Letter to Editor:
I was born to a father who is an identical twin. He and his brother ran a lumberyard together in rural Minnesota for many decades. Sure there were arguments concerning priorities, ways to do things, credit policy, standards, equipment etc. over the years, but in the end things were better for both “Sliver” and “Splinter,” as they called themselves.
They had to get along because it made economic sense for both families.
I think the shared alliance between Damariscotta and Newcastle relative to inter-local public works is a similar situation.
Damariscotta’s selectmen should reconsider. It seems the board has been vacillating for months about this and I surmise that it is indeed a personal issue between a few individuals. Bury the hatchet boys and get over it! Damariscotta is acting like the belligerent twin, in my view.
It is especially disconcerting that this all happened after the Damariscotta town meeting. As I recall, we all got to vote about putting this in place years ago, why should it not be the case that a decision to go off on our own, should get the same public vote? This is not a trivial expenditure and puts Newcastle in a sticky situation they do not deserve.
Things at the federal and state level do not often affect me locally, but certainly potholes, runoff from floods, and frost heaves under culverts do. I have called Mr. Reynolds several times over the past three years about issues with roads in both Newcastle and Damariscotta. He always returned my calls quickly and the work was completed expediently and correctly.
I have no doubt he works very hard, but sometimes those are the ones that catch criticism due to personal ideas about what is worth fixing or paying for. If anyone wants to see the two culverts they did at Pine Ridge Road, I would invite them to do so. They are not slapdash makeshift solutions and will last many years.
I do not want a “leaner” budget. I want it done right! Given that we have just endured one of the most grueling winters ever and I could almost always get to the grocery store speaks well for crews that plowed and removed the enormous trees that blocked the route for a time.
It stands to reason that two towns owning, insuring, and maintaining sets of expensive machinery and crews will end up costing both villages more in the end. Who will end up paying the price? Taxpayers in both towns. Money better spent on education, water access or food for needy in my view.
We are all in this together. The plan has worked to the benefit of both. I chide the Damariscotta selectmen both for the manner in which this was handled as well as the decision itself. It comes across as a case of elected officials fighting over trucks, plows, trailers and bulldozers, like boys in a sandbox.
When the rain washes out the roadside I will be coming to you. Reconsider please! Twins are better together than apart.
Debra Arter
Damariscotta
