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Property owner refuses town’s clean-up attempt

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Town officials at a Selectboard meeting in late October. Left to right is Town Manager Rhonda Irish, Selectman Tiffany Maiuri, Selectman Paul Berkey Jr., Selectman Tom Saviello, Chair D. Scott Taylor, Selectman John Black and Town Clerk Diane Dunham.

WILTON – A property owner refused to allow a court-ordered clean-up of his property that had been scheduled for this morning.

Duane Pollis of Adams Road, just off Depot Street, was ordered by a judge to allow a company chosen by the town to dispose of construction material, debris and other items piled up around his residence.

The town had received a number of complaints regarding the property and brought legal action against Pollis in October 2013, through the town’s Property Maintenance Ordinance. The Franklin County Superior Court issued a judgement by default for the town, after Pollis failed to respond to the court’s summons or the town’s complaint.

Pollis didn’t respond the board’s attempt to meet with him regarding the property, or a deadline set by selectmen to clear the property of material. After similarly not responding to the legal action, the Franklin County Superior Court ordered Pollis pay a $9,500 fine and remove everything within 30 days. After that point, the town was permitted to contract a third party to clear the property and bill Pollis for the work.

Given the large amount of snow of the ground at the time, selectmen voted to give Pollis until May 30 to bring the property into compliance before contracting out the clean-up.

With that deadline having come and gone, selectmen ordered the clean-up to proceed, authorizing the expenditure of $2,500 at the last Selectboard meeting.

On Tuesday, Police Chief Heidi Wilcox arrived before the clean-up company to make sure, she said, that Pollis understood that the debris would be removed from his property and disposed of, as per the court order.

“He did not want people onto his property,” Wilcox said. “He said he was willing to die for his property.”

Town Manager Rhonda Irish stopped to explain the situation to Pollis and Wilton Officer Courtney Krause assisted at the scene. Virgil Salley of Mechanic Falls, and his clean-up crew, waited on the public right-of-way as town officials spoke to Pollis.

Wilcox said after Pollis spoke with her, she had everyone withdraw from his property.

“I’m not willing to put people in jeopardy over this,” she said. She explained to Pollis that denying a court-ordered clean-up may result in him being found in contempt, before leaving his property.

Plenary contempt proceedings can result in fines or jail time.

Afterward Wilcox said: “he wasn’t going to allow it to happen and now it’s back to court.”

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17 Comments

  1. So he was ordered to clean up his property and pay a $9500 fine, or just wait for the town to charge him $2,500 for a cleanup that they scheduled.

    It is sad that people don’t take pride in their property or town.

  2. Nice job Heidi, we don’t need the tear gas and other fireworks that usually go with a stand-off. People are all different when it comes to belongings- there is a hit TV show about hoarding. In the end the properyy will be cleaned up, no need to make it national news.

  3. Stand up for yourself Duane. What hypocrisy the town shows in this case. It owns the old tanning company and that is a terrible eyesore. It has dragged its feet on the Forsters Building which could burn the entire neighborhood if it caught on fire. The old Primary School is decrepit. But they chose Duane to pick on. If you drive around town there are several properties similar to Mr. Polis’ . But those property owners aren’t being hassled. Oh by the way…the terrible condition of the road in downtown Wilton is more of an eyesore to me than the Junk on Duane’s lawn

  4. Great call to let it go for now. I also think that property owners should get discounts on there taxes if they clean up there property and keep it clean. Not put leans and put them in jail. And, I also see alot of others that you can go after too. Is, this what you wish for a community?

  5. What a performance! Just like the bad parent that says a hundred times a day ‘stop that or you’ll get a spanking’ yet never actually disciplines the misbehaving child. Don’t waste time and resources on ordinances that you have no intention of enforcing. Is the town going to reimburse the contractor for wasting his time and money while playing by the rules?

  6. Leave Mr. Pollis alone. Just because we CAN bully Duane into living how we think is best…that doesn’t mean we should. Democracy is just tryrany by the majority.

  7. Chief Heidi did right in calming things down, we don’t need another Ferguson. After the snow comes you won’t see the stuff anyway. There is about a dozen other properties with similar views. Is this going to happen to every one of them? What ever happened to PRIVATE PROPERTY? Our FREEDOMS are slowing being taken away.

  8. Has anyone sought support from mental health services who are qualified to work with people who have disorders that lead to hoarding? This is a very sad situation and although it may look unpleasant as long as it is not affecting anyone’s health or safety then offer support/practical ideas not punishment. Think about how you would want to be treated. An example; a friend of mine built a new home in a very nice development. They wanted a round window above their front door – complaints of violation of the building codes, neighbors complained it ‘just didn’t fit in with the other homes’…. at the owner’s expense window was removed – just sayin………

  9. I’ve cleaned things uo without ever touching it, and if I were in jail for contempt, you can bet I’d get my yard cleaned. Have you no imagination or insight?

  10. And our property values continue to dive…

    What good is an ordinance if it can’t get anything accomplished? They have been trying to clean this dump up for years now…

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