ROYALSTON – In small towns, a seemingly small amount of money can be a big deal.

On April 30, a mobile home located at 79 Athol Road in Royalston was consumed by fire. Now, town officials are trying to determine where money to clean up the site will come from, as well as who should handle it.

Building Inspector Geoff Newton told the Selectboard that he recently met with the town’s Board of Health at the site of the blaze to discuss the cleanup, which includes removal of what’s left of the mobile home, scrap metal, bags of trash, and vehicles left on the property.

“(BOH chair) Phil Leger has never had anything but Board of Health money to take care of anything extra, or emergency costs,” Newton said at Tuesday’s meeting. “The Selectboard had agreed to put ($3,600) into my possession as an emergency fund for enforcement.”

Newton explained that those funds had been used for boarding up a home on King Street and the purchase of signs which the fire department places on unsafe buildings. Money was also used to pay legal costs related for two properties – 79 Athol Road, prior to April’s fire, and 120 Winchendon Road.

“I thought that we were going to get that $3,600 again in the new budget for enforcement—then I saw in the warrant for the Town Meeting that you were taking $2,000 out of there, leaving me with only $1,600,” said Newton. “We still have enforcement on those two properties (Winchendon and Athol roads), and if we want to go after anybody else, we’ve got no money.”

Newton said he suggested to Leger that the town’s Department of Public Works might be recruited to clean up 79 Athol Road, but Leger said the work should be done by a contractor.

“I’m here asking if there’s any way, with what you have – whether there’s some reserve funds out there, or something – because we’re right in the middle of something and now we have no money to finish it up,” Newton said.

Newton noted that the owners of the property—listed as the Newman Trust—owe some $50,000 in back property taxes.

Selectboard Vice Chair Rick Martin said the $2,000 removed from the Building Inspector’s budget was used for legal matters pertaining to new houses. He said Newton, Leger and DPW Superintendent Jaret Thiem would need to work to figure out costs for cleanup and legal matters and report back to the Selectboard after the start of the new fiscal year.

“Then we’ll vote on it and go find the money,” said Martin.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.

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