JAY – Selectmen voted Monday to donate $5,600 to the Area Youth Sports organization for liability insurance, contingent upon other towns also contributing. The money will come from a recreation account that does not require voter approval.

AYS, as it’s known locally, has provided athletic programs for children in Fayette, Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls for many years.

Organization representatives plan to ask all four towns to contribute for insurance purposes. The total amount needed is about $10,000.

If AYS organized and had nonprofit status as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, it would not need the insurance coverage because it wouldn’t have any liability, it seems, unless someone is terribly negligent, Town Manager Ruth Marden said.

Marden said the town has no liability if it does donate to AYS because the organization is a separate entity and not a town program.

Marden sought a legal opinion from the Maine Municipal Association after AYS representatives approached selectmen about a contribution for liability insurance Dec. 20.

AYS does not have liability insurance now, and a lawyer had told the group that it should have it because it’s a “nightmare waiting to happen,” Jason Daigle, AYS spokesman said Monday.

Parents registering children to play in sports sign a waiver on the application, he said.

The organization plans to apply for nonprofit status, he said. The group has the 25-page application, which it has to fill out and submit, he said.

Selectman Alan Labbe said he was concerned about the time frame and whether the group gets nonprofit status.

The town is preparing its budget for the April town meeting referendum and would need warrant article requests soon.

Daigle said that the group has been told that it could take six to nine months for nonprofit status to be granted once the application is filed.

Selectman Barry McDonald made a motion for the town to begin the process of putting the $5,600 donation before voters, with the intent that it be withdrawn if the group received nonprofit status.

McDonald later rescinded the motion after more discussion.

Instead, selectmen opted to donate the $5,600 from a recreation account if the three other towns agree to donate also.

Marden said the amount AYS requested from each town is prorated by the number of children in each town that participate in the program.

The recreation account has more than $20,000, which comes from a $600-per-month lease for a communication tower on town land, Marden said.

Voters authorized selectmen at town meeting to use the money at their discretion for recreation purposes, Marden said.