FALL RIVER – Brayton Point LLC’s request to dismiss a $3.5 million criminal case brought by the town of Somerset has been denied.
In a one-sentence ruling on March 19, Fall River District Court Judge Paul Pino indicated that the arguments made by Brayton Points attorney were all matters that could be heard at trial, according to The Herald News.
Near the trial hearing’s end, Pino advised Brayton Point attorney Patrick J. McBurney and Somerset attorneys Arthur Frank and retired judge Joseph Macy to "become more realistic.
"Both sides, at some point, need to become more realistic about what the value of the case is. Try to work it out," said Pino.
A pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for May 14.
The town is seeking to collect $3.5 million in outstanding fines for misdemeanor zoning violations and municipal bylaw violations that occurred in 2020. A cease-and-desist order was filed to stop tenants, including a scrap metal business, from trucking materials in and out of the property, that once housed a power plant that was the largest coal-fired generating station in New England at the time.
Brayton Point LLC previously secured a Planned Development permit from the Somerset Zoning Board to allow operation at the site for the scrap metal business and a salt wholesale and storage business.
The cease-and-desist order was reversed by the zoning board after pushback from residents living in Brayton Point.
A land court judge upheld the cease and desist in March 2022, ordering the company “to cease the operation of its scrap metal operation within 14 days from the date of judgment.”
Brayton Point has offered to settle the dispute for $68,100, which Somerset rejected, according to The Herald News.