Six years after Alna moved from Wiscasset Ambulance Service to Central Lincoln County (CLC) Ambulance, voters will decide anew. At the annual town meeting at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 26 at the fire station, residents face CLC’s $36,371 a year request, up from last year’s $5,500, versus Wiscasset’s $17,881 proposal.

First Selectman Ed Pentaleri said since CLC runs on a calendar year, if the town goes with Wiscasset, ambulance service this year would cost $25,534, including paying CLC for the first part of 2022.

Pentaleri said he has heard no complaints on CLC’s service. He sought an offer from Wiscasset. “My thinking was that (voters) should be presented with options at town meeting, where I expect the decision to be made,” Pentaleri said in a text response Feb. 25.

Wiscasset Town Manager Dennis Simmons told Wiscasset selectmen March 1, WAS does not have a staffing problem it had when it last had Alna’s contract. Having Alna back would fit with Wiscasset’s efforts to work more with its neighbor towns, he said. Alna already uses the transfer station and community center, he noted. “For the betterment of everyone, let’s try to work together.”

CLC Service Chief Nicholas Bryant told Alna selectmen March 2, 91% of CLC’s budget hike from about $1.2 million to about $1.6 million is in payroll.

Costs are up; revenue is not, Bryant said. “(So) it then falls to the taxpayer ... It’s a hard pill to swallow, nobody’s trying to sugarcoat that. But it’s the only way to pay (workers) more.” People are leaving the line of work and no one is joining it, he said.

Also Saturday, Alna voters will consider hundreds of thousands of dollars of work on Cross Road; paying selectmen $3,665 each instead of last year’s $6,785 for first selectman and $2,105 each for the second and third selectmen; and will look at Ralph Hilton’s proposed recall ordinance and selectmen’s version. Hilton’s proposes an elected official’s removal in a recall election take a majority vote; selectmen’s version, a 65% majority.

Friday, March 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the station, polls are open for two elections. Pentaleri and Road Commissioner Jeff Verney are unopposed on the ballot.

Pentaleri on March 16 praised resident Jon Luoma’s painting that appears on the cover of the annual town report. View the report, town meeting warrant and recall ordinance proposals at alna.maine.gov