Water Board Member Faces Jail Over Junk

After nearly three years of wrangling with Lancaster officials over the piles of junk in his yard, a member of the Antelope Valley water board has been sentenced to a year in jail for failing to remove rusted hunks of metal and other debris, authorities said Thursday.

Glenn Martin, 68, an elected member of the seven-person Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, was sentenced Wednesday by Lancaster Municipal Judge William H. Seelicke after he failed to comply with court orders to clean up his Lancaster property.

Martin is scheduled to begin serving his sentence June 13, but Seelicke said he might be able to avoid jail if he makes an effort to rid the property of the junk, including airplane fuel tanks and a jet engine, according to court officials.

Martin could not be reached for comment, and it was unclear what effect his sentencing would have on his position on the water board.

The sentence stems from Martin’s conviction in 1988 on charges of violating Lancaster municipal codes that prohibit storing junk on residential property.

The conditions of Martin’s probation required him to clean up the property, which prosecutors said he failed to do.

Martin, who has served on the water board for 15 years, stood trial last year on a charge of setting his house on fire and was found not guilty.

Insurance investigators said the fire that caused about $90,000 damage might have been caused by careless smoking, countering claims by arson detectives that the blaze was intentionally set.

At that trial, fire officials said firefighters’ efforts were hampered by the amount of debris on Martin’s property.