Taxpayers in Snellville are on the hook for more than just legal fees in a suit filed by the mayor against the city council.

The city council voted Monday night 4-1 to pay a settlement to former clerk Melissa Arnold who resigned during the lawsuit.

Confidentiality was given as the reason not to disclose the sum or the reason for the settlement.  But Arnold cited stress over the lawsuit at the time of her resignation in June.

Mayor Kelly Kautz filed suit against Arnold, the city manager, and the five council members after her appointment of a new city clerk wasn’t recognized in January.   She also sued over being denied access to the second floor of city hall.

Issues regarding open meetings violations by the council and the unauthorized use of her signature on financial documents were ultimately dismissed.

A settlement was then reached between the two sides.

While legal fees of $115,000 have been paid to the attorneys representing the city council, those incurred by Kautz have not.  City Attorney Tony Powell told the council Monday night that since Kautz did not prevail in her suit, she is not owed attorney fees.

Her attorneys are seeking up to $240,000, although the mayor expects that amount to be reduced.

Residents at Monday night’s council meeting both praised Arnold for her service while chastising Kautz for requesting her legal fees be paid.

“Why should I have to pay your fees because you don’t get your way,” Joel Davenport told the mayor.

Kautz says the spirit of the settlement has not been fulfilled and she expects the issue over her legal fees to be decided by a judge on Oct. 24.

“Even though we agreed in the settlement this was a compromise and we’re going to move forward, unfortunately that hasn’t happened and there continues to be bickering over what the settlement actually meant,” she says.

Meantime, others have simply had enough of the cantankerousness between the mayor and council.

Claudette Forbes chastised their behavior and urged them to learn to get along.

“I really do hope that you could just get beyond this and work together,” she says. “The people of Snellville... they're listening (and) they’re watching you and you need to behave a little bit better than that.”