JAY – Selectmen are scheduled to discuss a request Monday to remove lights on Main Street that indicate a school zone. The board is also expected to talk about the possibility of combining Jay’s municipal and school maintenance facilities.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Community Building.

People had requested the flashing school zone traffic lights that reduce speed limits on Main Street, also Route 4, during times schoolchildren are coming to and leaving schools to 15 miles per hour.

However, Town Manager Ruth Marden said citizens have been requesting the removal of those lights since she became manager nearly two years ago. Most recently another request has been made to remove them, she said, so she put it on the agenda.

Both Highway Foreman John Johnson and school Transportation Director Sue Weston are in favor of removing the lights, Marden said.

The lights, a very controversial topic in town when Cornell Knight was town manager and Dan Soucy was police chief, were installed after citizens requested that the town put them in.

Selectmen also plan to discuss renovations to the town garage, Marden said.

There is a possibility in the future of moving the school’s vehicle maintenance operations up to the town’s garage.

If it is approved, Marden said, there could be “dramatic cost savings.” Also on the agenda is a discussion of the county’s budget, Marden said.

Selectmen’s Chairman Bill Harlow is on the County Budget Committee. He is expected to discuss a proposal for the county to cover the cost of Sexual Assault Victims Emergency Services and SeniorsPlus, rather than have individual towns contribute.

But if that happens, Marden said, more of the burden is expected to be put on Jay.

Jay, which has a billion-dollar valuation, paid more than $911,000 to cover its share of the Franklin County budget this year, Marden said.

Jay pays the most county taxes out of all the towns in the county because it has several industries, including two paper companies, a power plant, a chemical plant and a natural gas pipeline.

Jay’s share of the county budget is expected to increase next year, Marden said.

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