JAY — Selectpersons voted 3-2 Monday not to join an initiative to develop a retail business recruitment strategy with Buxton Co. based in Forth Worth, Texas.

Chairman Terry Bergeron, Selectpersons Judy Diaz and Tom Goding voted against moving forward with the customer analytics company, while Vice Chairman Tim DeMillo and Selectperson Keith Cornelio were in favor.

Jay, Farmington, Livermore Falls and Wilton officials, along with Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of Greater Franklin Development Council, met with Buxton representatives and representatives of another company for about a year as of October.

The cost proposed was $50,000 for three years to be split among the four towns.

The group chose Buxton to meet with officials from the four towns to discuss what the company could do for the towns. Buxton Co. specializes in retail recruitment and how to strengthen and maintain businesses. It has about 3,500 clients and over 100 employees.

A joint meeting with the company was held in October.

Farmington selectmen voted in November to tentatively move forward with the proposal if two other towns joined in the venture.

Livermore Falls selectmen last week opted not to join the effort. Wilton selectpersons had not voted on the matter as of Monday.

Bergeron said he didn’t think it was a bad idea but because of what is going on in Jay, he didn’t think they could do it. They will need to look at everything to find cost savings in next year’s budget, he said.

Verso Androscoggin Mill and its associated equipment has dropped in valuation and it will continue to decrease with a November announcement that it would be shutting down a second paper machine and related equipment in the first quarter of 2017. The company is also expected to lay off about 190 employees in January.

Last year, Verso permanently eliminated 300 jobs, shut down a paper machine and pulp dryer and its groundwood operations.

Jay is also in the midst of paying back $4 million to settle a tax dispute over the valuation of the mill in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Selectpersons and the Budget Committee, along with department heads, will begin budget talks for 2017-18 in January.

The town needs manufacturing and industrial businesses or something complementary that could run off Verso, Diaz said. They need something that pays more than $7.50 an hour, she said.

It is not just the jobs a retail business would bring, Cornelio said. A retail company would need a building and that would be assessed taxes, he said.

“When you drive down Center Street in Auburn, that is retail strategy at its best,” he said. 

If three towns joined the effort, it would cost $16,667 each for three years, Bergeron said.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net