CHARLEMONT — The Board of Health, Planning Board and Conservation Commission are drafting letters for the Selectboard about various health safety, environmental and permit violations they say are occurring at Stagecoach Auto Repair on Route 8A.
According to Selectboard member William Harker, the boards will submit information pertaining to each of their areas of expertise relating to the property, after which the Selectboard will write one letter to town counsel seeking guidance on how to proceed.
“We are going to bring boards up to par and see where they are going to go from there by using an attorney,” Harker said.
The four boards came together last week to discuss the problems they say are occurring at 180 Route 8A, also known as Heath Road. Stagecoach Auto Repair owner Brian Dupree was not present at the meeting. They will now work separately to determine the different violations as they pertain to each board.
The boards are concerned about approximately 50 unregistered vehicles on Dupree’s property that are close to Mill Brook. Dupree explained in a phone interview that there are even more unregistered vehicles on the property, but the boards are less concerned because those vehicles are not near the river. Dupree received a cease-and-desist letter concerning the unregistered vehicles two years ago, and he said he has been working to remove them.
Dupree said he removed approximately 70 vehicles with help from a part-time worker over the summer, but the process is slow and difficult in the winter. He noted he can’t bring vehicles to the transfer station if they are covered in snow.
“There is a lot of time involved,” Dupree said. “You get something for scrap metal but it barely covers the expense of getting rid of them.”
Dupree has run a business
