Alna selectmen are reiterating their stance to the Head Tide Dam Committee: Propose nothing that will take out or substantially change the dam.

The board’s email to the committee on Monday cites selectmen’s unanimous concern about concepts a consultant showed the dam panel Dec. 8. They are not feasible because a deed bars the town from destroying the dam, the email states.

Selectmen also remind the committee that its charter is up Dec. 31.  “(If) the Committee wishes to continue its investigation, we would be happy to discuss ... extending the charter ... with modifications to reflect our current ... knowledge and restricted choices.”

Selectmen earlier this year agreed that the committee could meet through December, and report back to the board no later than January 2016, Baston said in a telephone interview Monday.

Committee members on Dec. 8 said much work remained before making any proposal. In an email response Monday to the selectmen’s new email, committee member Cathy Johnson writes: “I urge you to allow the committee to continue its work, to share the information we have gathered, to hear the thoughts and ideas of residents who have not attended the meetings, and to see if there is a path forward that will better preserve the history of the site, and improve fish passage and recreation use of the site.”

Until last week’s meeting, selectmen had hoped a way would be found to aid fish passage but still follow the deed, Monday’s email to the committee states.

“We were disappointed that a least obtrusive option of lowering the left and right passages to bedrock did not appear to positively impact fish passage,” it continues. A consultant presented one option that would remove a third of the spillway between the dam’s abutments, and another option to take out two-thirds of the spillway.

After that meeting, selectmen sought an opinion from Maine Municipal Association. Without a court judgment or a written release from the former owners’ heirs, taking out the dam or substantially altering it could risk liability and other costs, along with embarrassment and ill will, Richard P. Flewelling, assistant director of MMA’s
legal services department, writes.

 “It appears that options going forward are at least as limited as the three of us have always believed; perhaps more so ...,” selectmen tell the dam panel. “We would be happy to meet with you to discuss this further, and to jointly decide if there is a path forward.  We certainly thank you for all your hard work and dedication to date.”

The panel always knew about the deed restriction, but the time to address it had not come, according to Johnson’s email and a telephone interview Monday with Atlantic Salmon Federation’s vice president of U.S. programs, Andy Goode. The federation is aiding the committee.

“(It) makes no sense to pursue a court opinion ... unless there is some level of town agreement regarding what changes might be made to the dam site. That is the spirit in which I have participated in the committee,” Johnson writes.

“We didn’t want to be presumptuous,” Goode said about legal steps. He saw no surprises in the selectmen’s email. Based on its reference to the charter expiring at the end of the month, Goode said it sounds like there will likely need to be some discussion.

He would like to keep working toward a potential project for the town to consider. “I think everyone wants a win-win solution. I don’t know where that is, or if there is one,” Goode said.