JAY – The Board of Selectpersons voted to lend their neighboring town a helping hand Monday evening, agreeing to provide two bays for fire engines from the Livermore Falls Fire Department.
Livermore Falls has structural issues with its fire station, leaving two pieces of firefighting equipment without a home for the next several months. Jay has agreed to lease two bays in Fire Station No. 2, located at 118 Main Street, to Livermore Falls for the next year.
Livermore Falls will vote on the lease later this week. They must vacate their building by Thursday morning, Oct. 1, in order to comply with insurance requirements tied to the structural issues in the station.
According to the terms of the agreement, Livermore Falls will maintain the two bays, pay all heating costs associated with Station No. 2, and half of the water bills. The agreement also includes language dealing with potential insurance and liability issues. The agreement lasts until Sept. 30, 2016.
Two pieces of equipment that take up some room in those bays, a tractor associated with the transfer station and a ATV used by the Jay Police Department, will be moved to other town buildings.
The vote to approve the fire station agreement was unanimous, 4 to 0.
Selectpersons dealt with another item related to the fire department when they approved a small change to the personnel policy. The policy was amended to require firefighters missing scheduled training or other events to notify the fire chief. Previously, firefighters could also notify the deputy or assistant chief, Chief Mike Booker said Monday evening, but in some cases messages weren’t being relayed immediately, leading to confusion.
The board has been working to update the fire department personnel policy and pay structure over the past several months, after Booker took over. The department had previously utilized a set of bylaws originally created in 1927.
In other business, the selectpersons unanimously approved three new members of the town planning board. Judy Diaz will join the budget committee as a full member, while Kate Booker and Brigitte White will join as alternates.
The board also noted that a longtime town employee, Todd Hiscock at the transfer station, was retiring. Hiscock had 37 years on the job, and his last day will be Thursday.
It is interesting that there are two bays vacant in the sub station. This building may be a place that the selectmen can look at when trying to lower the costs in the town after the lease is over. There is going to need to be cost cutting in all departments, not only in the trash pickup.