NORTHFIELD — Having seized Allen Smith’s property on Caldwell Road for back taxes, Northfield will need to spend $100,000 or more to see it cleared of trash, according to former Town Administrator Brian Noble.
Residents will need to vote to allocate the money, which Noble expects will come from the town’s approximately $560,000 of surplus, during annual town meeting.
“It’s $100,000 of taxpayer money,” said Noble, who served as town administrator until the end of 2016. “It affects everybody now … We’ll have to devote some of those monies that could be used for the betterment of the town or the elementary school to clean up the property.”
If the town can clean up and then resell the property, it will be able to recoup Smith’s back taxes and some of the cleanup expense. Assessors Clerk Bethany Walker said the lot is valued at $46,600.
Smith owns two adjacent parcels on Caldwell Road, the 2.49-acre property he bought for $1 from Stanley Wickey in 2003, and a smaller parcel where his house is located. Since 2005, Smith has accumulated $9,402 in back taxes on the property, according to Tax Collector Barbara Brassor.
“The town has threatened in the past to (seize) it but never did it (until now)” Noble said. “We’re going to get it cleaned up.”
Smith, 50, said he’s been accumulating numerous items since he was 16 years old, and has been gathering cars, trailers and other trash on his Caldwell Road properties for 35 years.
“It’s what I like to do,” he said, explaining that he originally started by working on cars and taking them apart. “It just stemmed from there.”
Now, the town-owned lot is separated from Smith’s remaining property by an 8-foot fence and several concrete barriers so that Smith can’t access it to dispose of any more trash. The Finance Committee allocated $8,520 from Northfield’s reserve fund to build the fence, and Noble said the Highway Department has already begun the cleanup.
“They really didn’t need to do anything, but really stepped up to the plate,” Noble said of the Highway Department workers. “It’s saved the town a lot of money.”
Noble said the Town of Northfield took Smith to court, and during a Sept. 1 hearing in Greenfield District Court, Smith was ordered to remove all of his personal property from the lot by Sept. 30 or else he agreed that everything remaining would be considered abandoned. Smith, represented by Greenfield attorney Roger Reid, also agreed to release the town from any claims relating to the removal of the trash, and to immediately stop placing more trash on the property.
Smith failed to clean the property by Sept. 30, but expressed his irritation over the Highway Department’s cleanup.
“They screwed me,” Smith said. “They ruined my bucket loader. They stole my son’s pickup truck.”
Smith claimed that over the years, he took the various items off local residents’ hands for free, bringing some things to a recycling facility as a way to make money and putting what was left on the Caldwell Road lot. To Smith, the material isn’t junk.
“I just like to collect things,” he said. “I know some people in this town think it’s junk, but it’s not to me.”
Smith added that his children, Cody, Tyler and Brianne, have grown up with the same habit and are responsible for many of the Dodge and Toyota pickups on his house lot. Though the house lot is still in his possession, Brassor said Smith owes $13,904.33 on the property. He has until August to pay before the foreclosure process begins, Brassor said.
James Hawkins, building inspector, also sent Smith a notice on Dec. 20 in response to the numerous unregistered vehicles and trash on his house lot, finding him in violation of the town bylaw which states the “open air storage of junk, including inoperable automobiles, trash, debris, scrap materials, and all other uses which are injurious to their neighborhood or to property in the vicinity are expressly prohibited.” Smith has 45 days to remove everything before the Town of Northfield brings him back to court.
Noble said the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is also involved, as Smith violated the Solid Waste Disposal Act. DEP spokeswoman Elizabeth Steinhart declined to elaborate as the case is under investigation.
As for the 2.49-acre lot, Smith said “that’s their problem now,” referring to the town. “I told them I’d clean it up.”
Noble said the Highway Department can do some of the cleanup work, but other parts such as transportation of the trash will need to be contracted out. Though some of the items can be disposed of at the Northfield Transfer Station, Noble said it doesn’t have the capacity to handle the more than 4,000 tires he estimates are on the property, which will need to be taken elsewhere.