New values for Central Maine Power’s land in Alna have added to the tax windfall the town is projecting from increased values for CMP’s equipment. As a result of all the recommendations from assessing contractor William Van Tuinen, the poles and lines, along with the land, will cost CMP about $122,000 a year more in taxes than it has been paying, selectmen said.

An earlier projection of a $112,447 increase in CMP’s tax bills starting this year did not include Van Tuinen’s proposed hike in land values. Those raise the projection by about $10,000, selectmen said. The hike in taxes for the land is coffee money for the town compared to the taxes from the equipment’s new value, Third Selectman Doug Baston said.

The hike for CMP’s land and equipment grows the town’s tax base enough to lower property owners’ tax burdens by two dollars for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, or about $400 a year on a $200,000 home, selectmen said. However, they cautioned that this year’s tax bills may drop less than that: Regional School Unit 12’s bill to Alna is dropping, but small hikes in county and town costs could offset part of the gain from the new CMP values, they said.

Selectmen told Town Clerk Amy Warner to go ahead with having the town’s regular assessing firm, John O’Donnell & Associates of New Gloucester, use Van Tuinen’s figures for CMP’s valuation. The board held off on approving the values July 29 when it was still unclear if the figures included the land values.

Board members expressed confidence in Van Tuinen’s work. When his figures have been challenged, he has a good track record for making them stick, selectmen said.

A CMP spokesman said recently that the company will be reviewing the new assessment in Alna.

Board plans letter

Selectmen decided to send resident Lisa Packard a letter giving her until Nov. 1 to work off the rest of her shoreland fine. In January, the board fined Packard $1,000 for shoreland violations after a man began building a tree house on her property at 91 Dock Road; the man had also been staying in a cabin there. A court order involving a prior owner of the property barred the cabin from being lived in. Packard has said she didn’t know about the court order, or that a tree house wasn’t allowed near the river.

Packard paid the $500 cash portion of the fine in April. Officials had agreed in January that she could work off the other $500. Most of that is still owed, Warner said.

The letter will inform Packard that she will have to pay whatever portion of the fine she does not work off, selectmen said.

Packard did not immediately return a message from the Wiscasset Newspaper.

Spirit of America

The board picked the Alna Snowmobile Club to get the next annual Spirit of America award for volunteerism. The club maintains local trails and encourages their use by hikers as well as snowmobilers, selectmen said; and the club in recent years cleaned up an illegal dump of tires and other debris on Rabbit Path Road.

Board members briefly questioned their choice of the club because all three belong to it, along with Warner, who also supported the choice. They discussed whether or not it might be a conflict of interest on their part. But Baston said for a conflict, they would have to gain something from the decision. The club would get a certificate from the Spirit of America organization at a ceremony, and nothing more, he said.