The Edgecomb selectmen want to know why a Gleason Point resident hasn’t fulfilled the terms of a consent agreement.

The town won a $25,000 court judgment against Timothy Stephenson in September 2013 to clean his property. Stephenson paid $5,000 after the verdict.

Under the agreement, Stephenson could avoid further payments if he removed debris by certain deadlines. He met the first deadline of Dec. 15, 2013.

But he missed the second deadline on April 15.

Stephenson had also inquired about operating a mining and wood splitting businesses. He would need permits for both endeavors. The town hasn’t heard from Stephenson about removing the remainder of his property debris or his proposed ventures. The selectmen are concerned Stephenson may be ill and can’t fulfill the agreement.

Town attorney Bill Dale of Jensen, Baird, Henry & Gardner advised the selectmen to contact Stephenson’s lawyer to check on his health status.

“I’ve heard he may be ill and that’s why he hasn’t completed the clean-up or pursued his other business ventures,” Dale said.

The selectmen approved Dale’s recommendation to contact Stephenson’s lawyer, Eliot Field of Wiscasset, during the Oct. 20 board meeting.

The selectmen reviewed 20 photographs taken on Stephenson’s property showing the remaining debris. The photographs showed the debris wasn’t visible from Route 27 or by his neighbors.

“There is still an awful lot of stuff up there,” Dale said. “Enough to constitute a junk yard under state law. Even if it can’t be seen from the road or by his neighbors, you still can’t have all that junk out there without a permit.”

The selectmen want a response from Field within two weeks.

Eddy Road inspection

In other action, the selectmen received a letter from the state Department of Transportation about its Oct. 3 joint inspection of the Eddy Road. DOT officials inspected the road along with the selectmen, fire chief and road commissioner.

In his letter, DOT Region 2 Manager Michael Burns summarized the inspection. The DOT has pledged to ditch the area and remove winter sand from under the guard rail as part of the department’s 2015 work program.

The DOT has also promised to investigate the embankment behind the guard rail on the road’s shore side, located at the easterly corner of the cove. Town officials suspect the cove is being undercut by tidal and wave action, which is contributing to Eddy Road’s drainage problem.

“These actions will remove water from the road surface and help drain the road base,” wrote Burns. “After the investigation, a plan of action will be determined.”

The DOT also promised to straighten the guard rail and replace material lost at its location. The state also plans to remove the drain from John Curtis’ property. This will prevent water from draining over the retaining wall into the road, according to Burns.

The selectmen wrote the DOT in September about the road’s condition. The Eddy Road is a state maintained road. The selectmen requested a better maintenance program to combat the road’s soft shoulder.

The road’s condition has been characterized as a “safety hazard” by several town officials. In the past two years, three large commercial trucks have sunk into the shoulder.

In Burns’ letter, he wrote that if Edgecomb desires an outcome beyond the maintenance work promised then the state and town could discuss the Municipal Partnership Initiative to fund the work. The MPI is a program that shares the cost equally between the DOT and municipality for repairing state owned roads.

The selectmen will meet next at 6 p.m. on Monday, on Nov. 3 in the municipal room.