Colorado Springs Utilities’ legal fees have tripled since 2004 as water issues bubbled up into the courts and government regulation required legal help.   Last year, Utilities spent $3.1 million on legal fees, including in-house attorneys and outside counsel. In 2004, legal fees totaled $918,700, and this year the bill is expected to be $1.7 million.   Legal fees became a point of discussion last week when the City Council, acting as the Utilities Board, learned that Utilities contracted with six law firms for fees totaling $1.2 million this year. None of the firms is local. In-house legal costs so far this year have come to $575,200.   “It just seems excessive,” said Councilman Tom Gallagher, who also said the city should spend its money at home when possible.   City Attorney Pat Kelly said outside firms are hired only when her office doesn’t possess a specific expertise or has a conffiict of interest.   One of the more expensive cases the city faced in the past couple of years was the Sierra Club’s Clean Water Act lawsuit, which went to trial early this year in federal court. The city was represented by attorneys with Hill & Robbins of Denver, which has a $400,000 contract with the city. No decision has been made in the case.   Kelly said Utilities is also paying a Kansas City firm $85,000 for its expertise in a tax issue involving storage of natural gas.   Ken Burgess, another city attorney, said other issues requiring outside legal services include compliance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and land-use issues associated with the Southern Delivery System from Pueblo Reservoir. The city is in court trying to establish who has regulatory authority over the pipeline’s construction, for example.   Another firm handles contract matters, while another deals with water law as it pertains to exchange rights, Burgess said.   “I truly believe they’re necessary,” he said and noted that some of the law firms have Colorado Springs branches.   Utilities’ goal is to award 30 percent of its contracts to local firms. It’s missed that goal in the past, but finance official Bill Cherrier predicted the report next month will show it’s on target this year.    contact the writer: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.com

Christian Clark, front, lifted a stencil from the pavement above a storm sewer with his friend Devin Kastrup while working on his Eagle scout project on S(aturday. Clark is painting “no dumping” signs on storm sewers. Photo by (J. RACHEL SPENCER, THE GAZETTE)