The Maine Military Authority notified employees Thursday about the possibility of layoffs as soon as Oct. 21.

The announcement came several weeks after the state revealed it had seriously underbid a $19 million contract to refurbish buses for a Massachusetts transportation agency.

Maine officials will meet Tuesday with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to see if they can make changes in the deal to refurbish the interiors and overhaul the engines and transmissions of 32 articulated buses. Articulated buses are longer than typical buses, with a joint in the middle, often covered by a rubber pleat, that allows the vehicles to get around tight city corners.

Brig. Gen. Douglas Farnham said this week that the MMA has finished 11 of the buses and workers are still overhauling others. He said the authority won’t accept delivery of any of the other buses to be refurbished until the agency meets with MBTA officials. Farnham – who is also commissioner of the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management – oversees the MMA, a business set up by the state to boost employment at the former Loring AFB in Limestone.

Gov. Paul LePage’s office announced the underbidding problem with the bus contract on Sept. 23, saying the situation could put as many as 50 jobs at risk and cost taxpayers money.

Send questions/comments to the editors.