Gregory W. Sullivan
Office of Inspector General
Dear Sirs
The following is a complaint against town attorneys Kopelman and Paige
(K&P) and their fraudulent behavior in regards to their representation of
the Town of Templeton and specifically the Board of Sewer Commissioners in a
case heard before Judge Robert Cornetta in April of 2005 (case 02-2424C) in
Worcester Superior Court. The law
firm of K&P should have recused themselves from this case due to shoddy or
fraudulent legal work done for the town in regards to the Assignee and
Assumption Agreement in the early nineties. Instead the firm of K&P proceeded to botch the case so
that they could escape any legal damages that might have been assigned to the
firm of K&P by the Town of Templeton and or Erving Paper Mills. After losing the case on purpose the
firm of K&P brokered what is believed to have been an illegal settlement
between Erving Paper Mills and the Town of Templeton in early 2006. Then the firm
of K&P kept the responsible parties (Sewer Commissioners) from taking legal
steps to protect the town’s interest by working with town selectman Gerald
Skelton and his wife town coordinator Carol Skelton to stifle any efforts for
legal remedy for the town by the Sewer Commissioners. The allegation follows.
The Town of Templeton entered into a contract with Erving Paper Mills in
March of 1974 (see Helen Flaster’s email (EHF)) to operate and maintain the
town’s wastewater treatment plant (WWTP).
The contract was to last thirty years from the time the plant became
operational in 1979.
Both the length of the WWTP contract and the responsible parties to that
contract had already been established in the Federal part of this lawsuit,
which began in 1996. Templeton Board of Sewer Commissioners vs American Tissue
Mills of Massachusetts et. al; U.S. District Court Civil Action. No.
96-40140-NMG was that case. The case established as facts that Erving was a
party to the contract and the contract ended 30 years from when the plant
became operational in 1979.
The law firm of Merrick O'Connel Dimale out of Worcester handled the
Federal part of the case for the Sewer Commissioners.
Attorney Joseph Hamilton who works for Merrick and O'Connel summarizes
the case for the town in a letter sent to selectmen in 1999 (EHF).
In 1991 American Tissue Mills of
Mass. bought the Baldwinville Products paper mill from Erving Paper Mills and
took over the responsibilities for operation and maintenance of the Town’s
WWTP. The law firm who represented
the town’s interest in 1991 regarding the WWTP contract transfer was K&P
specifically John Giorgio (EHF).
This Assignee and Assumption Agreement in1991 (EHF) was a novation and
therefore required the signatures of the original parties of the 1974 WWTP
contract. The Town of Templeton
and Erving Paper Mills were left off the new contract in 1991 by K&P.
Although the WWTP was in disrepair under Erving’s watch prior to 1991,
American Tissue Mills let the plant continue to deteriorate. American Tissue also began taking in
large amounts septage and other wastes from outside haulers. In November of 1992 a mixture of
organic pesticide residues and acrylinitrile and other chemicals from Pioneer
Plastics of Maine began sickening children at a nearby elementary school. The
DEP strike force shut down operations concerning outside haulers and the DEP
put a consent order on operations concerning receiving outside wastes to the
facility.
K&P left town in 1993.
With a change in guard politically at the WWTP the new Sewer
Commissioners began asserting themselves in day-to-day activities so as not to
repeat what happened in November of 1992. I was one of the new Sewer
Commissioners and also had two kids at that elementary school that was affected
by the toxic chemicals.
Prior to 1996 American Tissue Mills had collected all monies from
outside haulers to the town’s WWTP.
In 1995 the Sewer Commissioners, Selectmen, American Tissue's lawyers
and EPA coordinator Mark Malone
met to discuss the EPA User Charge Regulations (EHF). On September 11,
1995 a memo from Anthony DePalma Chief Municipal Evaluation Section leader
(EHF) stated that the town was not in compliance with EPA regulations. The town used this information from the
EPA and began collecting these so called tipping fees from outside haulers in
1996. This tipping fee money gave
the Sewer Commissioners money for a lawsuit. The lawsuit began in 1996 in the Federal Court System.
