FARMINGTON — Selectmen agreed Tuesday to continue working with a Town Farm Road resident who accumulated more cars and equipment on his property than a previous agreement allowed.

In a 2010 agreement with the town, occupants Keith Melacon and Katherine Gajdukow, the property owner, agreed to only keep seven vehicles on the small lot that also has a mobile home and garage.

Early in May, Code Enforcement Officer Steve Kaiser found there were five more vehicles parked on the property.  Lawnmowers, snowblowers, rototillers and other items are also scattered across the yard and not behind screened areas as the agreement indicated, Kaiser told the board. He asked them how to proceed. The yard has been an issue since 2009, he said.

A mechanic who also provides yard services, Melacon said some of the vehicles are hobby vehicles belonging to his adult children who are rebuilding them. Others belong to customers. These are expected to be completed soon.

Some equipment is for sale. Parts from some vehicles and equipment are used to repair others. Some equipment is used in his yard work, Melacon said.

Since May, Melacon has made an effort to improve access to the home. It was included in the agreement to provide for access in an emergency. 

He has hauled 1,200 pounds of scrap metal off the site, Kaiser said.

“Keith can do more,” he said. “But I give him credit; he’s trying.”

The real problem is in the eyes of  the person looking at it, he added. It’s a visual problem for the small piece of property. He’s trying to make a living but there have been complaints.

Melacon said he has to work in the front yard because he’s “storing stuff in the garage so you won’t make me haul it off.”

He expected two vehicles to be up, working and gone by this weekend. Another vehicle is already gone, he said.

Board Chairman Ryan Morgan suggested Melacon continue cleaning up and keep Kaiser informed of any more project cars. Keep an open line of communication, he said. He also suggested moving items to the back of the property and adding fencing to conceal it.

The board agreed to keep working with him, recognizing that the town has the consent agreement to fall back on if the issue needs to be addressed legally.

In other business, the board declined a request to join the University of Maine at Farmington on an application for grant funding for a public emergency warning system.

The university seeks the funding to put up sirens, two of them on campus, Town Manager Richard Davis said. These are similar to ones used for tornado warnings that are erected on poles or buildings.

Ben Pratt, director of facility management, approached the town to partner in the application for funding of two for UMF and two for the town. 

The funding would cover the cost of the sirens but board members wouldn’t endorse involvement without knowing what the ongoing, maintenance costs would be and thought there are better emergency notification systems.

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