JAY — Surplus firefighting equipment from Jay could soon find a second life in neighboring communities after the Select Board approved a plan July 13 to sell newer air bottles and donate older bottles and air packs with limited resale value.

The decision followed interest from the Weld and Turner fire departments. Weld requested as many as nine air packs and 18 bottles to replace equipment officials said is older than Jay’s, while Turner expressed interest in obtaining spare bottles.

Rather than discard the equipment, the board agreed to recover some of the town’s investment from bottles with the most service life remaining. About 15 bottles with seven to eight years of use remaining will be offered for $150 each, while about 14 bottles with five to six years remaining for use will be priced at $75 each.

Bottles with two to three years of service life remaining will be donated along with surplus air packs. Proceeds from the sales will be deposited into the fire department capital account.

Fire officials said eight of the 22 available packs are out of service and could cost between $500 and $1,000 each to return to service, making repairs impractical for Jay. The packs may still provide usable equipment or parts for departments willing to service them.

Board members weighed whether the town should donate all of the equipment or seek payment for items with several years of remaining life. Replacement air bottles cost about $1,000 each, according to the meeting discussion, while Jay previously paid about $300 apiece for some used bottles.

The arrangement will allow Jay to clear storage space, recover part of the equipment’s value and assist smaller departments that may not have the funding to purchase new breathing apparatus. It also could keep usable public safety equipment in service rather than sending it for disposal.

Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said July 15 that no sales or transfers had been finalized.

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