Updating Alna residents March 12, Alna Second Selectman Steve Graham said replacement of the bridge over Ben Brook on Egypt Road now looks like 2027 instead of this year.

Graham added, he has asked Maine Department of Transportation to ensure the other bridge project over Ben Brook, on Route 194, does not happen at the same time as the one on Egypt Road. And he said bridge repairs on Dock Road will "most likely" be in 2027, "but could be sooner."

Also March 12, Third Selectman Coreysha Lothrop announced Alna has won the $4,000 grant sought from the Common Good Grant committee at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. Lothrop said the grant is to put in the "beaver deceiver" system on Cross Road. "Congratulations on that," road committee member Ed Pentaleri said. Lothrop wants to seek other grants to get more of those systems in other parts of town.  

And in other wildlife news, Dan Weekes encouraged fellow residents to get involved like he has with mainebignight.org to help salamanders and other amphibians survive their migrations. The website states the nonprofit is a community science project to "confront the issue of amphibians becoming roadkill en masse. Amphibians, already facing stronger threats than many other groups of wildlife, can see localized declines due to roadkill, and are especially vulnerable during their punctual annual migrations. MBN organizes volunteers to assist these animals across the road while collecting valuable data to protect them for decades to come."

Weekes said Route 218 near West Alna Road is an "enormous crossing" for amphibians on the move on warm, wet nights to get to where they will breed. In one hour last year, volunteers counted about 110 spotted salamanders and helped them cross, "so they wouldn't get squished." He is also interested in seeking a grant for "some type of a diversion to force them ... into the culvert where they can pass underneath the road," he said.

Town meeting starts with elections Friday, March 20 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the firehouse with all incumbents unopposed on the ballot: Nick Johnston for first selectman, Michael Trask for road commissioner and Douglas Morier for representative to Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit. The open part of town meeting is at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 21 at the firehouse.