After almost a month, Newcastle and Damariscotta have an agreement to end an agreement.

The Newcastle board of selectmen voted Monday, Aug. 10, to sign an extension that will dissolve the interlocal agreement with Damariscotta after Oct. 31. The two boards — Newcastle and Damariscotta's boards of selectmen — had been sending proposals and terms since the interlocal's original end date of July 1.

The interlocal agreement created a shared public works department for the two towns.

The agreement that Newcastle signed Monday is the same one Damariscotta's board signed July 15; it includes a list of expectations for the employees.

But it was not signed unanimously.

Selectman Ben Frey made the motion to pass the terms “under protest” and fellow Newcastle select board member Carolyn Hatch voted against signing the terms.

Hatch's reason? Oct. 31 was too far away, and she said she would rather have the agreement end Tuesday, Aug. 11, than drag out the agreement.

“They just want to delay and delay,” she said. “I say, let's just get it over with. They want it to (be finished), so I say let's just get it done.”

Frey said Newcastle would bear the cost if the agreement were to end early as the two towns will still need to settle on reconciliation. It believed that Damariscotta used more of the shared department's man hours and might have to pay Newcastle a sum of money to cover the difference. The two towns also have several shared pieces of equipment that will need to find homes either in Newcastle or Damariscotta.

The two towns agreed in July to extensions that expired Monday. With the new extension in place, the two towns will continue as they have for the past several years until Nov. 1 when they become independent.

Newcastle will have public hearings to decide which direction the town takes in regard to its public works department.

Newcastle sent over a new proposal that would have dealt with employee infractions within a 48-hour time span. According to Newcastle board chairman Brian Foote, the 48-hour suggestion was rejected by Damariscotta officials during an Aug. 4 interlocal meeting.

Frey said he had problems with Damariscotta's contract being the one used as the two towns move closer to breaking apart.

“Why should we try to be reasonable (when) this kind of behavior shouldn't be tolerated,” he said. “It's difficult to not be reactionary in the face of childish behavior. But we need to do what's best for the town and again, we have no choice but to trust them.”

Foote said that by signing the agreement, it would allow Newcastle to finish its current slate of summer and fall work.

“The sooner it's done the better off we'll be,” Foote said. “This just gets us to the 31st.”

Currently, the shared department is in Newcastle working on a job, and had the agreement ended Tuesday, the work would have likely stopped.

Because Superintendent of Roads Steve Reynolds is a Newcastle employee, and the other full-time member of the department is a Damariscotta employee, had the agreement ended, work would have stopped due to liability concerns.