Alna selectmen

Wed, 06/23/2021 - 05:54 pm

SUSAN JOHNS

Then-Alna Town Clerk Lisa Arsenault, far left, takes part in a July 2016 selectmen’s meeting with then-Second Selectman Melissa Spinney, then-First Selectman David Abbott and then-Third Selectman Doug Baston at the then-town office. File photo

Former Alna town clerk Lisa Arsenault is back in the job. Selectmen announced the hire over Zoom June 23.

Clerk Sheila McCarty resigned in February. Second Selectman Linda Kristan said, while Arsenault has been interim clerk this spring, the town office has had good community spirit. “They support each other, they nurture each other and they’re always upbeat and positive.”

“I think she’s fantastic,” Third Selectman Charles Culbertson said of Arsenault. “And she’s excited to go gangbusters on this full-time.”

“You’re in,” Kristan told her after the 2-0 vote. Arsenault will be clerk, tax collector and registrar of voters. She was town clerk a few years in the 1990s and again from February 2016 to June 2017.

Kristan praised town treasurer Amy Stockford for being the first interim clerk after McCarty resigned. Kristan recalled Stockford “multitasking wonderfully, as she does with everything ...”

Responding to emailed questions, Arsenault said June 24, “I'm quite happy to be back serving the town and working with these amazing ladies. With Linda (Verney) and Lynette (Eastman) as deputies and Amy as treasurer, I couldn't refuse the job. They've made it very easy to re-learn everything and have made me feel right at home at the office.

“The selectboard has also been very welcoming – as have all the townspeople,” Arsenault continued. “I'm happy to have a job that is both interesting and conveniently close to home, and where I get to chat with so many nice people. My goal is basically to keep learning as much as I can so I can do the job as efficiently as possible.”

Also June 23, the board and attendees discussed how to pursue a look at the town rule that accessory apartments’ occupants must be extended family of, or a caregiver to, occupants of the principal unit. Culbertson said the board was considering asking the planning board to set a meeting or two to gather public input, with help from Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission (LCRPC).

In a letter Culbertson read aloud, Planning Board Chair Jim Amaral said if LD 1312, “An act to remove barriers to accessory dwelling units and allow (them) where single-family houses are allowed,” becomes state law, that could help inform a proposed ordinance change. Past planning board chair Jeff Spinney and some other residents questioned if the bill resolves the issue being raised in Alna. It might, resident Cathy Johnson said.

Some speakers suggested a town survey and supported selectmen’s idea to involve LCRPC.

Amaral’s letter recommended the public input be sought after the planning board and town attorney have drafted options. Amaral wrote, town discourse has become “polarized” over land use issues, and opening the ordinance up to a comprehensive review now might “engender more divisive and corrosive dialogue.”

Kristan concurred with Amaral on the need to see the state bill’s outcome. She disagreed with him on when to hold the proposed sessions for public comment. She said the planning board is a small group, and the public should weigh in before an amendment is drafted.

“I’m a data-driven person ... and I really want to hear what the town has to say about this,” Culbertson said.

In another letter Culbertson read aloud, past selectman and past planning board chair Doug Baston said the town tries to have a planning board that “represents a microcosm of the views in the community.”

Selectmen tabled a decision on how to proceed. An ordinance change would take a town vote.

In response to questions from resident Beth Whitney, selectmen said they might set a summer or fall election for a first selectman, and in-person meetings would likely return in July.