Hagar Enterprises of Damariscotta wasn’t Alna Fire Chief Mike Trask’s preference for the town’s snowplowing contractor this year. He publicly favored hiring back the last contractor, Hanley Construction of Bristol. But in raising concerns Dec. 3 about Hagar’s service so far, he said his issue is largely with town officials.

They should have better informed the contractor about certain aspects of what the town needs done, where and when, Trask said. He outlined his concerns in a Dec. 3 letter and a discussion that night with selectmen. Trask said several dirt roads remained unplowed well into a recent storm.  “This is a serious situation because it may be very problematic getting fire apparatus through 10 inches of fresh wet snow,” his letter to the board states.  “A stuck fire truck may block all hope of getting another truck to the scene.”

In addition, fire hydrants were not shoveled until after the storm, according to the letter. At the fire station, the entrance to the bays that house the fire trucks was plowed, but the parking area was not plowed until after the storm, the letter continues. The station is open to residents during power outages for access to water and warmth, the letter notes.

No one from Hagar Enterprises was at the selectmen’s meeting. Reached later, co-owner Seth Hagar said he hadn’t known Trask would be discussing snowplowing at the meeting; Hagar declined to comment on some of the letter’s details until he had read it, but he said dirt roads weren’t being plowed in situations where it would have risked damaging them because they weren’t frozen.

The selectmen and Road Commissioner Jeff Verney said efforts have been and continue to be made to help Hagar in its first year serving the town. Regarding the dirt roads, Third Selectman David Reingardt said, “If we need to do something different, then I think we need to discuss that as a board and with Jeff, and then talk with Seth about it. He wasn’t opposed to (plowing them). He thought it was wise (not to).”

After selectmen agreed to hire Hagar Enterprises this year, Trask was among residents who tried to give the job back to Hanley Construction. The firm’s owner Mark Hanley declined to renew the contract and did not submit a bid when the board sought bids, selectmen have said. Special town meeting voters later called on the board to contract with Hanley Construction. The board checked with the Maine Municipal Association and determined that the vote was void.

Looking at the town office

Selectmen discussed possibly hiring out for an assessment on the needs of the town office building. Second Selectman Jonathan Villeneuve planned to report back to the board with information to help project the assessment’s cost. The aim would be a capital improvement plan that the board could begin seeking funds for at the March 2015 town meeting. Selectmen and Town Clerk Amy Warner cited numerous issues including peeling paint and rotting wood.

“If we don’t start putting money into this building, it’s going to fall apart,” Warner said.

No action on deed request

Alna still owns half of a lot it signed back over to its assessed owners in 2001, according to an email selectmen got from the town’s lawyer, David Soule of Wiscasset. Soule’s email concurs with a point that lawyer Nathaniel Hussey of Damariscotta has made on behalf of his client Nicole Moore, who is trying to sell the lot off Bog Road. One of the assessed owners, Glenwood Rines, died six years before selectmen signed the deed, according to the lawyers. Hussey had asked the board to execute a new deed, but selectmen on Dec. 3 decided they would wait until Moore has further worked out the legal issues before they sign a deed. They have expressed no interest in the town keeping its share in the property.