Community member concerns led the agenda during the Damariscotta-Newcastle Public Works Committee’s Monday, Dec. 15 meeting at the Newcastle fire station.
The working group reconvened to discuss a draft interlocal agreement and other aspects of the potential shared public works department, but dialogue between group members and residents filled most of the meeting time.
“Our boards haven’t directed us to stop because of the challenges that exist,” Damariscotta Town Manager Andy Dorr said. “We are still going to do the due diligence … to look at (shared public works).”
Newcastle Town Manager Kevin Sutherland and Dorr presented the working group’s preliminary findings to the Newcastle and Damariscotta select boards on Sept. 22 and Oct. 1, respectively. Following the presentations, board members and residents called for realistic analysis of the department’s costs as well as concepts for an interlocal agreement.
During the Damariscotta presentation, audience members expressed doubt on the department’s viability because of unforeseen costs and the challenges of maintaining a skilled workforce.
“I don’t see how you can be certain that my tax dollars are proportionately going to be spent on my town as opposed to being spent in Newcastle,” Damariscotta resident Jim Gallagher said on Oct. 1.
During the Dec. 15 meeting, group members heard from Sandra Fournier, town manager of Mapleton, Castle Hill, and Chapman, and Chris Woodworth, the towns’ road commissioner, on the region’s shared public works department. The three northern Maine towns have participated in an interlocal agreement since 1992, resulting in their shared highway department.
Fournier said the cost-sharing formula for public works is reviewed annually. To oversee employees and share the department’s assets, she said the towns have ownership through a corporation, which was approved by the Maine Legislature.
Unlike many other municipalities, she said the towns do not have to take out loans for many of their equipment purchases like a plow truck, which she attributed to the effectiveness of the shared highway department and its reserve accounts.
“It can be a scary thing when you’re venturing into this, but at the end of the day, I think the benefit by far outweighs the risk,” Fournier said. “Once the community starts to see that return, why would you want to pull out?”
She said the highway department’s workforce has had low turnover, with several staff members staying with the department for over 10 years. With a four-person crew, she said the towns do not have to bring on seasonal employees to complete any road maintenance or projects.
Following Fournier and Woodworth’s comments, residents from the Twin Villages raised their concerns with the working group.
Seth Hagar, who co-owns Hagar Enterprises Inc. in Damariscotta and also serves as Newcastle’s road commissioner, said he worries about the group’s cost estimates coming out much lower than the department’s actual expenses.
“My concern here is the ability of the (committee) to come up with a realistic budget,” he said. “Once you start this process and you get this agreement, there is no easy going back.”
Working group members emphasized their task is to determine the feasibility of a shared public works department, which is still to be determined.
“We’re not putting the cart before the horse,” said Newcastle Select Board member Rufus Percy.
Members also reiterated the committee was formed to see if a shared public works department could present cost reductions to taxpayers in the Twin Villages. Dorr said the group is also interested in how in-house service could help both towns better address routine maintenance.
“We’ve been behind for years and we’re still trying to catch up,” Dorr said. “There’s so many places we can walk through in Damariscotta … where deferred maintenance has caused premature, early capital (improvement).”
Newcastle currently contract with Hagar Enterprises for snow removal and winter plowing services, which runs through May 15, 2027 with a possible two-year extension. The Damariscotta Select Board terminated its snowplowing contract with Hagar Enterprises in March 2024, switching to service through Nobleboro-based McClintick Foundations into 2027.
As Newcastle’s current provider, Hagar said Newcastle receives a higher level of service at a lower price than “anywhere else in the state of Maine.”
“There’s no way that you can take real world numbers that we’re spending every day and forecast them on a piece of paper and convince me that (a shared public works department) is saving any taxpayer any degree of money,” Hagar said.
While he isn’t opposed to a shared public works department, Newcastle resident Merle Parise said the working group should consider gradually growing the department instead of transitioning from contracted services to in-house work immediately.
Hagar agreed that increasing the towns’ public works force over time would be more realistic.
“If you ease your way into it and learn … it saves you money in the end,” he said.
Sutherland prepared a draft interlocal agreement for the working group to consider during the meeting, which included possible provisions for the agreement’s dissolution as well as a joint oversight board structure.
The group was set to discuss the draft interlocal agreement, an updated timeline, and possible department policies, but extensive dialogue with audience members led to those agenda items being punted to the group’s next meeting.
The next Damariscotta-Newcastle Public Works Committee meeting will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026 at the Clayton V. Huntley Jr. Fire Station. For more information, go to damariscotta.maine.gov or newcastlemaine.us.
