TOWN OF FISHKILL – Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra is asking the town board to reimburse him almost $77,000 in legal fees that he incurred suing the town and a developer before taking office. The town board vote is scheduled for Wednesday, November 17.
Albra is seeking reimbursement for legal fees that he incurred for two lawsuits he was involved in as a private citizen. In the first lawsuit, he sued the developers of Continental Commons. In the second lawsuit, Albra was sued by the developers, who chose to sue him individually and not in his capacity as town supervisor.
Albra originally sought reimbursement from the town’s insurance carrier and the carrier denied his claim. Albra is now asking the town board to pay $76,334.25 to him directly.
Right before Albra took office in January of 2020, he sued the Town of Fishkill and then-Supervisor Bob LaColla to prevent the town board from allowing two public hearings to be held; one of which involved the project known as Continental Commons. The lawsuit was filed on December 30, 2019, and required an emergency hearing in front of acting Dutchess County Supreme Court Justice Joe Egitto on the afternoon of December 30.
Albra, acting as a private citizen, used the law firm of Feerick, Nugent, MacCartney PLLC to represent him in the proceeding. The lawsuit claimed that certain public hearings, scheduled for that evening for Continental Commons and one for Herring Sanitation, were not set in accordance with state law. When Albra became supervisor, he named the Feerick firm as the town’s attorney of record.
When reached Wednesday afternoon, Albra said that the reimbursement was for a “different case” and declined to provide further details on the case he was referencing.