All monies for litigation for both the Federal and State portions of
this lawsuit have come from the Sewer Enterprise Account.
The Sewer Commissioners and town fathers believed at that time that a
lawsuit was the only way to get American Tissue Mills to abide by EPA
regulations (EHF) and terms of the contract.
From 1996 to 2002 the sewer department spent nearly one million dollars
in the Federal Court system prosecuting the case against American Tissue
Mills. In 2002 the town was told
by the Federal Judge that the town’s lawsuit should be in the State Court
system. The Sewer Commissioners
appealed the Federal Judge’s decision(EHF) but ended up in the State system
just the same.
American Tissue Mills was a rogue
company that took Wall Street to the cleaners as well as everyone else that did
business with them. The President
Medhi Gabazadeh is now in Federal Prison for cheating people. American Tissue Mills went bankrupt on
Sept. 10 2001 the day before the World Trade Center disaster. American Tissue
Mills broke the terms of the contract and left town in 2002.
Erving Paper Mills was the only responsible party left from the 1974
WWTP contract so the Sewer Commission's attorneys brought Erving into the case.
There were still seven years left on
the 1974 WWTP contract that Erving was legally responsible for under the terms
of the that contract.
After the Federal Judges sent the
town to the State Court system the Sewer Commissioners decided on new lawyers
Brown and Rudnick, who handled the Federal Appeal (EHF) for the town. Brown Rudnick did little but charged a
lot and the commission was running out of money.
In 2004 the Sewer Commissioners took the selectmen’s advice and put town
counsel K&P in charge of litigation with Erving.
K&P had Mr. William Hewig III (Bill) handle case 02-2424C for the
Sewer Commissioners.
And just when Sewer Commissioners thought it couldn’t get any worse.
Bill informed us that the case would proceed with a 30(b)(6) type of
affair where you had to have all your evidence up front, apparently this was
asked for by Erving's lawyers (as stated in Hewigs deposition (HD)).
Bill thought that a declaratory judgment on whether the Assignee and
Assumption Agreement of 1991 (AA91) was valid would be a good place to
start. The commissioners
agreed.
Erving added the arguments of were Erving a party to the original
contract and what was the duration of the contract to the Judge's
decision.
In
April of 2005 the judge rendered his decision (EHF).
I
was surprised to learn that the AA91 was invalid. I was even more surprised to learn that Erving was not a
party to the contract and that the contract expired in 2004. These facts had
somehow changed from the Federal Case (No. 96-40140-NMG).
The facts had not changed from case No. 96-40140NMG; they were never
presented to Judge Cornetta.
I
asked Bill what happened and he stated we didn’t have the evidence. I asked him about Dana Putnam’s
testimony our star witness who had been a signor of the 1974 WWTP contract and
was told that Dana had passed away.
I
got on the phone and talked with Dana.
I
started to get suspicious.
Bill apologized and thought maybe we could get Dana’s testimony included
in the case with a motion to reconsider.
This motion to reconsider led to William Hewig III deposition
(EHF).
William Hewig III deposition led to this complaint, that along with the
fact that K&P handled the legal work for the Town of Templeton concerning
the Assignee and Assumption Agreement in 1991 (EHF) and never recused them from
case 02-2424C.
Bill’s deposition concerning locating Mr. Dana Putnam could easily have
been mistaken as the work of an idiot if not for work done by K&P in 1991
(AA91). Instead it reads as a
cover up of shoddy or fraudulent work done by K&P.
William Hewig III deposition concerning locating key witness Dana Putnam
as part of a motion to reconsider for case 02-2424C begins with Bill’s lack of
effort to access the Federal portion of the lawsuit that had been stored on
disc. The town and K&P lacked
the program to access the information from the Federal case and that is how it
stayed. Of course K&P still had twenty boxes of hard copy from the Federal
case but it is believed these boxes went unopened.
