Call it a curiosity or a roadside museum of decaying Americana: right on the Clarkson-Murray border in western Monroe County is a sprawling vehicular graveyard.

The large wooded field on West Ridge Road just east of the Orleans County line is littered with rotting vehicles: dump trucks, pickups, golf carts, a school bus, a fire truck, and dozens more. There's a large red barn - which appears to be one stray spark short of kindling - at least one tractor, and an old Fotomat kiosk.

"I wish somebody would get that stuff out of there," says Suzanne Stavalone. "He's got so much junk there."

The Stavalones of Greece own the property next door, and Suzanne says they have been pressing Clarkson officials to get the adjacent property cleaned up.

"The town's not doing a darn thing about it," she says. "They keep saying, ‘Oh, we're in the process.' But it's been two years."

The only Clarkson official who returned City Newspaper's calls is Councilmember Allan Hoy, who referred most questions to town attorney Richard Olson. Olson, however, said he had no knowledge of the junkyard situation.

"There's been an issue with the place for a while," Hoy says. "We've been actually working with state officials as well as county people trying to resolve this."

Hoy is reluctant to talk, he says, because the matter is in litigation. He would not say who is involved in that litigation.

"I'd love to go right into this with you, but I've got to be careful," Hoy says. "We don't want to tip our hand here."

Suzanne and her husband, Dean, say the man responsible for the Clarkson mess lives in a mobile home on or near the property. The mobile home lacks heat, electricity, and running water, Suzanne says.

"Everybody dumps things there. I think he lets them dump things there and he gets paid for it," she says. "Why else would somebody have all that?"

The man living there is not the property owner, Hoy says. But he says he does not know the owner's name.

"It's very, very complicated," he says, "and that's one of the issues we've been dealing with."

Another neighbor says she thinks the junk is the man's livelihood.

"It keeps growing," she says. "I don't know if he sells it or not. I just know that the neighborhood's not real thrilled about it."

Suzanne Stavalone has called the State Department of Environmental Conservation because, she says, there are large drums on the property with liquid seeping out.

"They've assured me they're going out there, but nobody's contacted me," she says.

Suzanne says Clarkson officials have started referring her to the town attorney when she calls to complain. When she tried to get the attorney's contact information, she says, she was told the attorney may not be up to speed on the situation. "I'm like, ‘You know you people are just ridiculous,'" she says.

Hoy insists the town is working on the problem and he would tell all, if he could.

"I'm actually chomping at the bit," he says, "because I think a lot of people think we're not doing anything. We are but we can't say anything. It's a wild thing."