CORINTH – Although he is still not in compliance with the law, a local automobile junkyard owner has begun to build the required fence on his property to screen his junk car stockpile from the road, Code Enforcement Officer Mike Polyot told the Board of Selectmen at Thursday’s meeting.

Joseph “Tuddy” Strout is the owner and operator of Strout’s Auto Park, an automobile junkyard and recycling business which the town has been trying for more than a year to bring into compliance after receiving complaints from a neighbor.

At a June 2004 meeting, board members said they were pleased with the attempt Strout had made to meet their compliance deadline of Dec. 31, 2004, but he still hasn’t met all the requirements.

The fence being constructed is made of corrugated metal that will be strapped to school buses along the property line along the road. Strout told Code Enforcement Officer Mike Polyot that the metal would come up high enough to cover the tops of the buses.

There is ledge underneath where the fence needs to sit, so it’s impossible to drive a post into the ground, Polyot explained.

Strout continues to conduct business on the property, and vehicles have been moved on and off the site throughout the summer, Polyot said. Last fall, Strout reportedly had 1,200 vehicles crushed, but has continued to bring junk cars onto the site.