When the Juniper Hill School heard that Alna town officials had discussed a pair of road signs the school put up, the news didn't come from selectmen. But Second Selectman Jonathan Villeneuve wished it had.

Villeneuve told fellow selectmen November 29 that the Wiscasset Newspaper contacted the nonprofit school after the board talked November 15, about two 15 mph speed limit signs on Golden Ridge Road. Selectmen said the school didn't ask them first, and shouldn't have put up the signs on its own. The board then planned to consult with the Maine Municipal Association before contacting the school.

On November 16, one day after the discussion, a member of the school's board of trustees apologized by email to Villeneuve and said the signs would be removed.

The Wiscasset Newspaper had contacted the school earlier November 16 seeking comment from its founder Anne Stiles.

A call from a newspaper “is a horrible way to find out,” Villeneuve said. In the future, when the board talks about a party without them being there, the board should always discuss whether or not it should contact the party, he said.

Villeneuve acknowledged that, during the November 15 meeting, Third Selectman David Reingardt had offered to contact the school afterward. “But I thought we wanted to get our ducks in a row,” before doing so, Villeneuve recalled.

Moving forward on the sign issue, selectmen said they were correct that the signs needed to come down, as they already had. But they said school zone signs can go there after the board gets more information, including what the state requires the signs to say. They planned to contact the Maine Department of Transportation.

The signs have to include the times of day the 15 mph limit is in effect, MDOT officials said in interviews. The signs on Golden Ridge Road did not.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.