Alna residents may soon be reunited with the sand that helps them though the winter at home. Selectmen plan to work around an insurance issue over the sand and salt shed. They voted 3-0 Nov. 28 to get an outbuilding the town’s plowing contractor can stock with sand.

Selectmen estimated the garage or other shelter will cost $500 to $1,000. Third Selectman Doug Baston expressed surprise the issue helped draw a turnout to the meeting at the fire station. The issue ranked about third among the items the board has been dealing with, he said after Fire Chief Mike Trask said the board should have addressed it before winter weather set in.

“I’m sorry,” Baston said.

He and other members explained, the town’s insurer, an arm of Maine Municipal Association, raised a liability issue over residents getting buckets of sand from the town’s supply in the shed. Trask and former selectman Chris Cooper asked the board to look for another insurer.

All insurers would take the same stance, Baston said. But he said MMA should look in the mirror and seek to balance liability with the small town ethic of its members. Insurance issues like the one Wiscasset had over firefighters washing their personal vehicles discourage people from volunteering, he said.

Cooper said the shed’s being blocked with a loader creates a liability issue, as some residents might try to climb over it to get to the sand.

The Wiscasset Newspaper has sought comment from MMA on Baston's statements.

Also Nov. 28, Atlantic Salmon Federation Vice President of U.S. Programs Andrew Goode said it will soon seek contractors' bids and government permits for the Head Tide Dam project. He told the board, work could start as early as July 15, and local subcontractors will be sought.

Equipment will block the swimming hole for a while, he said. "You've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette sometimes." The project will replace an abutment and widen an opening in the century-old, town-owned concrete dam.

Selectmen expect the modular town office to arrive Dec. 5. Baston said Dresden is joining Alna in seeking ConnectME funds to expand high speed internet access with Tidewater Telecom. Two towns asking together may help the application's chances, Baston said. And the board plans to check with the town attorney about the process to abandon part of Old Sheepscot Road – the middle, unused portion, Baston said.

Selectmen named resident Beth Whitney caretaker of the Village School at Puddle Dock and said they want residents' input on rental fees. Under a draft Baston shared, social or educational use would cost residents $5 an hour and non-residents $10 an hour for groups of 10 or fewer, residents $10 an hour and non-residents $20 an hour for more than 10; $10 for fuel in heating months, and another $10 if "physical activity" such as dancing, party games or exercise, is involved. For business or political use, non-residents would instead pay $15 for groups of more than 10, the draft states.

Comments were mixed. Second Selectman Ed Pentaleri wants to see high use. Fees that low undervalue the building, Cooper said.

The board meets next at 6 p.m. Dec. 12 at the town office.