Alna town meeting voters March 29 are set to consider accepting from the estate of Richard Plunkett the late 1800s general store opposite Head Tide Dam. For Plunkett, who died at home in Boothbay last November at 86, buying the place fulfilled a longtime dream to own it, according to Wiscasset Newspaper files.

And now the town can, if it chooses. Selectmen honed the question and the rest of the town meeting warrant March 13. Second Selectman Steven Graham said, according to Maine Municipal Association, the town vote on the 45 Head Tide Road property does not make the town the owner. The deed would still need to be negotiated, if the town agrees to accept the property, he said. “Thère doesn’t seem to be any reason not to.”

Cut from the March 29 question were a clause that would have specified the site be “a cultural center or museum and a shop,” and a clause on legal fees.

Plunkett made the building The Wizard of Odds and Ends shop and had open houses with an arts component. Resident Beth Whitney noted the building's upstairs used to be a dance hall long ago. She asked selectmen what the plan is for making a plan, on what to do with the building. 

“We’ll talk about that if it passes (at) town meeting,” First Selectman Nick Johnston said.

Elections are March 28 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The open portion of town meeting is at 10 a.m. March 29. Both are at the firehouse. 

Also March 13, Graham said costs are up on the planned replacement of the Egypt Road bridge, and the state is seeing if it can increase the town’s grant for the project. The town will not have to pay more than was planned, and may end up paying less, he said. 

And Ed Pentaleri of the roads committee shared its recommendations. The committee which has worked more than two years, including consulting the road commissioner and walking the town’s roads for an inventory, recommends yearly work like grading, ditching and pothole repair, and “non-recurring” work like culvert replacement and big repaving projects.

The committee recommends spending $139,760 in 2025, compared to $109,444 in 2024; and spending $162,500 in 2026; $111,500 in 2027; and $84,500 in 2028.

Pentaleri said the recommendations represent a significant investment over several years. “We think that making this investment is going to minimize the overall cost to taxpayers because it’s far less expensive to maintain roads that are in good health than it is to repave and rebuild roads that have been poorly maintained,” or not maintained, he said.

Meeting participants praised the committee's work. Third Selectman Coreysha Stone said she was grateful for it, because roads are one of a town's most valuable assets and the recommendations reflect the importance of care for all roads, not just those in the worst shape.

The best roads, like ones that have already had a major project such as Cross Road did, should still be a priority “because they’re holding their value,” Stone said.