The Craig City Council formally adopted a new policy requiring letters of support, endorsements and similar statements made on behalf of the city to first be discussed publicly and approved by the council. 

The council unanimously approved Resolution No. 31 (2026) during a special meeting Friday, three days after Mayor Chris Nichols withdrew a letter he had signed supporting Toto Labs’ continued evaluation of development opportunities in Craig.

The resolution establishes that no endorsement, letter of support, statement of support or authorization to use the city’s name, seal or logo in support of a project, program, initiative, application, campaign or third-party effort can be issued on behalf of Craig without first appearing on a public agenda, being discussed in open session and receiving council approval.

City officials said Friday that the process had generally been followed as a matter of practice but had never been formally adopted.

Councilman Joe Herod questioned why a new resolution was necessary if officials already understood that such matters should come before the full council.

“It was a practice,” said City Attorney Heather Cannon. “Nothing memorialized.”

The discussion quickly moved beyond the technicalities of the resolution and into the circumstances surrounding Nichols’ July 14 letter to Toto Labs.

Herod said his concern was not whether data centers should come to Craig. He said he did not have enough information to take a position.

His concern, he said, was that the council had not acted as a group.

“There’s seven of us on a team,” Herod said. “From now on I feel like that we got to be on the same page as a council.”

Herod said he did not care about the contents of the Toto Labs letter as much as the process used to issue it.

“Once you put your name on something and I don’t have my name on it, that’s when I have a problem,” Herod said. “This is our issue.”

The Craig Daily Press reported Wednesday that Nichols signed the July 14 document, titled “Official Letter of Support – City of Craig,” after meeting with Toto Labs representative Matt Solomon in June.

The letter said Toto’s interest in Craig deserved continued evaluation and dialogue. It did not approve a project, incentive, contract or funding commitment.

Nichols withdrew the letter Aug. 11 after city officials determined it should have been considered by the full council in public.

City Manager KC Hume said earlier this week that future communications supporting or opposing private development interests would be placed on a public agenda and presented to the council for a recorded vote. 

Friday’s resolution formally establishes that process.

Councilman Luke Tucker said he wants both the council and the community better informed before decisions are made on issues such as data centers.

“I want an informed council and an informed community,” Tucker said.

He said questions involving potential power consumption, water use and other concerns should be answered before officials decide whether restrictions such as a moratorium are necessary.

“I want to educate the community,” Tucker said. “I want to be educated myself and then I can make an informed decision.”

Tucker also emphasized that the new process should not be interpreted as Craig closing itself to economic development.

“I want to make it clear that Craig and Moffat County are open for business,” Tucker said. “We’re open for business, but we need to be informed so we can make the right decisions going forward.”

Councilwoman Michelle Gottschall also supported the resolution, saying transparency needs to exist not only between city officials and residents but among council members themselves.

“I just think we need more transparency,” Gottschall said. “We need to have that as a council and we need to have it as a community.”

Councilman Randy Looper said he believes the city has been transparent and has answered questions when they have been raised, though he supported putting the process for letters of support into writing. The discussion then turned briefly to Moffat County before Herod stressed that the issue before the council was Craig’s handling of the Toto Labs letter.

“This has nothing to do with the county,” Herod said. “This is our issue with a letter that was signed.”

Herod said he had no problem with council members or city officials meeting with prospective developers. His concern, he said, was when a document carrying the city’s support was signed without the full council’s involvement.

“You can go to a hundred meetings a day,” Herod said. “Once you put your name on something and I don’t have my name on it, that’s when I have a problem.”

Nichols, meanwhile, used the meeting to directly address his decision to sign the Toto Labs letter.

He said he fully supported the new resolution and acknowledged that he should have brought the letter before the council.

Nichols said Hume had asked him at the time whether the letter should go before the council, but Nichols believed that was unnecessary because it committed no city resources, approved no incentives and did not authorize a specific project.

“It only states a continued dialogue,” Nichols said. “It is the most generic letter I have seen.”

He said he regretted failing to bring the letter to the council for approval.

“There was nothing to hide,” Nichols said. “I only rescinded it because the city attorney said I overstepped my authority as the mayor and this resolution clarifies that for me and future mayors.”

He said he does regret failing to bring the letter to council for approval.

Nichols also said he has met with representatives of 11 potential development projects during his time as assistant mayor and mayor and intends to continue meeting with prospective developers.

“I will continue to meet with developers when approached as the mayor of the city,” Nichols said.

He said those conversations are part of Craig’s effort to diversify its economy as the region prepares for the loss of coal-related jobs.

The resolution establishes a distinction between exploratory conversations with prospective developers and official statements carrying the city’s support.