Hinsdale official accused of retaliation, ethics violations by local gravel pit owner

 

By Dylan Thompson, The Berkshire Eagle
Nov 7, 2025

HINSDALE — The owner of a local gravel company, Paul Nichols, has filed an ethics complaint and request for an investigation against Hinsdale Select Board and Conservation Commission member Raymond Huntoon.

According to the complaint, filed Oct. 8 in the State Ethics Commission Enforcement Division, Nichols claims that Huntoon engaged in unethical retaliation, defamation and wrongfully attempted to use his position on the Select Board to deprive Nichols of the use of his earth removal permit in Hinsdale.

Nichols, a Dalton resident and owner of Nichols Sand & Gravel, has owned and operated a gravel pit at 318 Maple St. in Hinsdale since 2008. Every year, Nichols said he has had his permit renewed, but this year he experienced unnecessary hurdles before his permit was ultimately renewed in July. The lapse, he alleges, cost him financially and hurt his business.

Nichols, who is represented by attorney Matthew Mozian, is seeking a formal investigation into Huntoon’s conduct in the role he played in delaying the permit approval. He is also taking steps for civil action and seeking monetary damages. In the first step of that process on Wednesday, Mozian sent a formal written notice to the town for “economic damages sustained by [Nichols] due to the wrongful conduct of [Huntoon].”

Nichols alleges that Huntoon’s conduct concerns three issues: Nichols’ earth removal permit, his business activities in Hinsdale and the real estate he owns in the town. The complaint, drafted by Mozian, alleges that Huntoon used his position to “bully [Nichols] and persuade other people and businesses not to work with [Nichols].” Huntoon declined comment when reached by phone on Wednesday.

Town Administrator Robert Graves wrote in an email to The Eagle that the situation falls outside of his purview and he “respectfully [defers] to the State Ethics Commission.”

The commission acknowledged that it has received the complaint, according to Mozian, but there has been no update on its status.

EARTH REMOVAL PERMIT

According to the complaint, Nichols has applied for his permit renewal in April each year since 2008, and the town has automatically renewed the permit without him needing to attend a Select Board meeting.

However, at a Select Board meeting on April 23, the board approved permit renewals for five competing gravel businesses, but not for Nichols’ business. Huntoon recused himself from the vote on the DR Billings permit because he is employed by the company.

Board members held off on Nichols’ permit renewal because “they were confused about a potential change of use” and sought “clarification” on the use of the company’s license. Mozian wrote that Huntoon asked Graves, the town administrator, to inform Nichols that his permit renewal was denied because he uses a stump grinder and was crushing blacktop without a permit.

Nichols claims that the allegations are false because he had the necessary permit for the activities. Mozian explained that the other gravel pits in town have blacktop and concrete on site, and it appeared not to be an issue for them when the town renewed their permits.

At a Select Board meeting on June 11, Graves stated that Huntoon directed him to withhold the permit renewal until Nichols came in to answer questions, which he did.

Nichols alleges that Huntoon “created confusion, wrongful suspicion and defamed [him].” Ultimately, the board did not issue him his permit at the meeting, and he was forced to wait until early July.

BUSINESS IMPACT

Nichols’ gravel pit in Hinsdale abuts a gravel pit owned by Berkshire Concrete Corp., one of three operating divisions of Petricca Industries, along with Unistress and Petricca Construction Co. Nichols has had a positive business relationship with Berkshire Concrete for decades, including his company doing various jobs in exchange for material, according to the complaint.

Mozian explained that since approximately 2016, Nichols allowed Berkshire Concrete Corp. and its agents to enter and exit its gravel pit using his roads that abut the public way. Nichols had also recently been clearing some of the company’s land that abuts his land, and in exchange, the company had been compensating Nichols with material from the gravel pit.

In late June, Huntoon went on-site to the Berkshire Concrete Corp. gravel pit and met with its agent, Steve Harwick. Huntoon asked Harwick if Nichols had done the clearing for Berkshire Concrete Corp., and Harwick said that it was done as part of the company’s business relationship with Nichols.

Huntoon accused Berkshire Concrete Corp. of working in the buffer zone and taking down trees on town property. Harwick said that the work is outside the buffer zone and 50 feet away from town land, according to the complaint.

At a Select Board meeting on July 23, Huntoon stated that Berkshire Concrete Corp. was no longer allowed to use the Nichols property to enter or exit its gravel pit. “These statements by [Huntoon] were false and specifically designed to injure [Nichols’] business relationship with [Berkshire Concrete],” Mozian wrote.

At the Aug. 13 meeting, the board voted to allow Berkshire Concrete Corp. to “use a town road between a school and the fire station to access their gravel pit, thus eliminating BCC’s need to use [Nichols’] road.” Nichols alleges that the board’s decision was “completely unnecessary” because the company had permission to use his roads.

The complaint states that since Huntoon spoke with Berkshire Concrete Corp. and the company was given a new access/exit to the pit, the company has “ceased all business with [Nichols].” Nichols also alleges that Huntoon has stopped the town’s business relationship with him.

Berkshire Concrete Corp., through its attorney, Dennis Egan, declined to comment.