JAY – Residents will be asked in April if they want to approve an amendment to the town’s environmental ordinance that would lower a reserve fund cap by $200,000.

Selectmen voted Dec. 22 to put the amendment before voters during the annual town meeting municipal referendum on Monday, April 27.

Currently the cap on the environmental reserve fund is $1 million. There is about $900,000 in the fund. Once the fund goes above $1 million, fees for permits are suspended for one year.

Roughly $300,000 in fees are collected each year, Environmental Control Enforcement Officer Shiloh Ring said. Fees range from $15,000 to Verso Paper’s combined fee for permits of $260,000. Permits include those for water and air quality and solid waste.

Operational expenses hover about $200,000 annually, include the code enforcement office, planning board, consultant fees, legal expenses and others.

The ordinance provides oversight of industries including paper mills, a power plant and a chemical plant, among other businesses.

Verso officials had requested that selectmen consider making a proposal to voters to amend the fund cap.

Right now there is a pretty good relationship between the permit holders and the town, Ring said.

“I think we could go to $800,000 without hurting ourselves,” Ring said.

If the amount is not enough, Ring said, they could always go back to selectmen and voters to ask that it be increased.

Planning Board Chairman Delance White agreed with the cap and that it could be changed in the future.