The Town of Vestal has agreed to pay over $270,000 in attorney fees to a local organization that represented a religious group and rehabilitation center in a federal lawsuit against the town. The settlement comes after a jury sided with Candlehouse Teen Challenge, a nonprofit group that said town officials had improperly denied its request to open a rehabilitation center in the residential neighborhood on Mirador Drive. On Wednesday, the Town Board approved a post-trial settlement involving the American Center for Law and Justice, which represented Candlehouse. The jury awarded Candlehouse just $4,700 in legal damages as a result of the trial, but the group filed a post-trial motion seeking attorney fees and other costs. Town officials have not disclosed how Vestal will be paying for the $270,000, but they say Vestal has a self-insurance fund which usually covers legal liabilities. According to reports, Vestal itself spent close to $200,000 in connection with the legal defense since the lawsuit was first filed by Candlehouse back in 2011.
