KINGFIELD—Selectmen have given two homeowners more time to clean up the junkyard conditions that are believed to pose safety hazard issues.
A West Kingfield Road resident who for years has had chronic junkyard tendencies, has been asked again by selectmen and code enforcement officer Doug Marble to clean up the mess. A burned-out trailer, piles of metal waste and an overflowing dumpster of rotting garbage still sit unmoved after repeated attempts by town officials to get it removed.
At another home on School Street, wood waste piling up to be cut for firewood has led town officials to consider it a safety hazard. In that case, said the town’s assistant administrator Greg Davis, some progress on the clean up has been seen. Last night, selectmen gave the homeowner an extension until July 31 to get it all cleaned up.
“He’s making an effort,” Davis said. Selectmen want to avoid the expense of taking these cases to court, if at all possible, he added. The West Kingfield Road junkyard problem has been going on for years, with selectmen ordering a clean up, the resident finally giving in and cleaning it up only to return to messy conditions again.
“I guess it’s a kind of lifestyle choice,” Davis said. “We’ll just keep applying pressure and hope they’ll clean up. It’s pretty frustrating.” The chronic junkyard problem has been referred to other state agencies as a safety hazard in the hope that more pressure will get the clean up completed sooner.
In other matters, construction bids to rebuild the ramp and entrance at Webster Hall will be due on Aug. 4. The entrance ramp is too steep and new doors are needed to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Funding for the project will come from the sale of a town-owned building, located next to the Stanley Museum, that went for $35,000. Voters authorized selectmen at town meeting to make the hall’s upgrades using proceeds from the building’s sale.
The town received an insurance claim payment of $3,250 to replace two pumps at the South Main Street wastewater pumping station that were destroyed during an intensive lightning storm on June 17.
