JAY — Selectpersons voted 3-2 Monday to adopt a speed limit policy in response to requests from people on roads that have no posted limits.

“We’ve had three requests already for certain roads that are not posted,” Police Chief Richard Caton IV said in response to a question about whether the town needs a policy. “We want some guidelines for how we proceed with it.”

The policy, based on the one used by Bar Harbor, provides a standard method to process the requests, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said.

Chairman Terry Bergeron and Selectpersons Keith Cornelio and Judy Diaz voted for the proposed policy with some changes made to the draft while Selectpersons Thomas Goding and Tim DeMillo voted against it.

The policy acknowledges that the town does not have the authority to set speed limits on town roads. These are established through the Maine Department of Transportation and Maine State Police.

Requests to MDOT for speed limit changes may be made only through the Board of Selectpersons, according to the policy.

According to the policy, the board will review requests made by the police chief or from the “receipt of a petition by the owners of at least 50 percent of the homes and/or businesses located within the area proposed for the revised speed limit.”

The board eliminated the line, “at the request of a Board member,” from the draft and changed the percentage of signatures from 25 percent to 50 percent.

Residents requesting a speed limit change must fill out a form along with the completed petition.

The policy also calls for a public hearing to be held before the board makes the request to MDOT.

The following are the maximum rates of speeds acknowledged by the MDOT, especially if signs are not posted:

• 15 mph in school zones at specific times of day;

• 25 mph in business or residential areas or built-up portions, unless otherwise posted.

• 45 mph on all other public ways, unless otherwise posted.

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