Damariscotta selectmen put plans to share a public works department with neighboring Newcastle on hold Wednesday, after two members raised questions about details of a possible agreement.
Selectman Dick McLean, the board chairman, removed the proposal from consideration until the next year’s budget cycle after Selectman Josh Pinkham said he wanted additional details about the fiscal arrangement and job qualifications.
Earlier, Selectman Vicki Pinkham indicated her opposition when she said she did not want the current town road commissioner, Terry Sutherburg, to lose his job.
Since January, with the blessing of the selectmen of both towns, Damariscotta town manager Greg Zinser and Newcastle town administrator Ron Grenier, have worked on a proposed job sharing arrangement.
Under the proposal, the towns would share the costs for two workers, a road superintendent and a laborer. The two would maintain the roads, supervise construction projects and maintain public buildings in both towns. Major road repair projects would still be done by outside contractors.
Grenier said he was disappointed by the Damariscotta selectmen.
“I will confer with my board before any additional comment,” he said.
In a related matter, the board, over the objections of Josh Pinkham, agreed (4-1) to extend the town’s snowplowing contract for a year.
Seth Hagar, whose contract runs through the 2010-2011 season, sought the extension.
In return for the one-year extension, Hagar agreed to forgo a scheduled raise for the 2010-2011 season. He offered to plow next year and the following year at 2009-2010 season rates.
Zinser said the deal would save the town $29,000.
Josh Pinkham objected to the extension. He argued that other local contractors might offer lower bids. He was opposed by Vicki Pinkham. She said it would save money.
In other business, the selectmen heard from the town’s auditor, Ron Smith of RHR Smith & Co., who said the town’s books were in good shape; however, he warned against further drains on the town’s working balance ($858,000), called a designated surplus.
The surplus is a fund made up of unspent dollars from earlier budgets or revenues that exceed expectations. It could be used to maintain the town expenses or to fund unanticipated expenses like emergency major road construction projects, Zinser said.
Smith, who audits the books of numerous other municipalities, suggested the town maintain a fund that could cover operational costs for at least 60 days.
He also suggested the town might want to explore refinancing of some of the $800,000 in long-term debt.
While towns saw their 2010 budgets hampered by shrinking state revenue sharing funds, Smith said, he predicted the situation would most likely be worse in 2011. He blamed the shrinking funds on lowered state tax revenues.
“We have revenue problems, not spending problems,” he said.
He cautioned the selectmen to be careful with municipal funds. “Don’t depend on the state or the federal government or bureaucrats (for money). Do it yourself,” he said.
The selectmen also received the final report on a study of possible improvements in the harbor from consultant Mitchell Rasor, who had earlier given them a detailed presentation on how the town’s municipal parking lot could be turned into a park-like gathering place.
They were also invited to a meeting on April 27 from 6:30 to 9:15 p.m. where the Damariscotta Planning Advisory Committee will discuss facets of a report that came from a charrette, a series of community wide planning sessions held last fall.