Following a meeting that started with a selectman from one town questioning whether or not the Twin Villages wanted to continue with a joint public works department, the selectmen from Damariscotta and Newcastle have agreed to continue on together.

At the onset of the Thursday, April 9 meeting between the two boards to discuss the future, Damariscotta Selectman James Cosgrove asked both boards if making any changes to the two towns’ interlocal agreement was necessary, and if the towns would do better with separate departments of public works.

“After a great deal of thought, I don't think an interlocal agreement is right for our two towns,” Cosgrove said. “There are lots of other opportunities for us to work together.”

After the meeting however, the respective board chairmen, Newcastle's Brian Foote and Damariscotta's Ronn Orenstein, drafted a letter to announce that the interlocal agreement will continue, but that work was still underway to come to an agreement for the rest of the year.

The two sides are also reportedly working on a new one-year agreement, which will be considered by each town's full board, according to the release.

That also means current Superintendent of Roads Steve Reynolds will remain in his current position.

The two boards spent two nights hashing out the details of what a new interlocal agreement would look like, and whether or not the staffing would continue as it is currently situated.

Cosgrove said that during the Wednesday, April 8 meeting between the two boards of selectmen, the needs of the two towns became apparent to him, and they didn't line up.

“As I started thinking about it, I realized that our towns have very different needs,” he said. “(Damariscotta) is a service center, with a downtown, and Newcastle is more rural, with country roads.

“Those aren't our needs. We need a public works director who is very much under the control of the town manager,” Cosgrove continued.

Reynolds said that while the two towns appear different, they are actually very similar in their needs.

“Yeah, Newcastle has seven miles of dirt roads, but the work that we do in Damariscotta is identical to the work we do in Newcastle,” he said. “We try to be as fair as possible.”

Foote was not in favor of going back to the set-up before the interlocal agreement, where each town had its own department.

“I think for the most part, it has worked for both towns,” Foote said. “We're not as different as you think. I don't think you can afford it on your own, and not get the quality of the roads department we have now.”

Damariscotta Selectman George Parker said the interlocal agreement was first explored to see if it could work between the two towns.

“I think back then we said it was an experiment, and if it didn't work, it didn't work,” he said. “If it's just a personnel problem and the rest works, then maybe we move forward.”

The two towns have operated using the interlocal agreement since 2011. The shared public works department has allowed both towns to save money while planning for the future, Damariscotta Selectman Robin Mayer said during the April 9 meeting.

“When (the agreement) was presented to the town, it was said that both towns couldn't afford their own separate departments,” Mayer said. “Since (its forming) we've been able to be proactive and not just with maintenance and repair.

“If we hire contractors, we lose that.”