Two of the three Alna selectmen threatened to resign due to action taken regarding the town’s snowplow contract at a special town meeting Monday, Aug. 25.
Voters directed the selectmen to accept an offer solicited from Hanley Construction Inc., of Bristol, by Alna Fire Chief Mike Trask instead of honoring the selectmen’s commitment to contract with Hagar Enterprises Inc., of Damariscotta.
The Hanley Construction Inc. offer had not been brought before the selectmen before the meeting.
The selectmen called the special town meeting to raise $15,000 to cover the cost of a new snowplowing contract beyond the figure in the town budget. The selectmen also sought to raise an additional $5,000 for sand and salt costs, for a total request of $20,000.
For the past five years, Hanley Construction has plowed Alna roads. This past May, Mark Hanley proposed a $7,000 or approximately 3 percent increase in the contract. The selectmen asked Hanley to come to a selectmen’s meeting to discuss the increase.
According to the selectmen, Hanley told them to put the contract out to bid and retracted his proposal. The selectmen solicited bids and received one, from Hagar Enterprises.
Hagar bid $161,000 for the first year of the contract, about $30,000 more than the voters had approved for snowplowing at their town meeting in March.
The selectmen accepted the bid and called the special town meeting to raise the money necessary to cover the first year of the contract.
Chris Cooper was elected moderator of the one-hour meeting. The single article on the warrant, was clearly opposed by an overwhelming majority of the voters.
The article asked the voters, “To see what sum the town will vote to raise and appropriate for the purpose of snowplowing and purchasing of sand and salt for the 2014-2015 fiscal year in addition to the amount raised at the March 22, 2014 annual town meeting, selectmen recommend $20,000.”
First Selectman David Abbott moved the article as read and the motion received a second.
Alna resident Ralph Hilton moved to amend the article to raise and appropriate $0. After a brief discussion, the amendment passed 22-4.
Trask moved to amend the article for a second time to instruct the selectmen to accept a proposal from Hanley for a three-year contract, which was about a $27,000 difference from Hagar’s three-year contract, and to allow the first selectman to raise the sum of money necessary to cover the first year of the contract.
Second Selectman Jonathan Villeneuve told the voters the selectmen had entered into a verbal contract with Hagar Enterprises. He also questioned the legality of the amendment.
Cooper, the moderator, said the only concern he had about the amendment was the amount of money was not specified, and that could produce a problem in the final outcome. Cooper did rule the amendment was legal for the town meeting.
“I will resign over this amendment, I think it is illegal,” Third Selectman David Reingardt said. “A verbal agreement, which we made, if broken, could create a lawsuit for the town. I will be Mr. Hagar’s number one witness if this happens. This is monkey business. The savings in Hanley’s contract will be less than what it will cost the town in legal fees.”
First Selectman David Abbott told the voters that Hagar was the sole bidder for the snowplow contract and Hanley did not bid. “It just isn’t fair to accept a lower offer now, after Hagar’s numbers are out,” Abbott said. “It just isn’t the right thing to do.”
Each selectman commented on the excellent work Hanley had done for the town during the past five years, and said they wished he had bid.
After a lengthy discussion, the amendment passed 24-4, and the original motion, as amended twice, passed with a 17-4 vote.
After the meeting, Villeneuve declined to confirm whether he would resign. “You will have to wait until the next selectmen’s meeting to find out,” he said.
Hagar Enterprises Inc. Vice President Seth Hagar said the company would wait to see what the town will do.
“At this point in time, we are not going to do anything,” Hagar said. “We are reserving comment to allow the selectmen to work through their process. We have no desire to be a hostile participant in any way, shape, or form.”
