SPRINGVALE — Those who live in the Reed Street area said they’d pitch in to help a local man remove mounds of trash, old mattresses, tires, broken furniture and the like from his yard.

On Monday, two of them were hard at it, hefting bags of debris into a dumpster.

They didn’t want to be photographed or give their names, but the men said they aren’t the only folks helping property owner Peter Viveiros. They said others were expected to stop by sometime later in the day. Viveiros, they said, was at work.

The offer to help came a few days after the city council authorized the Codes Enforcement Office to proceed with court action against Viveiros, whom city officials said failed to comply with orders to clean up the property.

The condition of the property has resulted in calls to city councilors by property owners complaining that the rubbish pile has a negative effect on property values.

The first letter, sent Nov. 25 by Code Enforcement Officer Shirley Sheesley, lists an accumulation of furniture, bagged trash, scrap wood and other items in a pile on the property. A second notice, sent Jan. 16, notes the material is still there, and that the owner had called the office to say the material wouldn’t be moved until the spring, at the earliest. The letter from Sheesley said that response was unacceptable. It said the city would be willing to work with the owner on a clean-up program and asked him to devise a  step-by-step plan of action.

A notice sent by Sheesley May 12 notes an inspector visited and saw that the rubbish pile had grown, said it violated city codes and the state junkyard statutes. The letter put the owner on notice that fines for violations could range between $100 and $2,500 per day for violations.

In the days after the city council vote, area neighbors volunteered to help, and a local company, Jeffrey A. Simpson, Inc., dropped off a dumpster there last week. By Monday, it appeared to be at least two-thirds full ”“ evidence that clean-up was on-going ”“ but there was plenty of trash left in the pile.

The rubbish pile is adjacent to Viveiros’ apartment building. The men throwing rubbish into the dumpster Monday said it was apparently left by departing tenants.

Sheesley, the codes officer, said the goal is removal of the rubbish.

“Our objective is to get the property cleaned up, so if it is, that’s good,” she said late last week.

On Monday, she said she had not yet filed for court action, and expected to visit the property.

As the two men pitched rubbish into the dumpster, they said some people have stopped by over the past five days to help, working off and on as they could find the time. 

One of the men, reflecting on values these days, thought a minute, and then spoke:

“Not many help each other any more,” he said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].