JAY — The Select Board unanimously approved a 4% wage increase for nonunion employees and department heads for 2023-24, following an executive session Monday night, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Tuesday.
It was also announced that Jay Fire Rescue Department received a $10,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation to buy a machine to test respirators to assure proper fit.
The machine is “needed to meet national and state laws and requirements to ensure our firefighters can safely work in immediate dangerous to life and health environments,” according to Chief Mike Booker’s letter to the foundation. All American workers wearing respirators are required to be fit-tested annually under Occupational and Safety Health Administration regulations, he said.
The department has been using a nearly 20-year-old test machine, which has stopped working and is not repairable, Booker wrote.
“Being able to replace this will guarantee not only our department but other local departments can meet national and state requirements, as well as meet personnel safety and guidelines and guarantee firefighters go home safely and without respiratory issues,” Booker wrote. “Our area is made up of small departments with small budgets, and we are a group of people who assist each other with equipment whenever possible to achieve end goals of life and property protection.”
The town also received notice that it has been conditionally awarded a $50,000 Community Action Grant from the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future, LaFreniere said. The Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments helped the town with the application.
Town representatives worked with AVCOG in the state Community Resilience Partnership to aid efforts to be “more environmentally, socially and financially resilient to the impacts of climate change.”
“For energy efficiency proposals the grant required us to include any Efficiency Maine incentives in the proposed budget,” she said.
They are working with Efficiency Maine to determine if there are any incentives for the proposed foam roof application on the Town Office/Police Department. Once that is determined, they will resubmit the budget worksheet and move forward on the contract, LaFreniere said.
The board also accepted the high bid of $1,101 from Jim Bonney of Livermore for a 1972 Katolight generator with a Hercules engine. The other bid was from Jerry Whitney of Wilton for $469.82, LaFreniere said.
In another matter, LaFreniere said Paris Farmers Union donated 50 buckets for the Sand for Seniors Program, a joint effort between the Public Works and Police departments.
Those eligible to have a 5-gallon bucket of sand delivered are seniors who otherwise are unable to pick up sand/salt from public works on their own. Town employees would deliver it as soon as possible but not spread it. Requests will be logged through the Police Department. The delivery may not be on the same day as the request.
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