JAY — Residents have a selectperson’s race and a vacant RSU 73 director seat to consider at the polls Tuesday.

Voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 10, at the Community Building.

Fifth Selectperson Thomas Goding and Matt McCourt are seeking a three-year term on the Board of Selectpersons.

F. Timothy DeMillo is running uncontested for another three-year term as fourth selectperson.

Shari Ouellette and Tamara Hoke are running unchallenged for two-year and  three-year terms, respectively, on the RSU 73 Board of Directors.

There is another three-year position on the RSU 73 board available, but no candidate. Voters will be able to write in a name and color in the oval next to the name.

Goding and McCourt answered the Sun Journal’s candidate questionnaire that contained the same questions.

Verso Paper Corp. has requested a valuation abatement of $469 million of its mill for 2013. The town values the mill and property at $929 million. Selectpersons are waiting until a revaluation on the mill is done to take action on the request.

Goding said if it is determined the valuation of the mill is less, selectpersons will have to look at the whole town to see what taxpayers want for a level of service and what they are willing to pay or what they are willing to do without and then make decisions accordingly.

“At the end of the day, taxpayers make the final decision,” Goding said.

McCourt, the nephew of Selectperson Steve McCourt, said townspeople need to know and understand more about the process: abatements, time, advantages, disadvantages, cost and rewards.

“Then when this is understood, let’s all vote,” Matt McCourt said. “Not just a few who can take the time to get to the polls, let’s take time for everyone. If this happens, we will have a stronger community.

“What the town of Jay needs to do is to prepare for a near-future closure of Verso. This will happen and this is what all of us should be thinking about,” McCourt said.

McCourt said he has been a resident of Jay is entire life and is a businesses and environmental major at Kaplan University.

“I will bring to the board reasonable plans for necessary and unnecessary spending that makes the voters happy instead of a select few,” he said. “I will stay in contact with people in the community and listen.”

Goding said he has been in business for more than 25 years and believes he possess a lot of common sense and the tools to do the job.

“I think it has been proven that I have the ability to make the tough decisions,” Goding said.

He believes that having a natural-gas pipeline go through Jay is a win-win for the town, he said.

“It is good for residential, commercial, municipal and RSU 73,” Goding said. “For example, the Town Office runs on propane and could easily be changed over to natural gas to achieve cost savings.”

It needs to be studied to determine if it is good for the town and then simply go to a vote, McCourt said.

A natural-gas pipeline serves Verso Paper Corp.’s mill in Jay but no other entity in the town.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Address: 254 Macomber Hill Road, Jay

Age: 44

Occupation: Building contractor

Address: 17 Begin Road, Jay

Age: 51

Occupation: Pipeline equipment operator

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