Alna First Selectman David Abbott said a proposal the board heard Dec. 15 was the same one Head Tide Dam Committee members said would be presented, one that replaces an abutment and removes a seam in the town-owned dam. And he said selectmen liked the concept but have some checking to do to see if it can go to voters as-is.

No vote was taken on the proposal during the board’s meeting at the fire station and no decision has been made on whether or not to take it to the March 2017 town meeting, Abbott said in a phone interview Dec 17. Next, the board will be looking into whether the proposal meets a covenant the Jewett family included when turning the dam over to the town a half-century ago; the question is whether or not the seam’s removal takes away too much of the dam to comply with the covenant, he said.

“It might have to end up being modified,” Abbott said about the proposal aimed at aiding fish passage and helping preserve the dam. The area proposed for replacement is the most deteriorated part of the dam, he said.

A legal opinion the board got in April cleared the way for the selectmen-appointed committee to work toward a possible project. The letter from attorney David Soule maintained the covenant barring the concrete dam’s destruction would not be violated if the changes left the dam substantially in place and functioning as a dam.

An Atlantic Salmon Federation official has said a project would cost the town nothing.

Abbott said that also Dec. 15, the board noted that Fire Chief Mike Trask has met with Lincoln/Haney Engineering Associates to go over what the fire department’s needs would be if the town office moved into the station. The design firm previously visited the town office, housed in a cape across Route 218 from the station. The board hired the firm with a technical assistance grant from the Lincoln County Regional Planning Commission. 

The board has been exploring whether it makes more sense to move the town office or keep it where it is and improve it. Selectmen have said any proposal would go to voters.

The board meets next at 6 p.m. Jan. 4 at the town office.