JAY — Selectpersons voted unanimously Monday to continue to post roads,? including Old Jay Hill Road and Woodman Hill Road, ?which ?are posted to vehicle weight restrictions. 

 

John Johnson, ?director of the Public Works Department, posted the town roads to heavy weight limits on Feb. 2 because of the weather. He was before selectpersons to have those postings confirmed.

 

Last year, the board approved Canadian-based Polycor’s request not to post 5,100 feet of Old Jay Hill Road to the intersection of Woodman Hill Road and an additional 930 feet on Woodman Hill Road, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said.

 

The company is developing the North Jay White Quarry and building a plant to manufacture granite curbing off Old Jay Hill Road.

 

Polycor asked for the same consideration of not posting the roads this year and next year.

 

Polycor’s plan, as presented last year to selectpersons, was for the company to build an access road. The company? now plans to build its access road in the summer of 2017, LaFreniere said. 

 

The town received a $250,000 grant last year and put aside a $50,000 town match to rebuild the portion of road to handle heavy loads. The project is in the engineering phase. 

 

The company is hauling finished granite curbing in and rough blocks of granite back, Johnson said.

 

The company is doing deliveries right now but are holding off on some things until selectpersons make a decision on road postings, LaFreniere said.

 

The town has not posted certain areas of Riley Road in front of Verso Androscoggin Mill and it has not posted the roads into Jay Plaza where Hannaford and McDonald’s are located, Johnson said.

 

Regardless of whether a road is posted, the town can seek restitution from someone who damaged the road, LaFreniere said. The town has been legally advised that it needs to treat everyone the same ?with regards to requiring bonds for use of posted roads.

 

It is up to the board whether the damage to the road is worth the commerce, Johnson said.

 

Chairman Justin Merrill, a logger, said towns are never bashful about posting roads where he is working.

 

“I just think we have to be careful about setting precedent,” he said.

 

If you unpost the roads for Polycor, you are opening up the roads for everybody to use, he said.

 

Under the town’s Vehicle Weight Restriction on Posted Ways Ordinance any vehicle or combination of vehicles registered for a gross weight of 23,000 pounds or less is exempt from the ordinance and may travel over a  posted road. Any vehicle or combination of vehicles registered for a gross weight in excess of 23,000 pounds and traveling without a load other than tools or equipment necessary for the proper operation of the vehicle is also exempted except for some vehicles.

 

There are other requirements listed in the ordinance that can be found on the town’s website at www.jay-maine.org. Click on Town Office and then on the ordinance section.

 

Some vehicles are also exempted including trucks hauling heating fuel but have restrictions to follow listed in the ordinance. 

 

Vehicles that exceed the gross weight limit may travel over the roads while posted if a town way or bridge is considered solidly frozen, which is when the air temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit and there is no water showing in the cracks of the road.

 

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