A stand-alone public works department may still be in the cards for the town of Newcastle, however, the issue will have to wait until the annual town meeting in June to be discussed again.
At its meeting Monday, Oct. 26, the Newcastle Board of Selectmen discussed the rejection of a proposal for a stand-alone public works department at a special town meeting a week prior and how the town will move forward with projects for the rest of the fiscal year.
“Right now, we have to focus on moving forward to get the work done that needs to be done,” Chairman Brian Foote said.
The selectmen will begin to contract work as they had done prior to the creation of the interlocal public works department with Damariscotta. Selectman Joel Lind said the board would have the comparison prices between contractors and the price of the public works department at the annual town meeting if the selectmen wanted to propose the stand-alone department again.
“If it looks like our tax rate is going to go up if we don’t have our own department, it would be in our best interest and the best interest of the town to bring it up,” Lind said.
Foote said the selectmen could take the public works section of the budget for next year and write it once with the continuation of contracting work and again with the creation of the public works department to compare at the annual town meeting.
The town will continue to pay the lease on the mini-excavator from the interlocal budget. Road Commissioner Steve Reynolds said the town had invested more money into paying off the lease than the balance remaining, and the equipment could be sold if the town decides not to pursue a department.
Selectman Ben Frey was in favor of keeping the equipment from the interlocal split in case the town does decide to create its own department in the future.
“Building a department from absolute scratch will always be impossible and unattainable for a town of this size because of the major immediate expenses,” Frey said. “Since some of this equipment is already available to us, creating a department is within striking distance. If we let that equipment go, we will not have this opportunity again.”
The board considered transferring the remaining balance of the interlocal budget into the road maintenance budget after the Oct. 31 expiration date of the interlocal agreement. The motion was tabled after Frey said there were decisions that still needed to be made regarding the unexpended salary budget amounts.
The Newcastle Board of Selectmen will meet for a public works workshop at the town office at 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 2 to discuss projects for the remainder of the fiscal year.
