JAY — Selectmen voted Monday to allow the Recreation Committee to use the $3,052.16 left from the purchase of snowmobile and groomer to build a storage shed on the town recreation lot to house the equipment.

Selectmen voted in December to allow the Recreation Committee to spend up to $18,000 to buy the equipment to create trails for snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling by using an existent trail system and skidder roads to open miles of new terrain. The lot is behind the high school.

The groomer and related equipment came to $5,947.84, and the 2013 Ski-Doo Skandic WT Ace cost $9,000, town Finance Director Lisa Bryant said in February.

The money came from the tower lot reserve account.

The machine and equipment are owned by the town and cannot be housed on private property, due to the town’s liability insurance.

Selectmen Chairman Steve McCourt sawed some timber that was harvested off the recreation lot from his mill for the building, he said.

All that would be needed is flooring material, steel roofing, cement pads, garage doors, screws and other fasteners, he said.

Volunteers plan to build the roughly 16- by 28-foot building.

The Highway Department will put in gravel for the project on Tuesday.

Recreation Committee member Randy Easter told the board he was thankful for the support of selectmen, Town Manager Ruth Cushman and highway foreman John Johnson.

In other business, selectmen voted unanimously to approve an amendment to the Wright-Pierce contract for the next leg of the Route 4 project. They also authorized the town manager to sign it. The company did the environmental work for the 1.25 miles of road construction from Pineau Street to just before Tweedie Street. That contract was for $3,800. 

The amended agreement is an additional $68,000, which is for design and additional engineering work for the project. The town and water districts plan to complete some sewer and water line work along with the Maine Department of Transportation’s road improvements.

Sewer Department Superintendent Mark Holt said it would be cheaper to have the town hire an inspector than it would be to have the engineering firm also do the inspection. The firm’s cost would be an additional $33,000 to $43,000, he said. The town completed the first leg of the Route 4 project for about $17,000 in inspections by hiring its own inspector, he said. He estimated that inspection costs for this phase would be about $20,000.

Holt also told selectmen that documentation methods and practices have changed to make sure that all parties will know what is going on with the project.

In another matter, selectmen voted to accept a $100 donation to the Fire Rescue Department from resident Gary McGrane.

McGrane said he had a controlled burn at his residence in North Jay that got out of hand. He did not have a permit, he said.

He thanked firefighters for their professionalism and the quick action to put the fire out that prevented the fire from spreading.

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