Dam site work questioned as zoning debate continues
SUSAN JOHNS
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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.
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.
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Alna will have at least one new selectman after next spring’s elections. Third Selectman Greg Shute told Wiscasset Newspaper in an email reply Dec. 31, he will not seek re-election. And in a phone interview Dec. 31, Second Selectman Doug Baston said he was undecided.
Nominatons for their seats and other town seats opened Dec. 30. Town Clerk Sheila McCarty’s email announced the second and third selectmen’s seats are each two years. The town will also elect a road commissioner for one year and a Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit representative for three years.
Road Commissioner Jeff Verney said he will run. And newly appointed SVRSU representative Kristina Verney declined comment.
Town’s food pantry on the move
SUSAN JOHNS
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Alna selectmen said Dec. 17, they might give voters a second option to change shoreland rules. Ralph Hilton’s proposal via his petition this fall will be on the March town meeting warrant, and so might another article, Second Selectman Doug Baston said.
Selectmen voted to hold the petitioned article over to the annual town meeting, planned for March 26 for elections, and March 27 for the open meeting, if pandemic conditions allow one then. “We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there,” Third Selectman Greg Shute said in the Zoom meeting.