Alna talks plowing, bridge project

Alna selectmen, other residents and the town’s plowing contractor talked again Feb. 16 about service this winter.

 

Ralph Hilton said Route 218 wasn’t plowed in a recent snowstorm. Holbrook Excavation owner Evan Holbrook blamed an equipment breakdown and judgment calls that “enhanced” the delay. “We got to the bottom of it, and I assure you that won’t happen again.”

 

Holbrook also said he has begun having an employee do followup work on the roads between storms and sand if needed. “So it’s starting to work out good with him doing that.” First Selectman Ed Pentaleri said that sounded like a constructive idea. He said the same of Chris Cooper’s suggestions the road commissioner or selectmen go out and look for problems. “That is a great idea,” Second Selectman Charles Culbertson said.

 

“The more people with the authority to make things happen, that see the problems before they become bigger, the better off we’ll be,” Cooper said.

 

The board approved up to another $2,500 for Calderwood Engineering’s work on the Egypt Road Bridge project. The earlier quote was $13,918, Pentaleri said. “Once that (permitting) work is complete, we’ll be in our best position to pursue grant funding to pay for the bridge replacement.”

 

Selectmen kept their masking and remote attendance policies and passed a public comment policy. Someone who wants to speak is to raise their hand and, when the chair calls on them, give their full name. The policy calls for keeping comments respectful and, if on an agenda item, relevant. View the policies at alna.maine.gov

 

Selectmen will keep studying how the town is allowed to spend its American Rescue Plan Act funds. The town has received $38,761 of the $77,522 it has coming, with the rest expected within the next year, Pentaleri said. The town has until 2024 to spend it, he said.