechanical engineer at the Las Vegas Valley Water District in Las Vegas, Nev., which serves more than 300,000 water connections, but does not provide sewer services.
Boehmer noted this applicant’s lack of experience with sewer service and stated that the board would need to formally interview him.
However, he stated that the subcommittee decided to recommend this applicant, Dillon Cottingham, as a finalist alongside PAWSD Operations Manager Andrew Connor.
Boehmer explained that Connor has served at PAWSD since 2006, working as a field technician and working his way up to an operations manager position.
He commented that many of the other applicants came from smaller water districts or did not seem to understand the area or the PAWSD organization, making them a poor fit.
PAWSD board member Bill Hudson asked Tautges to explain why PAWSD is looking for a candidate, noting that there “seems to be some confusion out there that maybe [PAWSD] is falling apart at the seams.”
Tautges explained that Ramsey wanted to retire after serving the district for 10 years and working in the industry for 30 to 40 years.
He added that Ramsey plans to stay in the Pagosa Springs area and is willing to assist PAWSD if necessary in the future.
Tautges noted that PAWSD Business Manager Aaron Burns took a “dream job” in New Mexico recently, which would allow him to move back to an area where his parents lived.
Boehmer commented that PAWSD has lost two positions, not four.
“Social media is social media; I’ll just leave it at that,” Tautges said, adding that Connor serves as PAWSD’s project manager, while Ramsey works as an owner’s representative on PAWSD’s Snowball Water Treatment Plant expansion project.
Connor stated that he oversees all PAWSD departments and projects with the exception of the Snowball plant expansion, including work on the Vista wastewater treatment plant, PAWSD’s involvement in the U.S. 160 reconstruction in downtown Pagosa Springs and PAWSD’s efforts to reduce water loss.
Tautges commented that PAWSD is being highly transparent about why it needs a manager and how the search is being conducted.
He added that a new manager would be involved in picking a new business manager and potentially a new operations manager if Connor is selected as the new general manager.
“There’s a lot of moving parts, but I’m personally pretty comfortable with the team that we’ve got and the team we may be looking at in the future,” Tautges said.
PAWSD board member Bruce Jones asked Tautges to explain how long Ramsey would be available to help PAWSD for the benefit of “the people who want to be keyboard warriors.”
Ramsey stated that he does not have a deadline for when he plans to leave, although he plans to leave PAWSD when the Snowball plant expansion is finished, which he estimated might occur in February 2026.
He added that he is happy to work with the new manager.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Ramsey said. “I’m here. I want to leave the district in good shape, so whatever it takes to make sure everybody’s comfortable when I walk out, that’s what we’ll do.”
Jones noted that the new manager would likely be working with Ramsey for up to six months.
PAWSD board member Glenn Walsh commented that Jones’ point is important and expressed his confidence in the district’s current leadership.
Tautges commented that PAWSD has worked with a large range of engineering companies for various projects and that having an engineer on staff might be a benefit, but “not an absolute.”
Boehmer commented that the district’s bylaws that indicate the district should have someone with an engineering degree on staff reflect a different time for the district and that this requirement may be less important now with fewer large projects coming up.
He added that Programs Manager Renee Lewis is an asset to the district and that her assistance with compliance and handling board meetings further reduces the need to have a “one-to-one copy” of Ramsey for the district to function.
Tautges stated that the subcommittee recommended choosing Conner and Cottingham as the finalists.
The group then discussed the logistics of moving forward with the application process, with Tautges recommending that the district schedule interviews with both candidates and make an offer to one candidate following the interviews.
Hudson suggested that the board hold public interviews for the candidates instead of having the interviews occur in executive session.
No board members objected to this idea, although Tautges noted that he would like to have the option to go into executive session if needed.
Walsh stated that he would likely not be voting for any further executive sessions for the board unless they are legally required.
Tautges commented that there are a large number of comments on social media about transparency in relation to PAWSD, adding that he believes that the district has been transparent and that he also wants to minimize executive sessions.
Hudson moved to announce Connor and Cottingham as finalists and publish the notice of the finalists.
Following a discussion of scheduling interviews for the candidates, the board voted unanimously to select Connor and Cottingham as finalists and move forward with the hiring process.
