With cooler nights drawing into Alna, it was unclear where the town office would be getting its oil this winter.

In recent years, the town has pre-bought fuel at Midnight Oil in Newcastle. But this year selectmen tried to join in on Lincoln County's annual deal.

The plan didn't work out for Alna. The winning oil dealer, Burke Oil of Massachusetts, required a minimum delivery of 500 gallons at a time, town officials said. The tank at the town office holds just 275 gallons.

At first, selectmen didn't realize they had missed out.

Town Clerk Amy Warner faxed the requested information to the county June 14. The county's deputy administrator, Robert Mooney, sent towns an email, informing them the county would be going out to bid the next day.

On June 15, county officials passed the information on to oil dealers, County Administrator John O'Connell said. The dealers' responses were reviewed that afternoon, but officials were then unable to reach Alna officials about Burke Oil's $2.92 per gallon bid. The town office closes at 2 p.m. on Fridays.

“It was a very, very compressed time frame,” O'Connell said of the bid process.

In July, Warner and Second Selectman Jonathan Villeneuve began a series of emails about the town's fuel situation. Villeneuve and Jim Hopler, the county's buildings supervisor, each contacted Burke Oil to see if Alna could get the county's rate, but according to emails, interviews, and statements at the September 6 selectmen's meeting, Burke would need to deliver more gallons at a time than the town's tank could take.

A Burke official cited in the emails did not immediately return messages seeking comment on the Alna matter.

Selectmen are now working to line up a fuel source at a time when the best deals may be gone.

Alna missed the deadline for the pre-buy with Midnight Oil, town officials said. Selectmen agreed to have Warner call to see if something could still be worked out with the business.

Midnight Oil was good to work with, particularly because it was always responsive to the town's general assistance needs, Warner said.

Fire Chief Mike Trask wondered if residents could be polled, to see if a large number would be interested in a group deal to make the sales worth Burke Oil's extra miles.

But the offer Burke made to the county only applied to 500-gallon tanks or larger ones, so multiple smaller tanks in Alna would not make a difference, according to Villeneuve.

He was not in town for the selectmen's meeting, but in a September 7 email responding to the Wiscasset Newspaper's questions, Villeneuve stated he had checked on the multiple-tanks idea.

Villeneuve called the concept “overall ... a good one.” It could be tried in future heating seasons, but ought to be initiated by residents rather than the town government, he said.

If Trask wanted to try, Villeneuve wrote that he would “most definitely support” those efforts.

County Commissioner Sheridan Bond, whose district includes Alna, said he had encouraged towns to take part in the county oil deal this year and was not aware that Alna had tried and failed.

“I wish I had known a long time ago because I probably could have finagled something,” he said September 7. “This is brand-new news to me.”

The county gets good deals on fuel because his business contacts say when the time is right, Bond said. “These deals are made within hours.”

Selectmen plan to discuss fuel again Thursday, Sept. 13. The meeting at the town office starts at 6:30 p.m.