Alna voters will decide whether to develop a new ordinance regulating the use of fireworks at the March annual town meeting, due to a citizens petition.
The petition, with 46 signatories, was presented to the Alna Board of Selectmen Feb. 25.
The warrant article will read, “To see if the Town will direct the Planning Board, or a special representative committee appointed by the Selectmen, to develop a draft ordinance to regulate the discharge of fireworks in the Town of Alna.”
The selectmen also moved another step closer to finalizing the warrant for the March 21 annual town meeting, which they expect to complete by next week.
Alna selectmen set the general highway maintenance budget at $25,000, the same as last year; the town building maintenance budget at $10,000, double last year’s budget; and revised their snow removal budget from $163,000 to $195,071.
The snow removal warrant article was revised for the sake of simplicity, selectmen said. Rather than raise the money needed to cover payments for the fiscal year that runs from Feb. 1, 2015 to Jan. 31, 2016, selectmen decided to cover the full second year of the town’s contract with Hagar Enterprises Inc.
Selectmen decided to strike the warrant article asking for approval to carry over $7,000 earmarked for emergency medical services training. Fire Chief Mike Trask requested holding onto the funds in case new volunteers step forward.
The $7,000 will return to the town’s surplus account. Selectmen decided to hold a special town meeting to raise funds if a group of volunteers do come forward with an interest in EMS training.
Selectmen will also add a warrant article asking Alna voters whether they want to approve a reserve account to save funds for future work on North Old Sheepscot Road. Selectmen hope to raise $15,000 for the reserve account.
Alna voters will also see a new warrant article asking voters to allow selectmen to enter into multi-year contracts. The warrant article is standard procedure for other municipalities in Lincoln County, Town Clerk Amy Warner said.
The warrant article asking for voter approval of Alna’s current multi-year contracts is one of the last remaining items of business to be decided on before the town meeting. Selectmen debated whether to put the town’s current multi-year contracts into one warrant article or separate Alna’s three multi-year contracts into multiple articles.
Controversy surrounding Alna’s snow removal contract with Hagar Enterprises revealed that entering into multi-year contracts without voter approval, an established practice in Alna, was not proper procedure. The snow removal contract is Alna’s only contentious multi-year contract, selectmen said. Alna also has a three-year contract with Achorn & Sons for mowing services and a five-year contract with an auditor.
Selectmen expressed a desire to put approval of all the multi-year contracts into a single warrant article and let them either “fly or die.”
In his letter to selectmen with draft warrant article language, town attorney David Soule separated approval of the contracts into three warrant articles. Selectmen decided to table making a decision on the multi-year contract warrant article until the next meeting.
In other business, a memorandum of understanding has been developed between the town of Alna and the Atlantic Salmon Foundation. Once signed, selectmen will move forward with forming a committee to consider the future of the Head Tide Dam.