Alna voters on Saturday, March 24 will consider three town office options. If they pick one, they will also decide on a loan to fund it, selectmen said.

Selectmen signed the annual town meeting warrant March 14. The board proposes putting a modular on two acres behind the cape that now houses the town office, selling the cape and applying the sale money to the loan that funds the new one; renovating the town office and adding about 180 square feet to the meeting room; or renovating without the add-on. A followup article would determine how much selectmen can borrow and would raise the funds to pay year one.

The questions list no dollar amounts. Selectmen have estimated the modular town office at $240,000; they said they were still working on figures for both the renovation options. Both would make the cape energy-efficient and compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, according to the warrant.

In other articles, voters will consider raising the emergency management agency director’s pay by $200 to a proposed $500, and paying the director $15 an hour for calls; paying the town clerk up to $2,000 more than last year's $26,000; paying the deputy clerk and tax collector up to $8,000, a $1,000 hike; and hiking the fire department budget $15,247 to a proposed $84,863, including $7,425 more in firefighter call pay. Last year saw more calls, Fire Chief Mike Trask has said.

Also March 14, Michael LaPlante of the Maine Department of Labor presented the fire department with the Safety and Health Award for Public Employers (SHAPE). Asked afterward about the accomplishment, Trask said it took a lot of hard work maintaining records, and working with hired contractor Lynn Martin on compliance.

The board meeting was David Abbott’s  last as first selectman. He said in the meeting room afterward, given the tone the school choice debate has taken of late, having his last board meeting was a bit of a relief. “This thing has turned so ugly.” But the town has gotten through controversies before and will get through this one, he said.

Abbott expects to stop in at times to stay informed on town business and help selectmen if they have questions.

He does not plan a return as selectman, an office voters have put him in multiple times, over decades. “It’s been an interesting job and I’ve been glad I did it.”

Abbott concludes his service at town meeting March 24. The meeting at the fire station on Route 218 starts at 10 a.m. On Friday, March 23, residents will pick Abbott’s successor, a Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 representative and a road commissioner. Polls are open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the fire station.