By Theresa Knapp 

At its meeting on May 23, in a motion made by newly-elected Select Board member Bernie Stock, the Hopedale Select Board agreed to seek additional counsel from the law firm of Anderson & Kreiger LLP in matters related to the 364 West Street settlement agreement with Grafton & Upton Railroad.

The intent is to have an additional review of the current settlement agreement and to discuss possible next steps. This review would be in addition to legal services previously provided by the town’s general counsel (KP Law) and special counsel in the GURR matter (Peter Durning of Mackey, Shea, Durning). 

On June 6, the Select Board held an introductory meeting with Anderson & Kreiger and voted 2-1 to engage the firm. 

Select Board member Brian Keyes opposed the motion. “If we’re going to make the decision as a town to charge up the hill to fight battles that we’ve not been able to win yet, and your firm just does not have any history or experience in litigating against a railroad at any level, it just doesn’t give me a comfort to engage.” 

Select Board Chair Glenda Hazard said, “I’m sure this firm understands we’re not interested in an exercise in futility, whether it’s our money or it’s donor money [paying the legal bills], I think we still want to spend it responsibly and respectfully.”  

Stock said, “I like the value of having just another set of eyes. This may be the last shot, and I just want to be comfortable at some point going back to the town saying that we left nothing unturned, we did what we were requested to do at those Town Meetings which were quite heavily in favor of doing this.” 

Dave Mackey of Anderson & Kreiger said his firm could be ready to advise by mid-June. 

“There’s a lot of background here and there’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of local history that’s already happened so it’s a fair amount to digest but we’ve been hard at it for the last several days and we’ll be ready to go with some recommendations,” Mackey said. 

Keyes asked Mackey for “cliff notes” on how this firm could be successful where others were not. Mackey said that conversation should take place in executive session. 

From the gallery, Michael Milanowski, president of Grafton & Upton Railroad, took issue with strategy discussions being reserved for executive session. Mackey stood by his opinion. 

The Anderson & Kreiger team includes two partners (including Mackey) who bill at $495 per hour plus one associate who bills at $325 per hour. 

At the board’s May 23 meeting, resident Liz Reilly said, “In the past, private donations were being rejected for this but there is a private donor who would be willing to fully fund any special counsel for the West Street property.”