Pg. 5-6 discusses the 30(b)(6) rules for deposition. Bill never asks for more time and never
gets the right witnesses to testify about the original contract of 1974 or the
Assignee and Assumption Agreement of 1991 (AA91). This would have been Dana
Putnam a past Selectman in the Town of Templeton. With a new defendant in
Erving Paper Mills and new attorneys on board for the town (K&P) it may
have been wise for K&P to ask for more time. An extension was not asked
for.
Pg. 6-12 Bill uses the commissioner’s ignorance of 30(b)(6) rules to set
up a losing case for the Town of Templeton.
Pg 13 On Pete Farrell deposition of 12/04 I directed my statement “If I
were you I would talk to him soon” meaning to talk to Mr. Putnam soon as he has
terminal cancer to Mr. Hewig and the other lawyers in the room. It was Bill’s job to get Dana’s
testimony and he made little effort to do this. Bill never contacted me to help
find Mr. Dana Putnam. Dana would have known that Erving was a party to the
contract and would have been able to get the supporting information. Dana would
also have known that K&P handled the AA91 for the town if reminded of this
fact, which he never was by Bill.
Pg.
22-37 Carol Skelton gives Bill the names of Baird Peabody and Neil Cullen as
possible contacts to find Mr. Putnam.
Baird was nearly nineties years old and Neil was also a senior
citizen. The two seniors did well
in their testimony but it is highly unlikely that Carol and husband Gerald
where unaware of Dana’s location. Carol even knew that Dana was an antique
dealer but made no effort to locate him. The acrimony between The Skelton’s and
Dana Putnam was legendary. The bad feelings peeked when Carol Skelton was
terminated as town secretary in the early nineties. Dana was involved with the
termination in one capacity or another and the Skeletons filed a lawsuit
against the Town of Templeton that was settled in 1993. Mr. Skelton was very upset at the
outcome of that lawsuit and made a statement similar to he would get the town back if it
was the last thing he did, at a public venue.
Pg.42 Mr. Hewig presents Judge Cornetta of Worcester Superior Court’s
decision to his client Mr. Farrell.
At this time I was unaware that Bill had omitted the Federal Case in the
discovery of case 02-2424C. Bill
had failed to find the town meeting vote from January 26 1974 authorizing the
selectmen to enter into an agreement with Erving Paper Mills and had failed to
locate Mr. Putnam. As the
discussion continued about the outcome of the case Mr. Hewig mentioned Mr.
Putnam’s death. I got on the phone
to an alive Mr. Putnam. Mr. Hewig
thought we should try a motion to reconsider, as clearly the talk of Mr.
Putnam’s death was premature. It
was Mr. Putnam’s affidavit (EHF) that caused the deposition that is currently
being covered. That affidavit and
the January 26 1974 document (EHF) that accompanied the affidavit.
Pg. 46 This is the page where I realize that someone else is in charge
of the lawsuit and not me. Mr.
Skelton acting in his capacity as selectmen and his wife Carol Skelton acting
as town coordinator have taken the lead for case 02-2424C. It could be that K&P knew of his
illegal activity in regards to Ch93 acts of 2000 and violating campaign and
finance laws and were using it against him or it could have been their mutual
goal of putting the WWTP contract in the past. K&P knew they were responsible for the town’s present
mess with Erving. Mr. Skelton
wanted to combine the highway and sewer departments under the selectmen’s
office so that he could continue to hand out town money to friends and family.
I know that such a committee exists because I am the chairman.
Pg. 48 Bill is made aware that the Federal Case was supposed to be used
in discovery of case 02-2424C. Erving lawyers don’t stay on topic for long.
Pg. 49-60 Nobody can find the January 26 1974 special town meeting vote
authorizing the selectmen to enter into an agreement with Erving Paper
Mills. Bill sends Carol after
meeting minutes of selectmen. Bill
would have known that town meeting approval was needed to enter into a contract
of this nature. Carol as would her
husband Gerald in their many years working for the town should have known that
a contract of this nature needed town meeting approval.
