Legal costs continue to add up for North Judson in the dispute over the town’s short line railroad. The town is paying several thousand dollars a month to Chicago-based railroad regulatory attorney Thomas McFarland to help deal with two ongoing lawsuits.
Last week, the town council approved a payment of over $4,700 to McFarland, which is a bit higher than the last couple of months’ payments. One reason for the increase, according to Clerk-Treasurer Alicia Collins, was that the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum emailed McFarland directly with questions. “You can figure out how much we’re paying an hour fairly easy,” Collins said. “That’s a lot of money. So his email, all that stuff, it’s adding up.”
Museum officials were seeking information about what impact the litigation would have on a $32,000 tourism grant the museum’s set to get from the state.
The town council decided a year ago to lease the line to Michigan-based Lake State Railway, but the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad still hasn’t vacated it. Meanwhile, Chesapeake and Indiana has blocked the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum from running excursion trains beyond English Lake and into LaCrosse.
Museum officials say that and other issues with Chesapeake and Indiana have cost the museum over $200,000 in lost revenue over the past four years. The museum has turned to crowdfunding to help cover its own legal expenses in the dispute.
At the same time, North Judson officials say the town has spent around $300,000 in legal fees and maintenance costs since the dispute began. While North Judson has a specified fund for its railroad, town officials say that money’s currently unavailable because of the litigation.
