JAY – Directors of the Jay Development Corp. will need to decide Wednesday if they want to put $25,000 in the town’s budget for 2006-07 to pursue development of six lots behind the Jay Plaza.
After this discussion, selectmen who also perform the duties of development corporation directors, will review options on access to Parker Pond in East Jay at the 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4, meeting at the Community Building.
The lots that Jay Development Corp. directors will discuss are located on 34 acres the town owns behind the plaza, off Route 4, that are in the state-sanctioned Pine Tree Development Zone.
The state developed Pine Tree Zones as an incentive for eligible businesses in targeted areas, such as manufacturing and technology, to open or expand there.
Directors gave approval last year to move forward with the preliminary proposal to allow town and economic development officials to get estimates on how much it would cost to build a road, put in sewer and water lines and do feasibility studies.
The proposed lots in the concept plan ranged from 2 acres to 9 acres with varying amounts of wetlands. Some of the lots could be combined to make larger lots.
In December, Jay voters approved buying a strip of land from the state that goes over the old railroad bed now used for recreation purposes to access the town’s back land.
Jay Town Manager Ruth Marden said Monday that a morning economic development group has gathered information on the industrial park proposal.
Two bids have been submitted for engineering and design work for sewer, water, power and road and to determine best use of each lot. The package would also include a Department of Environmental Protection permit because of wetland.
The group plans to ask directors, if they approve going forward with the project, to put $25,000 in the budget, Marden said.
The Development Corp. already has more than $12,000 in the account, she said.
In the selectmen’s meeting, Marden said they’ll review six or seven different routes to get down to Parker Pond.
Some owners of property along the road leading to the popular fishing pond had posted the dirt road to allow access by written permission only or to owners along the road in 2004 due to excess partying, litter and noise.
In return, residents petitioned selectmen for access to the pond, which is considered a Great Pond in Maine, a designation that provides for public use of the waters.
The pond is also a water source for the Livermore Falls Water District that serves some residents in Jay and Livermore Falls.
Some of the options of routes to the pond include buying rights of way and property and building roads, Marden said.
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