The path toward an Alna town office move to the fire station is getting longer. An addition to the station would take an architect to plan, Fire Chief Mike Trask said.

Also, town officials said they would need to figure out if the addition would make the best town office space or replace fire department space that the town office would take over.

Early talks had focused on the town office moving from its current setup, in a former home on Route 218, into the lower floor of the fire station across the road. But at selectmen’s Nov. 18 meeting, Town Clerk Amy Warner said if the town office took the new space instead, the station’s washer-dryer, meeting space and other uses the fire department has downstairs could stay put.

“That is something we could look at,” Third Selectman Doug Baston said.

The ultimate decision will come down to which option costs the least, works best and passes muster with voters, selectmen said. Talk of March 2016 town meeting votes to fund the move and sell the town office building shifted to possible March votes asking if residents want the board to explore the move and how much the town will pay for design work. Other votes to fund the addition and sell the town office could come later, either in March 2017 or in special town meeting votes later in 2016, board members said.

Baston said he usually doesn’t like special town meetings; however, ones over big money questions could get good turnouts, he said.

To replace the downstairs space the fire department now uses, the addition would need to run 1,173 square feet, Trask said. “That’s what we’re using now,” he told the board. “I didn’t try to pad it any.”

No cost estimates came out of the discussion. Trask recommended having an architect determine whether to distribute the square footage over one floor or two; and where to put the addition given the lay of the land.

Baston asked if the department’s storage shed could be moved to make room for the addition. Trask rejected the idea.

Building the addition and selling the town office and two of its 12 acres could take two or three years, First Selectman David Abbott said. “The fact that we’re getting started is something.” The votes in March will reveal whether residents support the move, he said.

“They might say no, and then that would be it,” Abbott said.

Selectmen said they would like to view the station’s lower floor; they also discussed possibly asking local real estate agent Peter Christine how much the town office and two acres might sell for. Board members have supported keeping 10 acres for possible future use.

Residents respond to codes issues

Judith Fossel tells Alna Code Enforcement Officer Stan Waltz in a Nov. 11 letter, she looks forward to an apology over a recent business permit issue regarding her Alna Road property.

Waltz doesn’t owe Fossel an apology, selectmen owe Waltz an apology for his having to deal with people with the attitude Fossel’s letter demonstrates, selectmen said Nov. 18.

Board members said they should apologize to Waltz the next time they see him.

In a Nov. 4 letter, Waltz tells Fossel she is in violation of the town’s ordinances; she was asked more than once to get a $10 business use permit, and would face a possible penalty if she did not apply by Nov. 16, the letter states.

According to Fossel’s business permit application, the town received her $10 payment Nov. 10.

Fossel’s Nov. 11 response to Waltz states she had received only one prior letter about the permit, and that the tone of his Nov. 4 letter appalled her.

She pays nearly $13,000 a year in property taxes and hopes that the ridiculousness of the $10 permit fee is not lost on Waltz or the board, the letter states.

Fossel’s letter goes on to state that the lovely, friendly town Alna once was, where residents used to take a school bus together to dinner, is long gone. If Alna’s taxes were lower, she wouldn’t have to rent out her property to pay them, Fossel adds.

“I simply do not understand being harangued like this over a $10 fee (which) will apparently make or break the town,” the letter continues.

Warner told selectmen that two letters were sent to Fossel, one certified in case there was a problem with the mail.

Abbott called Fossel’s letter fairly scathing. “Fairly?” Baston said.

The permits protect businesses by grandfathering them from rule changes, Baston said. He didn’t recall anyone objecting like Fossel did, in his 20 years as planning board chairman, he added. The planning board reviews business permit requests.

Reached after the selectmen’s meeting, Fossel said she was not surprised that the board would defend a town officer. When someone pays their property taxes in full and on time for 35 years and then faces a penalty over over a $10 fee, she said, “What have we come to?”

In another codes matter, selectmen suspended a Dec. 4 deadline that Waltz gave Clinton Rankin to address issues with Rankin’s Dock Road property. Waltz’ Nov. 6 letter to Rankin cites setback and other issues; on Nov. 18, Kysten Wallace told selectmen that he stays part of the year in a camper on the property, helping out in many ways but not paying rent. Based on Wallace’s statements on some of the issues Waltz’s letter raises, the board decided to suspend the deadline and talk with Waltz again about the property.

Also Nov. 18, the board agreed to hire McCormick’s Midcoast Electric of Alna to install a new fan and lighting at the salt and sand shed for an estimated $2,115.