fmaceachern@wiltonvillager.com

WILTON — On a warm spring morning, Andy Reiss walked through his 178 Mather St., property to show the work he's done.

Much of that work involves unwanted or abandoned material he's collected through the years, and adapted for use on his property.

The junk part is something his neighbors would agree with. They've complained to the town about the state of the property during the last year.

During the past year the town has acted on complaints about properties which neighbors have complained are eyesores littered with junk. The town currently has one case in court and won another case against a local property owner recently. On Monday, May 5, the board of selectmen passed a blight ordinance giving town officials more power to have offending properties cleaned.

Madeleine Avnayim lives next door to Reiss with her husband Lee.

They couldn't help but notice the materials that began to gather on the property and the large commercial truck parked in front of his home. The couple felt both were clear violations of town regulations and they complained to the town. Avnayim said they weren't the first to complain.

"You have a garage, you don't have to leave it out in your yard," she said.

Reiss had slipped notes in neighbors' mailboxes asking them to be patient while he did his work but it went on for too long, said Avnayim.

Bunting who visited the home on several occasions including Wednesday, May 7, said Reiss has made improvements but still needs to do more.

"He's made progress but he's still not in compliance yet," said Bunting. "He's gotten rid of a lot of the material we consider junk."

There still is a large pile of materials next to the fence and it's over the town maximum of 50 square feet, said Bunting. Any pile of material on a property, whether it's one pile or several piles, cannot be more than 50 square feet. It's deemed a junkyard if it does, said Bunting.

Both Avnayim and Reiss praised the work of Bunting.

"I don't think he (Reiss) would have done as much without Tim Bunting going there," said Avnayim.

Reiss agreed with First Selectman Bill Brennan's comments that Bunting was like a "coach" and a "motivator" in getting residents to clean their properties. Brennan had said that at a board of selectmen meeting earlier this year.

A 1990 Weston High School graduate, Reiss didn't plan on a career as a landscaper. He earned a bachelor of arts degree with a major in Spanish and a minor in art at Marietta College in Marietta Ohio. He worked at a number of jobs throughout the area and also squeezed in teaching English in Chile during a five-month period.

He decided he wanted to become an elementary teacher but just short of completing his degree at the University of Bridgeport he decided it wasn't for him and decided to take a job landscaping.

"I had always worked outside during the summer and I liked it," said Reiss.

He also has a creative bent and uses material abandoned by others, like a butcher's chopping block, to create an unusual yard. The butcher's block he's turned into a mini table on his property. The seats for it are round concrete supports which were used for the stairs leading to the home. He ripped out the stairs because he didn't like the look and used that material for other projects on the property.

The stairs led directly to the home, but Reiss wanted something different. He wanted an indirect approach so he and others could enjoy the property more.

"You turn and twist and try to take in as much of the property and nature as you can see. You kind of look out as the tree sees the world," said Reiss standing under an umbrella tree in the middle of the property.

In another part of the yard sits an older bathtub. "That was going to be thrown into a dumpster so I'm going to make a planter out of it," said Reiss.

He touched a wooden slab nearby and said it will be used once he figures out what to use it for.

"Sometimes you just let it (material) sit and then I think of a place on the property where it can be used," said Reiss.

It was letting sit things which got the town's attention, said Bunting. But, said Bunting, the town doesn't have an issue with what he's done with the materials on the property, just as long as they don't contravene the town's regulations.

Bunting pointed to the fence as an example. Reiss created a fence out of extra wood sawmills don't want. He has woven them together to create a fence. While some may not be happy with the fence, as long as it's under six feet, it falls within the town's guidelines, said Bunting.