BUCKFIELD — Town Manager Glen Holmes presented selectmen Tuesday night with a summary of town legal costs incurred by dealing with junkyards over the last six years.

In response to a selectman’s query at a previous meeting, Holmes said over the last six years nearly $30,000 was spent on the James Bishop and Roger Bennett junkyards. More than $31,000 was also spent on a land dispute, bringing the total to approximately $60,000.

Selectman Eileen Hotham noted that this was about $10,000 a year. Holmes commented that this used up the legal-fee budget each year, but that the junkyards are cleaned up.

Resident Joyce Hartson asked why the town was spending that kind of money to have junk cleaned up.

Hotham said the hope was that people would take more pride in their property.

Selectman John Lowell pointed out that there are environmental dangers with automobile junkyards potentially polluting people’s water supplies with gas and oil leaking from vehicles into the ground.

Hartson asked if it should be the town’s business to make people have pride when it was costing the town so much money in cleanup. Hartson asked who told Holmes to find more junkyards and how much it was costing the town to look for problems.

Holmes said that as code enforcement officer, it was his job to check on properties in the town. “I have already done half the town and am also checking out roads as I drive around. It has taken me about five hours to cover half the town,” he said.

In other business, Selectman Robin Buswell expressed his concern over the Public Works superintendent having to do too much paperwork when it should be done by the town manager, who is the road commissioner.

Buswell said he felt that both of the full-time Public Works employees should be doing road work together and not have one doing supervisory tasks.

Buswell is proposing to change the job description of the superintendent.

Holmes said he had met with the superintendent and they were working together on the job description and would bring a revision to the board at a future meeting.

The board also had Freedom of Access Act training during the meeting.

They approved the emergency operation plan.

They also accepted the resignation of John Lowell from the Recreation Committee, as he is now a selectman.