WILTON — Cleanup of an Adams Street property owned by Duane Pollis is expected to begin about 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25.

The Board of Selectpersons accepted a bid last week for $2,500 from Virgil Salley of Mechanic Falls to complete the work, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said Monday.

A second bid for $3,500 came in, but it was after the deadline, she said.

Pollis will be responsible for paying the costs.

Town police hand-delivered a letter to Pollis from Irish telling him they were accepting bids, and people may drive by to look at the property.

Irish sent a second letter by police after last week’s meeting to tell Pollis the work would begin Tuesday. If he wanted anything other than the firewood or his generator then he was advised to put it in the barn, she said.

When Pollis did not respond to requests from the town to clear his yard as directed in the town’s Property Maintenance Ordinance, the town took the issue to court in the fall of 2013.

In March, the court ruled in the town’s favor when Pollis did not respond to the suit. Pollis was ordered by the court to pay $9,500 in fines as set by the ordinance, $100 a day, for 95 days and to clear the debris in 30 days.

The board held off hiring a contractor this summer when Pollis started clearing some items from the yard. But, the work stopped.

During last week’s meeting, the board tackled another issue over a property that fails to meet the town’s property maintenance ordinance.

Charles and Margaret Profitt of 935 U.S. Route 2 in East Dixfield confronted the board and objected to anyone being on their property or taking photos of it.

Charles Profitt told the board they could not tell him what he could have on his property. A Vietnam veteran, Profitt said he and his wife were disabled and could only do so much.

“Send someone to help us,” he told the board.

“The Constitution of the United States of America says that they have a right to live in their domain and keep what they have, and you cannot do anything about it,” resident Noel Brown said.

The sixth article under the Bill of Rights, in part, states, “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated …”

Under the Constitution, you have the right to live in the residence but not to have trash all over the yard, Selectperson Tom Saviello said.

He suggested the couple take the town to court where both sides can be heard. 

The board agreed, voting 5-0 to take the next step, including court action.

What most people don’t understand is that the town does not go around looking for properties that don’t align with the town’s ordinance, Irish said Monday. 

These requests for cleanup arise because we get complaints from other residents, she said.

Letters have been sent requesting the property be cleaned up and Irish and the code enforcement officer have previously visited the property, she said. Some items appeared to move further back on the property but it was not cleared, she added.

She believes the items started appearing in the yard after the couple moved in a few years ago. Regardless, it has gotten worse since then, she said.

abryant@sunjournal.com