JAY — The Select Board voted Monday to allow the Police Department and the Fire Rescue Department to swap a truck and a storage container to the other department.

The Jay Select Board approved on Monday an equipment swap between the Police Department and the Fire Rescue Department. The swap trades a police pickup truck for a Fire Rescue Department storage container. The 2008 Chevrolet Silverado was purchased through a federal surplus program. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal

The Police Department has a 2008 Chevrolet Silverado truck that has been used by several of the officers for the past couple of years.  Now it is used mainly to transport gear to and from the shooting range off East Jay Road.

The Fire Rescue Department has a shipping container that was bought for training purposes but does not meet the needs of the department.

Police Chief Joseph Sage and Fire Rescue Chief Mike Booker met with a couple of selectpersons and Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere recently to discuss the trade and how it would work.

The departments requested permission on Monday from the board to swap items between the departments.

The shipping container will be put at the Police Department’s shooting range to store their target stands and other equipment for use at the range. The container will be locked. No weapons or ammunition would be stored there, according to information LaFreniere provided to the board.

The Fire Rescue Department would house the pickup truck at Station 2 at 118 Main St. The truck would be used to respond to calls that don’t need the larger trucks, such as calls for trees down or other road hazards that require minimal equipment.

“It’s nice you are all working together to utilize the town’s resources,” Selectperson Lee Ann Delassandro said

In other business, the board voted to accept a Risk Reduction grant from Maine Municipal Association Risk Management Services for $1,240.83 to buy an eight-camera security system for the Transfer Station.

The grant will cover 100% of the cost but cannot exceed $1,240.83.

The grant must be used by Oct. 1, 2025.

Selectpersons also decided to split the remaining $23,793.08 of American Rescue Plan Act funds between projects at the Public Works Department and Municipal Building. The board had approved but not funded the two projects. The money will go toward the $31,200 to repair the back wall at the town’s sand and salt shed at the Public Works Department. The rest of the money will go to help pay for the new flooring at the Municipal Office. The cost is $27,801.47.

The Public Works Reserve account has $96,735 in in it. The town budgets $20,000 annually to go into the reserve. The Administration Reserve account has $96,688.07, with $5,000 budgeted to go into the reserve annually, according to LaFreniere’s information.

Now that the board split the remaining funds between the two departments, all ARPA funds have been obligated, LaFreniere said.

The town received $489,652.70 in funds from the federal government.

The board’s intention throughout choosing projects was to save the taxpayers’ money, board Chairman Terry Bergeron said.