Dam site work questioned as zoning debate continues
SUSAN JOHNS
File photo
Alna selectmen said Wednesday night, Jan. 20, they would have the codes enforcement officer and possibly Maine Department of Environmental Protection see if anything added to the Head Tide Dam site should not have been and, if so, how to address it.
If the bench should not be at the shore, it can be moved to higher ground, said resident Chris Kenoyer, who served on a committee that helped plan the site’s 2019 makeover. Third Selectman Greg Shute noted the bench was a request from the town, not Atlantic Salmon Federation, which did the dam project. As for gravel added due to erosion, Second Selectman Doug Baston said the planning board might have erred in allowing it, but if so he was unsure how to “unscramble that egg.”
Dear Editor:
This month, Alna’s selectmen signed a mediation agreement with Jeff Spinney about the permanent boat ramp he excavated into the Sheepscot River tidal marsh in December. This agreement allows Spinney to keep his private ramp, with supposed use restrictions, even though the ramp violates our Shoreland Zoning Ordinance’s prohibition of “permanent structures.”
The abutters who participated in the mediation did not sign the agreement.
Alna’s selectmen threw in their lot with the ramp-building applicant, who threatened to take the town to court over his previously denied shoreland zoning permits. They ignored objections raised by the abutters and dozens of other Alna and Newcastle residents.
Wed, 01/13/2021 - 8:45am
Who was not horrified Jan. 6, when an unsurprising protest at the U.S. Capitol turned into a siege on and inside the building? That was a nightmare and, in the days that followed, video footage of more and more of what happened inside to police and the calls for hanging the vice president were surreal, shocking, offensive and unacceptable.
And the night of Jan. 6, America and our towns delivered a Hail Mary for democracy, the U.S. and right over wrong. America did it by Congress getting back to work, in the building no longer under siege, and carrying out voters’ will for the next president and vice president. Not bad after surviving the afternoon not all there survived and no American can or should ever forget, as much as we might like to.
7-year-old resident raises Bailey Road dumping concern
SUSAN JOHNS
The completed work at the Sheepscot River off Golden Ridge Road, Alna. File photo
Grace Walker, then 6, uses the hand sanitizer following Alna’s abbreviated, March 21, 2020 town meeting. Walker, now 7, recently wrote selectmen seeking help to prevent dumping. File photo
One of Jeff Spinney’s neighbors after another on Zoom Wednesday night criticized his and the town’s shoreland deal. Selectmen signed the agreement they said Spinney, of Golden Ridge Road, also signed and abutters declined to sign. Board members called the agreement a compromise that was in the town’s best interest.
SUSAN JOHNS Wed, 01/06/2021 - 9:00pm
Alna Third Selectman Greg Shute said he was of two minds Wednesday on whether or not the board should meet as scheduled that night, hours into a siege on the U.S. capitol building. He could see canceling the meeting, but holding it would have its own meaning. “Tonight’s a really unprecedented night in our country’s history, and I just want to highlight that. It’s something that caused me pause, and . I don’t know what the right answer was, whether to postpone this meeting or not . and I think continuing with this meeting might just be a way not to give in.”