ST. ALBANS — Failure to pay a legal bill has resulted in a complaint against the town of St. Albans.

Attorney Philip Mohlar of Alsop and Mohlar of Norridgewock filed a complaint in 12th District Court in Skowhegan last week seeking $380 from the town for legal services last winter.

Mohlar was retained by former selectman Brian Hanson to assist the board of selectmen with an effort to remove Town Manager Larry Post from office. The removal controversy divided the town for months and ended with Hanson and Selectman Nancy Bubar being ousted from office in the annual March elections.

The new board of selectmen, that includes incumbent David Bubar, brother-in-law to Nancy Bubar, refused to pay Mohlar for specific services it maintains the previous board did not authorize.

According to Post, the previous board voted on Dec. 19, 1994 “to authorize the board chairman (Hanson) to hire legal counsel to get an opinion so as to follow due process and determine whether just cause exists for removal of the manager.”

Mohlar reportedly was paid for services pertaining to that issue. The unpaid bill pertains to meetings and telephone conferences between Hanson and Bubar that David Bubar allegedly was not initially informed of, and he claims were not authorized.

In the midst of the removal process, a number of local citizens filed an injunction against Nancy Bubar citing her conflict of interest in the matter and seeking her removal from deciding Post’s continued employment. Conferences with Mohlar concerning that injunction were not authorized, and Hanson and Bubar had no authority to do so, according to the current board.

Meeting minutes from January indicate Hanson was authorized to retain Mohlar to publish and schedule a public hearing on Post’s removal if he (Post) requested it, and to represent the town at the hearing. The town was not represented by an attorney at the hearing on Post’s removal.

In a special town meeting last spring following the annual town meeting and the election of a new board, townspeople voted to pay the legal expenses of Post and the town in connection with the removal effort. However, the board of selectmen has voted twice not to pay Mohlar’s bill for the conferences pertaining to the injunction.

Selectmen are scheduled to discuss Mohlar’s complaint at their 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, meeting, and determine a response. The town has 20 days to respond to the complaint filed on Aug. 25.