JAY — Thursday, July 23, Regional School Unit 73 moved forward on the tennis court project, hired staff and approved a snowplowing contract for the district.

Directors gave Superintendent Scott Albert authority to apply for a $104,500 Land Conservation grant to update the tennis courts. Hollandstrong began work last summer on the courts located near the Spruce Mountain Elementary School in Jay.

In January, directors assumed responsibility for the courts. When Hollandstrong started work on the courts, it was learned that the courts and the piece of property, which were given to the district by the Town of Jay, were funded by a grant through the Bureau of Forestry and Public Lands. No one currently in the Jay town office or the district were there in 1976 or 1979 when the grant was obtained.

Grant monies, if approved, would go towards complete removal of the old obsolete tennis courts and the installation of three new tennis courts in the same location, Albert said in an email Friday.

Grant applications are due July 31, and a review is expected in September, athletic director Marc Keller said Thursday.

“We would start construction next summer,” he said.

Alicia Lemar was hired as a guidance counselor at Spruce Mountain High School. Lemar, who lives in Gardiner, got her masters in clinical social work from the University of New England. She has worked for RSU 4 and the Vinalhaven school departments, Superintendent Scott Albert said.

Nicholas Chouinard, from Bucksport, was hired as a science/math teacher at Spruce Mountain Middle School. He got his bachelors degree from the University of Maine at Orono in secondary education. He has taught at the Sanborn Regional Middle School in New Hampshire, Albert said.

A two-year snowplowing/sanding contract with Jean Castonguay Logging and Excavation of Livermore Falls was approved. In 2020-21, $96,000 will be paid while $96,500 will be paid in 2021-22.