Alna talks dam, Juniper Hill, voting

Alna is making it easier for residents to vote ahead of the Saturday, March 27 town elections and referendum town meeting. Second Selectman Doug Baston announced over Zoom Monday night, clerks are clearing their schedules so people can vote at the town office from 2 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 25 and 8 a.m. to noon Friday, March 26 “just as if it was (Election Day).”

“They’ll be able to come probably in the meeting room door, pick up an absentee ballot that looks just like a regular ballot, vote and then exit the other way,” Baston said. He said the idea stemmed from residents’ complaints and confusion over how to vote absentee.

“I’m glad the clerks are doing that,” First Selectman Melissa Spinney said.

Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit Superintendent Howard Tuttle told selectmen the district budget still has multiple unknowns including health insurance, ongoing negotiations with support staff and possible retirements. So far, Alna could see a $46,530 or 4.6% hike in its tab, Tuttle said. 

Towns vote June 8.

In a letter Baston read, selectmen praised Tuttle for being “unfailingly patient and responsive to our concerns and those of our parents” over the years and, this school year, safely keeping the schools open in the pandemic. “We just want the town to know how fortunate we are to have him.”

“That’s really nice. Thank you very much,” Tuttle said. Monday’s meeting was the last planned one as selectmen for Baston and Third Selectman Greg Shute.

Selectmen discussed seeking legal counsel for the town and planning board on shoreland issues with the Head Tide Dam site. “This whole thing has turned into such a ridiculous circus that we need an adult outside lawyer to take a look at it,” Baston said. Shute agreed. And he said removing the granite bench, which Maine Department of Environmental Protection said it did not approve, would bring the site into compliance.

With the town rules and DEP’s March 8 letter, “the bench obviously has to go,” Code Enforcement Officer Tom McKenzie said.

In another matter, McKenzie agreed to again visit Juniper Hill School in connection with a waste disposal issue. He said he does not expect to see an area of human waste. He saw no mound of it there this winter. He said when he spoke to the school’s board after he heard from the state, “I felt that (the school’s) solution ... and their saying they weren’t using (that method) anymore was good enough. We discussed how to remedy it ...”

Baston said he planned to contact State Sen. Chloe Maxmin since the selectboard had not heard back from Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin about the board’s  concerns over the monitoring of private schools.

Resident Ona Brazwell said the town needs to look at its oversight on matters, including those at Juniper Hill and the dam.

Alna’s county tax is up about $8,000 this year to $129,596, Spinney said.