JAY — A company proposing to develop a North Jay quarry and build a plant to make granite curbing has asked that a half-mile of Old Jay Hill Road not be posted to vehicle weight restrictions this spring.
Polycor, based in Quebec, Canada, proposes to build a private road off Old Jay Hill Road and wants to construct a 20,000-square-foot building there, Board of Selectpersons Chairman Steve McCourt said Monday.
The $4 million investment would create 20 direct jobs and 20 indirect jobs, and inject approximately $3 million per year into the local economy, the company said.
Public Works foreman John Johnson said there’s no posting on Commercial Street, which is used to get to Hannaford in Jay Plaza, or on Riley Road because the paper mill on that road needs big trucks to deliver products.
The road is most likely going to be damaged but there usually is a mitigation process, he said.
Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere asked the board for a consensus on whether to allow the company to travel over the road during the spring, when the snow is melting and frost is coming out of the ground.
The town had an agreement with Portland Natural Gas, which installed the natural gas pipeline to the paper mill in 1998, to fix any damage to a road it crossed, she said.
One suggestion was to have Polycor pay up front to cover any damage that may be caused during the project. The money could be set aside for upkeep and maintenance of the road.
The company is looking at closing on the property in late March, LaFreniere said.
Selectperson Tim DeMillo said LaFreniere could talk with the town’s attorney about an agreement to protect the road.
Polycor believes its plans will help with water runoff, Board of Selectpersons Vice Chairman Justin Merrill said.
The company is open to suggestions, he said, and it wants to know what it will take to keep the section of the road open.
Permits for the project would go through the state Department of Environmental Protection’s mining division, LaFreniere said.
A company representative in Canada was not available to discuss the project Tuesday. McCourt asked that representatives of Polycor come to a Board of Selectperson meeting to talk about the project.
According to the company’s information, Polycor has more than 300 employees in 25 sustainable quarries and five state-of-the-art plants. It has operations in Quebec, Georgia and Virginia. The company serves a variety of markets with granite curbing, specifically in New England.
Highlights of the North Jay project are the development of the quarry and construction of the curbing plant in 2015. Curb production is scheduled to start in 2016 and to be fully operational by 2017.
Polycor projects having $2.5 million in sales in 2016, $3.5 million in sales in 2017 and $4.5 million in sales in 2018 from the Jay project.
Other potential markets that the Jay operation could serve is granite monument bases and landscaping stones.
The company says it is a leader in natural stone in North America.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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