JAY — Selectpersons voted Monday to remove vehicle weight-limit restriction posters on portions of Old Jay Hill and Woodman Hill roads so Polycor, a Canadian-based company developing the North Jay White Quarry, can continue construction of its granite-curbing plant.
The posters were to be removed Tuesday morning on Old Jay Hill Road from Routes 4 and 17 to the intersection of Woodman Hill Road, and up Woodman Hill Road to the quarry access road.
In February, the board voted to uphold the weight-limit restrictions on town roads, denying a request by Polycor to keep Old Jay Hill and Woodman Hill roads unposted.
Kevin Jack, operations manager for Polycor, asked Monday that the board remove the weight limits on a portion of the roads to allow construction-related trucks to use it. There would be about 45 trucks, including 35 hauling concrete for the plant, he said. The remaining trucks would haul construction-related European equipment. The delivery schedule and installers were previously arranged.
No finished product will be hauled until the spring thaw is over, Jack said. “We are requesting this to finish our construction schedule,” he said.
The company is making loads lighter and trying to do most of the hauling in the early-morning hours.
“We are doing our best to have the least impact as possible,” he said.
John Johnson, director of the Public Works Department, said he expected the posters to be taken down in two to three weeks if weather conditions continue. He and a couple of selectpersons pointed out that there is no frost in the ground and it’s drying up quick.
The access road to the plant will be built after the spring thaw in 2017. The company will not be in the construction phase at that time.
Last year, the same roads Polycor requested be unposted this year were not posted at the company’s request. They didn’t do much damage last year, Johnson said. The section of Old Jay Hill Road will be rebuilt to handle heavy equipment with a $250,000 grant the town received last year paying for the majority of the project.
If they do not stay on schedule this year in building the plant, it will push everything out and they could possibly miss the granite curbing season, Jack said.
Polycor plans to hire more people in April to add to the company’s workforce in Jay. The company’s overview of the project to the board in 2015 stated the company expects to invest $4 million in the project, which will create 20 direct jobs and 20 indirect jobs, and inject about $3 million per year into the local economy.
Taking everything into consideration, board Vice Chairman Tim DeMillo said he didn’t really want to hold up the company from getting going and hiring 10 or 12 more people from the area.
“I think we have to help out any new business that comes to town,” Selectperson Steve McCourt said.
Other selectpersons agreed.
“My only concern is we just have be careful of the precedent we are setting,” Chairman Justin Merrill said.
All businesses, whether new or existing, need to be treated the same and fairly, he said.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
