Alna selectmen plan to ask voters to tap surplus to further fund this snowplowing season. With attendees’ input, selectmen Nov. 22 favored low bidder Mike Jewett of Whitefield and planned a town vote because the contract costs more than the one budgeted for the Woolwich firm that quit. The board can sign the contract contingent on voter approval, and will owe Jewett for any work done before town meeting, First Selectman Ed Pentaleri said.

“If the town doesn’t approve it, then ... we’re all going to be in deep something – snow,” Pentaleri said. He urged that if people oppose the proposal, they offer a “realistic and achievable” alternative. 

Pending the warrant and its posting, the board plans a 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 15 town meeting at the fire station. According to Nov. 22 meeting participants, some who reviewed bids with Pentaleri Nov. 21 after bids were unsealed – all three proposals were strong. Jewett bid $325,000; Peter “Jeremy” Bathgate of Edgecomb, $350,000; and Gordon Libby of Waldoboro, $356,760. 

Pentaleri explained the board can spend up to one-sixth, or two months, more than was budgeted. And auditor Fred Brewer has recommended a warrant article to cover the difference between the budgeted sum, about $32,300 a month, and what the town will need to pay, a slide show stated; Brewer recommends using surplus. 

“That approach would get us through (March) town meeting, and give us time to budget more carefully and accurately for 2023,” the slide show stated.

Besides favoring the Jewett bid and a town vote, the board agreed plow contractor Holbrook Excavating’s pullout in November created an emergency and, in the town’s best interest, any difference in how the town normally seeks bids was waived.

Resident Jeff Spinney said the pullout stemmed from the Nov. 4 letter Holbrook got from town attorney E. William Stockmeyer. It read in part, “To avoid any potential misunderstanding regarding the use of town-owned sand and salt, the town expects you to ensure that all Holbrook vehicles are empty of sand and salt when they arrive in Alna, and when they leave ... To be clear, no further notice will be provided with respect to unauthorized removal of material. If this happens, the Town will pursue appropriate legal recourse, as well as recovery of costs associated with replacement of any misappropriated material, legal expenses, and any other costs and damages, including costs and damages associated with any necessary substitution of services. As appropriate, the town would also report the matter to proper authorities.”

That letter accuses the contractor of stealing, Spinney said in the Nov. 22 meeting and fellow resident Ralph Hilton argued in a Nov. 16 meeting. Pentaleri has said the letter contains no accusation. “(It) put him on notice just to ensure that he understands who owns the salt,” he told Hilton. And responding to Spinney Nov. 22, Pentaleri said, “You’re doing a great job of advocating for the contractor that walked away from the town ... When you want to start advocating on behalf of the town of Alna, then I might be interested in talking to you.”

Holbrook has declined to comment on the Nov. 4 letter and has said Pentaleri’s statements about how the firm’s service might be this winter made him less desire to move forward with the town.