Alna’s ongoing $522,000 six-road repair project may not be completed on budget, according to Alna Road Commissioner Mike Trask.
Trask, speaking at the Alna Board of Selectmen’s regular meeting Sept. 15, said that as of that day, the project had used 200 tons of asphalt more than anticipated.
Major repairs are currently being performed on six Alna roads: Egypt, Lothrop, Bailey, Rabbit Path, Dock and Golden Ridge roads.
Trask said that Golden Ridge Road will not be fully paved if the repair project reaches its $522,000 budget limit before work is completed. The project is funded by a loan Alna received to repair roads around the town.
Trask and the selectmen discussed allocating additional funds to complete the project, even calling a special meeting on Sept. 19 to discuss the issue, but ultimately decided against it and cancelled the special meeting.
“We’re going to go with what we got,” Trask said.
Trask said the town does not have extra money in the roads budget to allocate to the project. Money designated for other projects would not be shifted over.
Trask had previously suggested shifting funds originally designated for surfacing and ditching work on Lothrop Road. He had initially estimated overage costs of $10,000.
Debate Sept. 15 revolved around whether the town should break its promise to not spend more than the loan amount.
Selectmen John Villeneuve expressed reservations at spending more on the project. “The problem is that we’ve said for nine months that we would not go over,” Villeneuve said.
Some people present at the meeting, however, supported spending extra if it meant not having to repave the roads for another 20-30 years.
“It’d be a shame to pass that up, I think most town people would agree,” Alna Fire Department Assistant Chief Roger Whitney said.
Despite the chance that the entire project may not be completed, reports on the quality of the roadwork have been positive.
“We’re getting a first rate job,” said Chris Cooper, who said he toured the roads under construction, “I’ve never seen pavers so precise.”
The Board is currently deciding between switching to Advantage or having the town treasurer use QuickBooks accounting software.
Advantage Payroll Services charges a weekly fee depending on the number of checks being issued. The service also prepares annual W-2s, 941 Quarterly Returns, and other employee and tax related forms.
The Board began considering a switch to a payroll service after errors were made in the filing of FICA taxes for the town’s employees. Over the past few years, the town has on occasion paid penalties for late payment of withholding taxes, caused by a combination of human errors and electronic errors that caused payments to be filed improperly.
Villenueve said that at least $1200 had been paid in penalties in 2010. Villenueve said he would look back and determine if these errors had occurred in past years.
“I want to know if in the last few years we’ve paid ‘x’ because of ‘y’,” Villenueve said.
Former Town Treasurer Chris Cooper said QuickBooks errors resulted in a couple hundred dollars worth of penalties that he was aware of.
“During my tenure, the problem with electronic payments was consistent,” Cooper said.
The Board said they would compare the costs of QuickBooks and Advantage and make a decision at a later meeting.
