FARMINGTON — Yes, it really is happening!  A spring cleaning is underway at Thoughtbridge in West Farmington.

A posting on the property sign announces the news to the community and those traveling Routes 2 and 4 across Center Bridge.

The work was started to make it nice for owner Joel Batzell to return home to, said Nano Scott-Zachary, Batzell’s former wife and friend.

Batzell is a patient at Franklin Memorial Hospital but wants to come home, she said.  He was admitted in early April and has since suffered a couple strokes.

A sister, Jean Batzell Fitzgerald, traveled from Florida to visit and started the effort to clear the property located next to Center Bridge, she said.

A crew has been working over the last couple weeks to clean and remove items from the front yard, paint the building, help plant flowers and a small vegetable garden, she said.

Many people have stopped by and have been so encouraging of the effort, Zachary said. Many have left donations to help the work continue. 

A bank account at TD Bank has been set up for just this purpose, she said. Anyone who donates more than $25 will receive a thank-you – a custom printed t-shirt which states Thoughtbridge Cleanup May 2015, she said.

Town officials have attempted to encourage Batzell to clear and improve the property at 103 Bridge St. for a number of years to ensure basic life safety measures were met.

Health issues have lent to Batzell’s inability to undertake the work, he previously told the town’s Board of Selectmen.

Batzell also previously told the board Thoughtbridge is a nonprofit ministry that takes in homeless people and those “others have thrown away.”

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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