LIVERMORE FALLS – Selectmen directed Town Manager Martin Puckett to look into a request made by a nonprofit snowmobile club for the town to underwrite a $55,000 loan to buy a snow groomer.

The Jug Hill Riders Snowmobile Club would repay the loan using money they receive from snowmobile registrations and grant funds, Puckett said Tuesday.

The club’s plan is to repay the loan within 10 years.

Voters would have the final say on the request because it would have to go to a town meeting, select board Chairwoman Jackie Knight said.

Club representatives made the request Monday but selectmen tabled action on it until Puckett could determine whether a bank would consider a loan to the club if the town’s name was on it and if club members looked into more grant resources, Knight said.

Club President Tim Fournier said the club is using a converted Chevrolet Blazer to groom the trails, but it costs as much as $4,000 each year to keep it running. The club would like to buy a machine designed to groom trails.

The town has underwritten loans in the past for the club to buy snowmobiles, Fournier said. The earlier loans have been repaid in full, usually ahead of schedule.

The club maintains a branch of the statewide ITS trail system, which brings snowmobilers into town that stop for food, gas and other services, Fournier said.

The club receives about $7,500 from a state revolving grant each year to maintain the trails, Puckett said, and about $1,000 in snowmobile registration money.

There is an additional grant available for equipment, Fournier said, that club members will investigate.

Some of the money from the revolving grant would be used to repay the loan. The remainder of the grant would be used for trail maintenance, bridge rebuilding and fuel, Fournier said.

If approved, the club would pay on the loan each year in mid-June.

Knight said selectmen advised the club to check with the Area Youth Sports group to see if there were any known grants available for this purpose. The board also suggested they check with the Livermore Falls Downtown Betterment Group to see if they knew of any funding prospects and to see if they could gain those groups’ support.

Fournier said club members plan to sit down with Puckett to discuss their options.