Alna should have a seat at the table when Wiscasset and Westport negotiate withdrawal from RSU 12, an Alna school representative said June 28.

William Stafford is one of Alna’s two representatives on the district school board. He told the Alna Board of Selectmen that either he or the other representative, James Bailey, will try to be on the district panel that will work with Wiscasset’s and Westport’s withdrawal committees.

Alna has more of a stake in the outcome of talks than some of the other towns do, Stafford said. He is particularly interested in a seamless transition for Alna students to be able to keep attending Wiscasset schools.

Second Selectman Jonathan Villeneuve wondered what Alna could do if Wiscasset’s withdrawal plan does not spell out how transportation would work. “What’s Plan B?” he asked Stafford.

“I can’t see a scenario where it’s not” part of the plan, Stafford said. In that unlikely event, the town could argue to the state education commissioner that Wiscasset’s withdrawal plan is incomplete, Stafford said.

Meanwhile, Stafford expressed hope that changes to the district’s cost-sharing formula will be ready in time for a vote at the November elections. Wiscasset and Westport should know where the formula stands before deciding whether or not to go through with withdrawal, he said.

The towns’ final votes on withdrawal would come after a series of steps that will likely take the process past November, he said.

Now that the new school budget has been approved, the district’s Finance Committee can refocus on the formula, he said in an interview outside the selectmen’s meeting.

If the transportation plan with Wiscasset is reasonable, and the cost-sharing formula helps Alna, there would be no reason for Alna to consider withdrawal, he said.

Stafford predicted he or Bailey would have little trouble getting on the district’s committee that will talk with Wiscasset and Westport. Committee work is “not the kind of thing…people beat down the door” to get into, he said.

No tax club for Alna

Selectmen declined Town Treasurer Honora Perkins’ idea for a tax club, in which residents could make monthly installment payments on their property taxes.

A club like Wiscasset has can help some taxpayers by giving them “structure,” and can help a town with cash flow, Perkins said. But selectmen differed with one another on whether the board would be authorized to spend the money prior to the tax commitment.

Former selectman Chris Cooper predicted a club would confuse and even anger some residents.

Instead, Town Clerk Amy Warner will send residents an email informing them of the ability they already have to pay down their taxes at any time.