copyright the Chronicle November 15, 2017
by Elizabeth Trail
BARTON — A long-dormant junk ordinance is about to be enforced village-wide for the first time since it was adopted in February of 2006.
At their regular meeting Monday night, the trustees voted to send letters out to 16 homes that have junk or junk cars in their yards.
Junk owners will have 30 days to clean up their mess before an escalating series of civil fines kicks in. The fine for any junk left on properties after that will be $100 for the first day, plus fees. The second day will cost an additional $250. After that, each day that the junk hasn’t been cleaned up would count as an additional violation, and could add another $500 and fees to the tab.
The trustees have been talking for quite a while about enforcing the junk ordinance passed by an earlier board. It’s part of their vision of making Barton a more attractive place to live, perhaps enticing new families to want to settle.
One couple who came to Monday night’s meeting said their neighbors’ trashy yard is making it hard to sell their own home.
At an October meeting, with letters drawn up and ready to send out to a list of addresses, the select board decided to send Andy Sicard, foreman of the Department of Public Works, to take a look at all of the properties on the list.
The idea was to see whether any of them might have been cleaned up, sold, abandoned, or otherwise changed status since the list was drawn up some time back.
The final list contains 16 addresses.
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