Alna seals deal with Damariscotta firm
Alna Third Selectman David Reingardt, left, and Seth Hagar, co-owner of Hagar Enterprises of Damariscotta, take part in a Sept. 24 meeting at the Alna town office. Selectmen and Hagar signed a contract for the firm to plow the town’s roads. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
Alna Third Selectman David Reingardt, left, and Seth Hagar, co-owner of Hagar Enterprises of Damariscotta, take part in a Sept. 24 meeting at the Alna town office. Selectmen and Hagar signed a contract for the firm to plow the town’s roads. SUSAN JOHNS/Wiscasset Newspaper
It can snow now in Alna.
However soon, or late, the flakes start falling on Wiscasset’s neighbor to the north, the plow blades of Hagar Enterprises of Damariscotta will be along to clear the roads.
It was a long road to get there, about four months since Alna selectmen began work to find a new contractor after they said Mark Hanley declined to renew his contract.
The board spent evenings on what they would request of their next contractor; then got just one bid — Hagar’s.
They agreed to award the firm the contract, and shook hands with one of its owners, Seth Hagar.
Voters at an Aug. 25 special town meeting called on selectmen to hire Hanley instead. But after a Maine Municipal Association lawyer said the vote veered too far from a funding question the selectmen had posed, the board resumed contract talks with Hagar.
“This is exciting. This is ... a couple of months’ culmination of meetings and drama,” Town Clerk Amy Warner said Sept. 24, as board members and Hagar signed the contract at the town office. “It’s nice to have it over (and) know that we’re going to be plowed the first storm of the year.”
The firm gave the town some breaks, including putting off any payments until January 2015, well into the plowing season. The contract runs for three years, at $189,271 for year one; $195,071 for year two; and $200,871 for year three. However, the second and third years depend on voter approval that selectmen plan to seek for it and other multi-year contracts at the March 2015 town meeting.
“I understand the risk,” Hagar said about the possibility voters could go against selectmen’s request. He supported the board’s plan to bundle the plowing deal and the ones with other contractors, for mowing and auditing, into a single question for the town meeting vote.
“We went into this with an open mind,” Hagar said in an interview. “We respected the fact the town had to go through its process, and it’s worked out great. So we look forward to a new business relationship and hope to give them the service that they want.
“We’ll be here hopefully for a long time.”
Related:
Alna plows ahead toward next contract
Alna plans town vote on plowing
Handshake deal goes south in Alna; two selectmen speak of resigning
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