BUCKFIELD – Selectmen voted on Tuesday night to proceed with legal action against Graham Bell, owner of the Nezinscot Industries property that abuts the Railroad Bed Recreational Trail.

Bell originally contended that the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Protection created the mess when they were searching for hazardous waste on his property. Town Manager Glen Holmes produced pictures from the junkyard-automobile graveyard, which he and Selectman Oscar Gammon had taken on Oct. 12 to prove that nothing had been done to eliminate the violation.

Holmes said, “I could not believe how terrible the place looked.” The junkyard law is state-mandated, but the state will take no action to enforce it. Former Town Manager Cindy Dunn had been trying to find out if the state would enforce the law.

Board Chairman Joanne Bly welcomed Holmes to his first official selectmen’s meeting as town manager and thanked Dunn for all of her work to keep the town running.

Holmes asked the board to continue talking to people about the upcoming Palesky tax-cap referendum, as the vote is likely to be close. Buckfield stands to lose $559,628 in tax money, he said, representing 32 percent of all property taxes collected.

The board also accepted a resolution to oppose the Palesky tax cap and to press for the speedy implementation of the school finance initiative. The initiative requires the state to pay 55 percent of the cost of education for kindergarten through grade 12. The resolution seeks to ensure that the law does not increase municipal spending and authorizes the town manager to participate in activities to make that happen.

A special town meeting has been rescheduled to 7 p.m. Oct. 27 in the Municipal Center’s large meeting room to vote to accept to gifts to the town: the Village Park property from Virgil Tilton and the abutting property of Mary and Shirley Jones. They must be accepted by the town to be covered by town insurance.

Holmes informed the board that the town had already raised $4,280 for the Municipal Center Landscaping Project Fund. The board expressed pleasure over the progress in fund raising.