The new year stands to bring Alna its new town clerk. Selectmen agreed Dec. 28 to hire Sarah Perkins of Pittston as clerk, tax collector and registrar of voters. No start date was announced. The date will be mutually agreed on, First Selectman Ed Pentaleri said in the meeting at the town office and over Zoom.

The board also formalized Deputy Town Clerk Lynette Eastman’s appointment as interim town clerk. Michelle Cameron resigned as town clerk to become Nobleboro’s treasurer. 

Selectmen interviewed Perkins Dec. 21. “She really makes a good, strong impression,” Pentaleri said. Second Selectman Linda Kristan called Perkins very knowledgeable. “We’re pretty fortunate,” Third Selectman Charles Culbertson said.

Perkins most recently worked for Pittston and, besides about a dozen years in town jobs, has worked in banking, Pentaleri said.

Of the four people who expressed interest after Alna posted the opening on Maine Municipal Association’s (MMA) job board, Perkins and a woman who later withdrew were both well-qualified, Pentaleri said.

Also Dec. 28, selectmen set a 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 11 public hearing at the town office and over Zoom on the proposed general assistance ordinance based on a model MMA one. And the board nodded a memo of understanding between Alna Food Pantry and Lincoln County Emergency Management Agency. Pentaleri said under the agreement the pantry will, as able, give county residents food in a public health or other emergency.

Pentaleri thanked Alna EMA Director Tom McKenzie and volunteers for opening the fire station for people to go to during the pre-Christmas power outage. And Pentaleri praised the fire department and Lincoln County’s dispatch center for their handling of a fire involving a tree on a line near Head Tide Church after power was restored Christmas Eve. The effort kept the fire from spreading to the church or nearby homes, he said.

A neighbor across Sheepscot River spotted the fire, Pentaleri said.