The pile of debris located at 118 Sandwich Road should be cleaned up by the end of the week, according to Myles Burke, Director of Inspectional Services.

Crews began cleaning up the property on Monday, July 30, after the discovery of hazardous materials stopped a previous clean-up in June.

The town is placing a municipal lien on the property, "because your expending public dollars on a private thing," Burke explained. "This is a way we recover the money that has been expended."

The clean-up should take a couple of days, after which the soil will be tested to ensure it meets environmental standards, Burke said.

The Sandwich Road home burned down in a fire in January of 2011, leaving a large pile of debris and residents wondering when the hazard would be cleared.

The owner of the home was injured in the fire. His family members had been cleaning the property, but told town officials on several occasions that they didn't have the monetary means to finish the job.

Family members approached the Board of Selectmen to ask for permission to remove sentimental items from the property last December. The Selectmen gave the family a deadline of January 10 to remove the items.

Clean up of the property began in early June, but was halted because tiles of asbestos were located on the property. The contractor hired to clean up the property did not have the legal ability to remove hazardous material.

Concerns arose about a month ago about whether the town would be able to use emergency demolition funding reserved last fiscal year, which ended in June, for cleaning up the property.

Town officials were concerned that because fiscal year was ending, the funds could not be reserved for a clean up during the current year, which began on July 1.

The town was ultimately able to set aside approximately $10,000 from the previous year's funds for the clean up, said Town Financial Analyst Derek Sullivan.