County Board Authorizes Settlement Agreement, Resolving Claims in 2017 Crash

BALLSTON SPA —At its monthly meeting Oct. 17, the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors approved authorizing terms of a settlement agreement to pay $40,000 to Deborah Papula in connection with a motor vehicle accident that occurred July 2017 on a county owned road. 

Papula was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her husband, Peter Papula, when their car was involved in a two-car crash that occurred near the intersection of Lester Park Road and Middle Grove Road, according to a report published by The Saratogian in early August 2017. Peter Papula was taken to Saratoga Hospital where he later died from injuries suffered in the crash, and Deborah Papula was transferred to Albany Medical Center Hospital in critical condition, according to the report. 

This week’s approved county resolution specifies that the Settlement Agreement resolves all claims in the aftermath of the crash – “litigation thereafter having been commenced against the County and other parties, a preliminary litigation having occurred, and legal proceedings having not yet concluded” – and resolves all claims without any admission of liability on the part of the County.