A day before Alna elects a first selectman for a term that ends in March, selectmen Monday set a Friday, March 25 election for that seat’s next term. According to Monday’s meeting and a town email that followed, that term’s length depends on the results of a referendum voters also face Dec. 14. The ballot question seeks, in part, to re-stagger selectmen’s terms.

Selectmen said they called Monday’s special meeting to set the March elections for road commissioner and first selectman after getting advice from Maine Municipal Association. Third Selectman Charles Culbertson said MMA said state law requires nomination papers be available 40 days before they are due, and that they be due 60 days before the election.

Nomination papers will be available Wednesday, Dec. 15 and are due back to the town clerk at the town office by Monday, Jan. 24, from 10 a.m. to noon, the email stated.

Past selectman Ed Pentaleri is the lone candidate on Tuesday’s ballot for the first selectman’s seat Melissa Spinney resigned from last spring. If voters pass a proposal Tuesday, the next term would be for three years instead of the traditional two. Polls are open at the fire station from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.