Water boil in part of Jay

In a project update by Jay Operations Manager Eric Seib Monday night, the electrical bid for the Jay Livestock Market was below $10,000, and roofing bids are due by today, June 20, and the roofing job should take about three weeks to complete, according to Jay Mayor Shon Owens.

“We had an electrical contractor give us an informal cost of what the job could be done for and because it was below $10,000, we do not have to bid it out,” said Seib. “We accepted that bid.”

Seib said that once power is run into the building, the HVAC system could be evaluated. He said that the auction barn will be rekeyed and cleaning can begin when the power is connected.

Seib met with a representative from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) June 11 to set the agreed upon final product of the Livestock Market Project. The deadline to finish is August 31, 2019.

Water hydrant replacement

As part of water infrastructure improvements, the town of Jay issued this statement:

Residents of the Town of Jay living in the Highway 4/89 and Commerce Street area, the town has scheduled the replacement of a defective fire hydrant for the evening of Thursday, June 20, 2019. This will require an interruption of service in your area beginning at 10:00 pm on June 20 and ending approximately 2 am June 21, 2019.

Town officials, as a precaution, advises that all water used for drinking, cooking, making ice, brushing teeth, or washing dishes be boiled. A rolling boil of one minute should be sufficient. As an alternative, bottled water may be used. This 'precautionary water boil notice' will remain in effect until the problem has been corrected and a bacterialogical survey shows that the water is safe to drink.

The Town of Jay Water department will notify you when the precautionary boil water notice is no longer in effect.

For more information, contact Alicia Jernigan at the Town of Jay at 850-675-4556.

Two compliant water samples done between Thursday night at midnight and Saturday morning are required to lift the precautionary boil notice.

Expansion of town limits

There has been on-going discussion about expanding the limits of Jay in the past and Jay Attorney Steve Cozart told the council that if the population is 1,500 or more, the town could become incorporated.

“The next step is that we need to consider is analyzing different areas to reconfigure to get to the greatest population density and then sit down with landowners to discuss the possibilities,” said Seib.

The council decided to table the issue until a later date.

The next council meeting will be at 6 p.m., Monday, July 1, at Jay Town Hall.