GREENWOOD — A plea to Greenwood last week from taxpayer Matt Bevin on behalf of Doug and Bertha Grover to give them more time to clean up their property did not move selectmen, who cited 11 years of trying to get the couple to comply with state law.

By law, their property on Rowe Hill Road is an unlicensed junkyard, town officials have said. Code Enforcement Officer Joelle Corey-Whitman became involved in the case in recent years after a complaint from neighbors, according to Town Manager Kim Sparks. Despite repeated letters and court orders, not enough material was removed, nor was a structure provided to house the material in order to comply, according to the town officials.

Last winter, the town fined the Grovers $10,000 for the violations and billed them $7,500 for enforcement and legal costs, but those have not been paid, Sparks said. A court order also gave the Grovers until July 1 to remove the material or risk the town hiring a contractor to do it and charging the couple for the costs that were incurred, town officials said.

But Corey-Whitman said at last week’s selectmen’s meeting that while some areas of the property had been cleaned and items moved, the effort was still not complete.

She recommended the town put the cleanup work out to bid, and said she had also been advised to hire a videographer to document “everything that gets thrown away.”

Selectman Arnie Jordan made a motion for the town to proceed with the cleanup.

That was when Bevin, who said he lives about 200 yards from the Grovers, spoke up.

“This is a mess; everybody knows it’s a mess,” he said. “It’s been ongoing for a long time. The patience of everyone involved has been tried to a tremendous degree. But I think the attention of the Grovers has been gotten to a degree it hasn’t been in a long time. … Would it be fair to say that at least more is happening now than has ever happened? More than just shuffling around?”

“I don’t know, because they never provide any records,” Corey-Whitman replied.

Bevin said he was also concerned about the cost to the town.

“I think if we were truly honest with ourselves, what’s happening on that property probably could happen on 20 percent of the properties in this town to some degree or another,” he said. “If we spend the money to do this on this property and every other property that is in a similar state, we’re going to end up with more money invested in this property than it’s worth.”

He speculated that the Grovers, if unable to afford to pay for the cleanup and the fines, might simply walk away from the property and then no one would be paying taxes on it.

“I told the Grovers I would come on their behalf,” he said. “I’ve known them a long time. They’ve paid taxes for 30 years. They’ve been good citizens. … They’re hard-headed, they’re stubborn and they pack a lot of trash on their property that is treasure to them.”

He said the Grovers now have materials to build a pole barn for the material, and many people have volunteered to help them.

He asked the town to allow them “to keep moving in the right direction.”

But Jordan then repeated his motion, telling Bevin, “This has been going on since 2003. All we’ve gotten are promises, promises, promises. We’ve had enough. The judge told us, the Legislature made a law, the governor signed a law … the selectmen are required to enforce the law.”

Selectman Amy Chapman added, “We’re required under state law not to let an unsafe, illegal junkyard continue to operate.”

The board approved Jordan’s motion, and Corey-Whitman said she would get to work on the directive.

Sparks said Tuesday that a bid package is being prepared, and cleanup is tentatively set for Aug. 21-22.