Pg.61 Bill speaks of preparing Dana’s affidavit. Bill seemed to be dragging his feet
hoping that Dana would somehow drop dead and his problems would be
minimized. I got the affidavit
from Bill and got it over for Dana to sign and to hear his story on the matter.
Dana clearly felt as I do that Erving is a party to the 1974 WWTP contract.
Pg. 61 4/8/96 vote (EHF) authorizing the Sewer Commissioners to act as
the town’s agent in regards to all legal matters concerning the WWTP contract
is discussed. In 1996 American
Tissue Mills was the defendant, Erving was out of the picture. Erving's name
wasn't even on the original lawsuit, Erving was part of et. al. The major
argument in 1996 wasn’t the AA91, although maybe it should have been. The major legal argument in 1996 was
the EPA’s User Charge Regulations and how those User Charge Regulations applied
to the WWTP contract (EHF). Nobody
in 1996 realized that K&P had botched the AA91 for the Town of Templeton.
Joseph Hamilton's summary in 1999 (EHF) mentions the AA91 may be done
improperly but does not mention K&P by name.
Pg. 64 Bill mentions that Carol had told him that Dana was an antique
dealer. The Skelton’s knew
how to find Dana Putnam and chose not to.
Pg. 66 Bill must have told
the court or Erving’s lawyers that Dana was in the hospital and not available
for questioning on January 10 2005.
This may have been the last day to get in the evidence for the 30(b)(6)
depositions. Erving’s lawyers
showed that Dana was indeed available at that time.
In conclusion it appears that
K&P had no intention of winning this case. In fact a town victory would have been K&P’s
downfall. K&P knew that the
AA91 was invalid and that they were responsible by their negligence or
fraudulent behavior for the huge damages (ten to thirty million dollars) being
presented to the town by K&P’s mishandling of the AA91 and the WWTP
contract. K&P should have recused themselves from this case right from the
beginning.
Erving Paper Mills may also have had a legal case against K&P for
their mishandling of AA91.
The settlement signed with Erving by
the Town of Templeton should be negated as K&P had a conflict of interest
in the settlement matter and the settlement never had town meeting approval.
The selectmen and town coordinator along with town counsel K&P
continue to prevent any actions by the sewer commissioners to remedy the
situation for the town. They have
denied the Sewer Commissioners use of legal and in fact have refused to pay a
bill that was due by the Sewer Commissioners for work done by local attorney
Scott Graves in dealing with legal research concerning the aforementioned
topic.
The Sewer Commissioners have been beaten like a rented mule.
The town of Templeton needs some help in fighting this Fraud and have
turned to your agency for advice and action. Thank you
Pete Farrell
Cbairman of Sewer Commissioners
24 Myrtle St.
Baldwinville Ma. 01436
List of Documents sent to Helen Flaster by email.
1.) March 4, 1974 WWTP contract
2.) Federal Appeal No. 96-40140NMG
3.) Cornetta’s Case 02-2424C
4.) Attorney Joseph Hamilton’s case summary 1999
5.) William Hewig III Deposition 6/27/2005
6.)Attorney Scott Graves legal opinion on research of case
02-2424C
7.)4/8/96 vote by Selectmen authorizing Sewer Commissioners.
8.)EPA User Charge Memo from David Chin March 10 2008
9.)Letters of interest for Assignee and Assumption Agreement
of 91 (K&P file 11-3-08)
10.) History of 1974 WWTP contract (contains 1/26/74 town
meeting vote)
11.) Dana Putnam Affidavit (April 13 2005)
12.) EPA Anthony Depalma letter 9/11/95
13.) EPA Sharon Well letter 3/2/95
14.) Meeting minutes 4/19/95 Templeton Sewer Commissioners,
Special Meeting.
