Contractor eyes détente with town over dirt piles

After escalating threats, officials think they’ve reached a deal to clear remaining dirt piles off town land at the Acton rotary. 

Acton-based MIG Corp. now has until February 13 to remove the piles. MIG must lay new topsoil and reseed the field by March 31. 

The site behind the rotary’s Gulf station includes protected wetlands. MIG missed a previous deadline to clear the property. Regulators and MIG chief executive Don Voghel met face to face last month, and the Natural Resources Commission approved new dates.

“We were there a long time, so everybody’s tired of us,” Voghel told The Acton Bridge. 

He said he understands the frustration.

While officials eye what’s next, resident Keith Hannon and property owner Miguel Echavarri say Acton is shirking responsibility for allegedly allowing MIG’s violation in the first place.

Through their lawyer, they’ve launched a war of words with town counsel.

Acton officials dispute their claims.

‘The right direction’

MIG started using town land in 2022 to store soil from a project at Kelley’s Corner in Acton. Voghel maintained to The Bridge that all the dirt came from the intersection redesign and roughly two miles of related pipe work.

Officials still determined that MIG violated its access agreement by expanding its footprint outside a small permitted area.

Voghel said experts tested for contaminants, and “everything is clean and good.” He said MIG plans to ship 5,000 cubic yards of remaining soil to a Newton construction site, pending approval from the state. 

Attorneys worked on a new access agreement that would allow MIG back onto the Acton site to restore it. 

“All parties are moving in the right direction,” NRC Chair Sarah Grimwood said during last month’s discussion. 

Rent-free storage

Officials faced questions about the lack of an insurance provision in the original deal. 

The final document specifies what coverage MIG needs. Town Manager Kerry Lafleur maintained to The Bridge that “we didn’t need” this language “but, since we had the opportunity to get it, why not do so?”

The town isn’t charging MIG rent. Lafleur said Acton has let other state contractors use the site in the past. She said “government entities, sometimes, are kind” to one another, and “it’s not uncommon to provide those types of arrangements at no cost.”

Although they say MIG broke its original agreement, officials admit that even the permitted area might have encroached on wetlands. 

Hannon and Echavarri’s lawyer, Daniel Goodrich, wrote in a memo that staff knew as early as 2023 that “equipment and stockpiles were likely within the wetland boundary,” but let MIG stay without the necessary approvals.

In response, town lawyer Mina Makarious said Acton “has actively exercised its enforcement discretion.” He detailed escalating communications between Natural Resources Director Delia Kaye and MIG beginning in early 2023.

‘Double standards’?

Hannon’s former colleague on the Warner’s Pond Task Force, Jeff Collins, told The Bridge that recent criticisms from Echavarri and Hannon are “fundamentally an effort to bully Delia.”

For his part, Echavarri said he and Hannon are fighting “double standards” for the town and homeowners, who he said face harsher consequences for wetland violations.

Asked about this accusation, Kaye said “we give people the benefit of the doubt,” and enforcement orders such as the one with new deadlines for MIG “are a last resort.” 

Moving forward, Hannon said, the Select Board and the NRC should take a more active role in overseeing staff. 

He emphasized in a text message that he wants NRC members to get more training on their authority and “not rely so much on town staff interpreting the laws.”

Lafleur approved the 2022 access agreement and has acknowledged that the NRC wasn’t part of the process.

In a separate text, Hannon said “we’re running out of money” for attorney’s fees. But he’s still frustrated by the town’s actions.

Collins still sees a political bent, saying, “They just have it out for Delia.”

As for MIG leadership, Voghel said they’re eager to close the book. “We have other places to go,” he said.