By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

CHESTERVILLE – A Massachusetts lawyer’s plans for an auto recycling operation at 79 Zions Hill Road were put on hold after selectmen voted to table his application at a public hearing Thursday.

William Fahey was not present at the hearing, and several of the nearly 20 residents attending took offense at his absence.

“It seems so disrespectful,” one said.

“The boss isn’t here tonight, he couldn’t be here,” Brian Marble, a hopeful employee of the business, told them.

Selectmen quickly decided another hearing will be held and later voted to require Fahey to pay for the cost of the meeting, registered letters and legal advertisements.

Abutters and other neighbors had several concerns including unsightly used cars outside, and water, soil and fire hazards from potential leaking fluids and noise.

No vehicles will be seen from the road, Marble assured them.

But Francis Fuller, who lives on the other side of Norridgewock Stream from Fahey’s land on Dutch Gap Road, said his property looks directly at the site where the stripped chassis will be stored outside an old chicken barn. Incoming and outgoing vehicles will be stored outside but all disassembly will take place inside the barn. Several residents suggested selectmen put restrictions on how many vehicles can be kept on the property.

A motorcycle racetrack that has kept nearby neighbors up until late at night was built on the property by a former employee without the landowner’s knowledge several weeks ago.

The unnamed employee rented a bulldozer under the business name and used it to “carve out” a road around the perimeter of the property without Fahey’s knowledge, according to Marble. But, he claimed, the racetrack was no longer being used.

This was disputed by several, including one of the selectmen.

Additionally, Fahey has been selling the loam dug up in the racetrack construction, though Medcoff said he plans to reseed the area, some of which runs close to the stream.

“It’s an odd way to prepare for reseeding, to sell off your loam,” commented Fuller.

Compounding the issue is a used-car dealership on adjoining property also owned by Fahey. It was unclear how many of the vehicles currently at the used-car facility actually have sale stickers in the windows and how many are waiting for repairs or to be hauled to Oakland where chassis from the proposed recycling facility would be taken. It is legal to have up to two unregistered, non-operational vehicles on property without a junkyard license, according to Brenda Medcoff, the town’s code enforcement officer.

Fahey’s absence from the meeting and his apparent lack of knowledge about what is happening on his land, in addition to the uncertainty about whether he was already illegally operating a recycling junkyard via the used car lot, made some uncomfortable.

“If that’s what’s happening there now, it raises questions about supervision,” said one resident.

The proposed business could also be a fire hazard – of particular concern to Selectman David Archer, who is also the town’s fire chief. Fahey’s plan calls for fire extinguishers but they couldn’t handle a fire in a chicken barn filled with fluids from automobiles, he said.

There is also no containment plan in the event of a hazardous waste spill as required by state law. Motor oil, gasoline and anti-freeze are some of the fluids that would be drained from the vehicles on a concrete floor with no drainage system, according to Marble.

“That’s something he’s going to have to address,” he said.

No date has been set yet for the next hearing. Selectmen and Medcoff will be researching residents’ concerns and will also contact the Department of Environmental Protection.

“There needs to be a lot of homework done,” Selectman Craig Stickney said.