The Alna town office was a family home before the town bought it nearly two decades ago. It could be a home again someday, if an idea that town and fire officials discussed Oct. 7 comes to fruition.

Resident Ralph Hilton suggested having the lower floor of the fire station serve as the town office. Then the current town office, across Route 218 from the station, could be sold and put back on the tax rolls, Hilton said.

It would make sense, First Selectman David Abbott said. The board talked about possibly asking the town to sell the town office and two acres of the 12-acre lot it sits on, leaving the other 10 as town property.

“You never know. Somewhere down the road, we might need that for something,” Abbott said.

The sale’s proceeds could offset the cost to renovate the space for the new town office inside the fire station, Third Selectman Doug Baston said. “There are a ton of details. But I don’t see that any of them would be show-stoppers.”

The town office is larger than what the town needs, Town Clerk Amy Warner said.

Town officials and Alna Fire Department President Kathy Zuppa said housing the fire department and town office together could save on electricity and other costs. Fire department members would need to agree to the arrangement, Zuppa said.

So would voters. Residents would need to approve spending for the renovations and agree to sell the town office, selectmen said.

The board planned to seek a joint meeting with the fire department’s board of directors. Zuppa agreed to bring up the request. The next step, depending on the meeting’s outcome, might be for a small committee from both boards to work out how the building’s costs would be shared, Baston said.

Zuppa gave no opinion on whether the town office should go into the station. “Whatever you guys want to do,” she told selectmen about pursuing the idea. The fire department has taken no vote on it, she said.

Fire Chief Mike Trask, joining the meeting later, also did not weigh in on the idea of moving the town office. Asked afterward if he could see any potential issues with it, he said he could, but that he did not know if he wanted say yet what they would be.

Trask said he did not think that the town office’s presence would interfere with department members’ work at the station; that could all be negotiated ahead of time to avoid a problem, he said.

Talking winter

Trask asked if the town’s plowing contractor Hagar Enterprises of Damariscotta could salt instead of sand the fire station lot this winter. That would prevent a large buildup of sand, he said. Selectmen informed him they had talked earlier about having the firm’s vice president Seth Hagar attend a board meeting.

Hilton, one of Alna’s Regional School Unit 12 representatives, had asked selectmen to make sure the contractor is aware of new bus routes this school year. Hilton said he could be at the upcoming meeting and review the routes for the firm.

 Meeting planned with lawyer

Selectmen planned to schedule a closed-door session to consult with Camden lawyer Paul Gibbons. The board has been seeking to explore legal options for recovering any money lost to tax fines, late penalties and interest or other costs stemming from accounting issues.

The board was still awaiting accountant Bill Brewer’s estimate for his planned financial review. There is nothing suspicious about the financial records, selectmen have said.

Tax reaction

People are starting to pay their new property tax bills, without complaining, Warner said. The tax rate dropped by nearly 10 percent this year, to $20.60 per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, or a tax of $2,060 on a $100,000 home.

“No one’s grumpy .... ‘It’s about time.’ I get that a lot,” she said.