DIXFIELD – Police are expected to issue a citation each to owners of two junkyards Thursday, Jan. 15, on orders from code enforcement officer Jay Bernard.

At Monday night’s selectmen meeting, Bernard told officials two junkyard owners would be cited for having illegal junkyards after failing to get a junkyard permit from the town office. He did not identify the owners.

Additionally, Bernard said he would update the town’s guidelines for junkyard operation, and create a draft protocol for fines, then bring both before selectmen for approval at their next meeting in two weeks.

Selectmen then approved permits for five of six junkyards by unanimous 4-0 votes. These include:

• Lester and Claude Averill’s on Averill Road.

• Robert S. Blanchard Sr.’s on Holman Road.

• Shannon L. Drown’s on Drown Road.

• Norman Mitchell’s on Route 17 in East Dixfield.

• Michael Morrison’s on Route 2 and Morrison Hill Road.

Bernard said the Averill junkyard was set back “quite a distance” from the road. The Averills were also offering junked cars to the fire department for extrication equipment training.

Selectmen conditionally approved Blanchard’s permit application, with a proviso requiring him to move cars 150 feet back from Newton Brook by Aug. 2005.

Bernard said some of the cars were within 50 feet of the brook, which he believes has been an ongoing issue for many years with a previous owner. But because he only noticed the problem this year, he opted to give the new owner more time to move the junked autos.

As for Drown’s junkyard, Bernard said it was hidden so well, he couldn’t even find it.

He said Mitchell applied for a junkyard permit but his yard, which is in the process of being cleaned up, is more of a scrap metal yard than a junkyard.

“It’s not a threat to the environment,” Bernard added.

Morrison applied for a permit, although most of the vehicles on his property are antiques, which are exempted by law, he said. Bernard saw no adverse impact to the environment.

Owners of the sixth junkyard, Edward J. Barbioni and John Menthe, failed to renew their permit, which expired at year’s end. Bernard said he also had some issues with the Severy Hill junkyard to resolve, such as finding junked autos stacked in the front yard rather than in back yard.

Chairman Hugh Daley said he asked the town clerk to send Barbioni and Menthe a certified letter, because they are operating an unlicensed junkyard again.

The letter will be put on hold until Bernard can draft a protocol for assessing fines for each day that a junkyard remains unlicensed.

“I may need legal assistance, because both landowners need to know what’s going on. But they need to get a citation, because that’s what has been the past practice in town,” Bernard added.

If Barbioni and Menthe fail to license their yard within 30 days from receipt of the certified letter, Bernard said fines would commence. Fines, he said, can range from $150 to $2,000 per day, depending on previous violations. Ultimately, a town can seize the land where a junkyard sits.

“It’s not in the spirit of the law, but it’s a tool we have, one that we can use in the form of what can happen,” Bernard said.

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