JAY — RSU 73’s new logo for its fleet of 30 school buses will have all three town names listed and the district number.

Jay, Livermore, RSU 73 and Livermore Falls will be printed on both sides of the fleet of 30 buses that will become part of the combined district as of July 1.

The entire bus fleet uses 37,500 gallons of diesel fuel, Jay school Superintendent Bob Wall said during a presentation on the bus garage concept on March 15.

“All routes will be reviewed and programmed using transportation software,” Wall said. “We have new software that will determine the shortest and best routes for students to be on for the shortest time.”

The proposal for the new Regional School Unit 73 system includes bus repairs and maintenance to be done at the Jay bus garage, located on School Bus Road, behind the Jay Elementary School. The garage is also used as a wash station for buses. The town will also continue to be able to use it as a wash station for its vehicles, if available, under the RSU 73 plan.

The garage was rebuilt after a fire in 2005 and is 8,130 square feet, Wall said. It’s approximate value is $414,224.

It has indoor storage for 10 buses including two heated bays, he said.

There is room for expansion, Wall said. The plot of land that will transfer from Jay to the new district is 294 feet wide, 1,099 feet long on one side, and 880 feet long on the other side, closest to the Jay Elementary School.

For now, the buses will be stored at the north campus in Jay and the south campus in Livermore Falls.

“We are looking at repairing are own buses,” Wall said.

That would mean having a full-time mechanic and a full-time helper, who will also drive a bus, he said. It is expected that the helper will drive three hours each day.

Start-up costs will include garage equipment and supplies and renovation to provide three additional heated work bays. A partition would need to be built and the plan is to add a waste oil heater. The oil from the buses would be used as fuel. It may not all be done in the first year of consolidation, Wall said.

There is space outside of the garage for buses to be parked, he said.

The RSU 73 Transportation and Maintenance Department for 2011-12 is proposed to have one maintenance/transportation district-wide director.

There will be people that work as assistants but it would only be for a small amount of time, Wall said.

Hours for bus drivers/custodians vary from 15 hours to 40 hours a week, Wall said. They also work days or nights.

Under the employee chart for the north campus, there would be three district-wide bus drivers, he said. There will also be 12 bus drivers who serve as custodians in Jay schools. Also included are a district-wide maintenance worker, a grounds worker, new positions of mechanic and part-time mechanic’s helper/bus driver.

At the south campus, it is proposed there will be five district-wide bus drivers including one shuttle driver, and two bus driver/custodians and one bus driver/maintenance. Also, district-wide there will be a bus driver/maintenance and grounds worker.

At the Livermore Elementary and Livermore Falls High schools there will be a collective tally of three bus driver/custodians, three night custodians/bus drivers and one night custodian. A bus driver/custodian will also work at the superintendent’s building.

A proposed 2011-12 budget that will include the bus garage concept will be presented at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 29, at the Jay Middle School.

Both Wall and RSU 73 Superintendent Sue Pratt will also present evidence to the consolidation Transition Committee on how they arrived at the concept rather than subcontracting out the service.

dperry@sunjournal.com