Should Alna have a conservation commission?

It might help land some grants for landscaping at the fire station, and similar projects around town, First Selectman David Abbott said.

Alna resident Chris Cooper made the suggestion at the board of selectmen's October 31 meeting, Abbott said.

Cooper serves on a panel the board formed in 2011, to explore uses for a tax-acquired lot on Pinkham Pond. Abbott proposed making that committee into a conservation commission; the board will look into the idea and discuss it again at an upcoming meeting, he said.

Abbott was on Alna's last conservation commission, in the 1980s; that panel didn't have much work to do, he said.

It's possible the earlier commission was never formally broken up, Abbott said. So it may turn out that all the selectmen would have to do is make new appointments to it, he said.

Egypt Road work on hold

Selectmen awarded Hanley Construction of Bristol the job of repairing the Egypt Road bridge for $39,800, with a number of conditions. For one, the work will need to wait for voters to consider funding it at the March 2014 town meeting, Abbott said.

There may not be enough money in this year's roads budget to cover the project, Abbott said. “We don't feel it's an emergency. I don't think the road's going to fall apart this winter or anything,” the selectman said in an interview November 1.

The project also needs a go-ahead from the Maine Department of Transportation, which had called for the repairs, town officials said.

Contractor Mark Hanley has agreed to stick with his bid price despite the delay in doing the work, Abbott said.

Old meetinghouse to get new roof

A contractor has also been lined up to redo the roof on the 1789 Alna Meetinghouse. Selectmen agreed to have the Readfield firm Kasie-Jo do the work for $8,100 in Committee for Alna History funds, town officials said.

A strong windstorm last winter tore off some shingles and part of the ridge cap on the building's top line. The yellow meetinghouse, set in the fields of Route 218, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or susanjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com