GREENWOOD — The town placed a ­judgment lien on the Rowe Hill Road property of Doug and Bertha Grover in connection with a long-time case the town has had against them for violations of the state property/junkyard maintenance law.

The move sets the stage for the town to remove material from the property.

The couple owes Greenwood a total of $17,612 in fines and attorneys fees, accumulated as a result of several years of effort by the town through its own enforcement and court cases to get them to clean up their property.

They were ordered last fall by an Oxford County Superior Court judge to do the clean up, but they instead filed an appeal that put the process on hold, according to Greenwood Town Manager Kim Sparks.

In February, the couple was denied the appeal. The Grovers had asked the court to be allowed to submit 2013 and 2014 receipts for materials brought to West Paris Metal Recycling LLC, intended to show that they have been cleaning up.

But the court denied the submission, saying additional evidence could not be accepted on appeal.

Copies of the receipts provided by the town list such items as aluminum, copper, light iron, steel lead and brass rods.

The judgment lien for the town, dated April 21, is against all of the Grovers’ real and personal property.

An associated e-mail from Wendy Paradis, the attorney for Greenwood on the case, said that in a similar situation with another of her law firm’s municipal clients, a court was asked for a ‘turnover order’ based on photos of items on property. The town then removed the items and took them to a recycler for money.

Sparks said Friday the town plans to have Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey Whitman go to the property and take photos, then return to court for authorization to remove items.

Grovers’ response Bertha Grover said Monday the couple will try to pay the fees and fines. ‘We don’t want it to keep adding up,’ she said.

But Doug Grover said they are ‘still in limbo’ regarding the situation. He said he has always paid his town taxes, but as a last resort in the property case the couple might declare bankruptcy and leave the property, which he said is six acres in size.

He said he has repeatedly over the years asked the town for specifics on what items needed to be removed from his property, but town officials have generally told him that everything must be removed.

He said he currently has two unregistered motor vehicles, the number allowed by law, and that he has not added more items to his property recently to store long term, other than firewood.

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