In late January, the Town of Hopedale reached a settlement with the Grafton and Upton Railroad in a Land Court dispute brought by the town as it attempted to exercise its right of first refusal - and protect the town’s water supply - on a 155-acre parcel at 364 West Street. 

GURR purchased the land just days before an October 2020 special town meeting voted to buy the land that is just above the Hopedale Pond resource area and near the Upton Town Forest. 

The agreement was reached in mediation after the Land Court ordered a mediation screening in December. The screening took place on Jan. 8, 2021 and the agreement was approved on Jan. 25 by Selectmen Brian Keyes and Louis Arcudi, Selectwoman Glenda Hazard opposed. 

Special town counsel Peter Durning advised the board to accept the negotiated settlement noting that, due to an antiquated law that allows for eminent do main takings, railroads often win these matters in Land Court. 

Durning said, “The core principles that animated the Board of Selectmen’s move toward a potential negotiated solution was protecting the Mill River watershed which we acknowledge is hydrologically connected to the town’s current watershed, securing opportunities for the exploration and development of new public water supply sources, owning or controlling the greatest amount of forestland possible and preserving it as conservation land, and obtaining concessions from the Grafton & Upton Railroad that would promote local control, and/or the application of state and local rules and regulations on railroad parcels to the greatest extent possible to promote protection of the watershed and to preserve the ability to develop future water supply.”

He said the agreement meets all those core principles and recommended the board sign it. 

“In total, I believe that the package the Grafton & Upton Railroad and the Trust have agreed to in the settlement agreement is significantly enhanced. I like the aspect of the cost-sharing agreement [if new water resources are explored] that gives the Board of Water & Sewer Commissioners the opportunity to assess that agreement and decide if they want to partner with the Railroad in that way. Should they decide that they don’t want to, the agreement just calls for the default of each party being responsible for its own costs,” Durning said during the four-hour meeting.  

“Let’s concentrate on what we’re getting, not necessarily what people perceive we’re losing,” said Board of Selectmen Chairman Brian Keyes.  

According to the agreement, the town will own Parcel A (64 acres) and Parcel D (20 acres) outright; GURR has agreed to some deed restrictions on Parcel B (38 acres) and Parcel C (13 acres) including a no-build zone within 50 feet of the Mill River and no development for five years in exchange for an easement on a portion of Parcel A to do some wetland replication; and GURR will own Parcel E (59 acres) outright. 

According to GURR President Michael Milanowski, the Railroad plans to build a bridge to connect Parcels B and C and will build at least two additional railroad tracks. He said they will be expanding the rail to Franklin and will soon start moving materials for Garelick Farms two days a week. 

Milanowski said at the Jan. 25 meeting that the Railroad “wants to be good stewards of the land and the environment” and that GURR has “lost development opportunities by carving up this land.” 

Many residents voiced opposition at the virtual meeting including members of the public and other town boards. Selectmen Keyes and Arcudi, plus Attorney Durning, cautioned that if this agreement was not signed and a full trial was pursued, the town could end up with no land at all. 

Selectman Keyes said, “This has been one of the longest and emotional and arduous things that I’ve been involved in since being elected into this position.” 

Selectman Arcudi took exception to comments the board was acting hastily. He assured those in attendance that the issue was well-researched and they were making a well-informed decision. He said the Board of Selectmen was charged with purchasing the land “and we did indeed do that.” 

Selectwoman Hazard opposed signing the agreement. “This was a really difficult process for me and I’ve lost a lot of sleep over it,” she said, likening the process to a “Robert Frost poem gone bad.” “Whether we accept this agreement or not...a fundamental wrong has taken place here.” 

The nearly-four-hour discussion ended with a vote of 2-1, with Keyes and Arcudi in favor, Hazard opposed.