JAY — The Select Board voted unanimously Monday to put a request for in-kind work from the public works crew to help rebuild Regional School Unit 73 tennis courts to voters at the annual Town Meeting on April 26.

Livermore and Livermore Falls boards will take up the request for a total estimated cost of $27,202.35 in work at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at their respective town offices.

All three boards are being asked to commit to doing the work on the courts that have not been used in at least 10 years due to large cracks and are beyond resurfacing.

Deb Roberts of Livermore,  president of the Hollandstrong Community Foundation, made the request to the board. She created the foundation in memory of her son, Michael Holland, a Merchant Marine and 2008 Jay High School graduate who died when the SS El Faro sank on Oct. 1, 2015, near the Bahamas.

RSU 73 would be eligible for the grant, Roberts said, and the foundation is collaborating with RSU 73 on it. It has received tentative approval for the 50/50 matching grant from the state Bureau of Parks and Lands Water Conservation Fund. They are working on getting in-kind matches, so the grant application could move to the national level, she said.

The estimated cost of the project is $409,334; a commitment of $200,000 for in-kind work is needed for the match, she said.

The vendor work would have to go out to bid because it is a federal project, she said.

The rebuild project includes removing old lights and the old tar, and bringing in new material for the courts.

The $27,000 would be shared between the three towns that make up RSU 73, she said.

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said a representative of Livermore asked Maine Municipal Association if the town could spend money on someone else’s property. The district is public property, she said. It was recommended that it go before the legislative body, which is the voters, she said.

Selectperson Chairman Terry Bergeron thanked Roberts for all she has been doing for the community.

The foundation has also given scholarships to students, Roberts said.

“In my mind, I think it is good for RSU 73. I think it is great for the young and old,” he said. “We have a tennis team.”

Vice Chairman Tim DeMillo said it would be good to bring the tennis courts back.

The courts previously belonged to the town when there was a Jay School Department. The ownership changed with Regional School Unit 36 became RSU 73 on July 1, 2011.

Jay’s public works crew could do the work on off days as well as remove old material and bring in new material before the contractor gets there, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said.

As long as there is flexibility and it could be done over an extended period of time, she said.

The project would not be expected to begin, if it gets approval, until next year.

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