Alna will likely stay with Wiscasset on waste this year and look at possibly cheaper options, Alna First Selectman Melissa Spinney said. 

"It looks like we will be signing (the Wiscasset Transfer Station) contract for this year. I have been looking around for other less expensive options for Alna," Spinney wrote in email replies to the Wiscasset Newspaper Friday. "We will be talking to Dresden selectmen at their next meeting."

That’s 6 p.m. Tuesday, July 23 at Pownalborough Hall, Dresden Town Administrator Michael Henderson said in a phone interview Friday.

Asked about Dresden’s program, Henderson said the town has a transfer station, open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays; it is funded via town meeting, at $45,000 this year, and by the $2 a bag residents pay by buying tokens at the town office or Dresden Takeout, he said.

If Dresden and Alna were willing to collaborate, what that arrangement would look like, including how Alna would contribute, would depend on what everyone agreed to, Henderson noted.

Asked why Alna's board was meeting with Dresden's, Spinney said via email: "We’re shopping around for less expensive transfer station options."

This summer, Alna has raised issues with the Wiscasset station's longtime funding formula. Wiscasset selectmen recently agreed to ask Alna to sign this year's pact; the Wiscasset board also plans a review of the formula.