JAY — The Select Board will spend $5,000 as part of a joint effort with Livermore and Livermore Falls to determine the value of four hydroelectric facilities owned by Eagle Creek Renewable Energy.

Two of the facilities are in Jay, while the other two are located in Livermore and Livermore Falls. Both of the latter towns’ Select Boards will also consider next week spending $5,000 to join Jay in working with Sansoucy Associates of Lancaster, N.H., on the valuation of the facilities.

Jay Town manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Thursday she estimates the most recent valuation of the four facilities was over $50 million.

All four were purchased by Eagle Creek from Verso Corp. in 2016 for nearly $62 million. The New Jersey-based company then filed tax abatement applications in early 2018, claiming the combined valuations should be reduced to $27.36 million.

Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls responded by hiring both legal counsel and an industry expert to review the valuations. Eagle Creek later withdrew the applications.

In 2018, LaFreniere said the assessing agent for all three towns, Paul Binette of John O’Donnell & Associates in New Gloucester, had worked on creating a fair and equitable assessment because the facilities straddle the three town lines.

Ontario Power Generation announced on Aug. 9, 2018, that it had entered into a purchase and sale agreement with affiliates of Hudson Clean Energy Partners and other shareholders to acquire 100 percent of the equity of Eagle Creek Renewable Energy LLC, according to Ontario Power’s website.

LaFreniere told selectpersons that based on changes in the energy industry, as well as the financial performance of the individual facilities, “we are proposing to jointly work with Sansoucy again to update the valuation prior to the August commitment of the tax assessment.”

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