It has likely come to divorce for Newcastle and Damariscotta.

The interlocal subcommittee met Tuesday, July 14, to discuss the future of the town's shared public works department and the two towns began readying for a split.

Damariscotta Selectman Robin Mayer said the plan is to renew the contract Wednesday, July 15, to Oct. 31, after which the interlocal agreement governing the shared public works department would dissolve. The agreement would extend the existing contract but would add a list of expectations, and the two towns will need to further discuss the particulars of the split.

“We're talking about divorcing and looking at our own (departments) for a variety of reasons,” Mayer said. “Each town can come up with its own plan for its public works department.”

As in a divorce, property will need to be split between the two towns: Damariscotta keeps the truck, Newcastle gets the floating pump-out station, etc. But Newcastle Selectmen’s Chairman Brian Foote said some items, such as hand tools, will have to be divvied up between the towns.

Mayer said each town has different needs from its public works department, and that when Mayer investigated she found several problems in the current interlocal agreement.

“We have been investigating what a standalone public works department would include,” she said. “We have been looking at our town's needs and we've looked at several different options. But we want to stay good neighbors, because of some of our other agreements.”

Those other interlocal agreements include the newly reconfigured harbor and shellfish ordinances, which granted Newcastle control over the harbor ordinance and Damariscotta control over the shellfish ordinances. Previously, all shellfish and harbor-related business was split between the two towns, but voters agreed on the interlocal agreement at the June town meetings.

Superintendent of Roads Steve Reynolds said he felt the agreement had worked to save both towns money. He pointed to a recent project on High Street in Damariscotta that the shared public works department had completed for $6,600 while a previous 2007 estimate from a private contractor speculated the job would have cost more than $27,000.

“The interlocal agreement does save money for the towns,” Reynolds said.

Like Reynolds, Foote said he wanted to keep the agreement going.

“It's a shame it couldn't work out, because it was working,” he said. “Now, instead of getting a call about a pothole and fixing it at 9 in the morning, it might take two or three days (to get it fixed). And it was the small things, too.”

Damariscotta Selectmen’s Chairman Ronn Orenstein said that while the two towns would likely be splitting up by Nov. 1, it wasn't necessarily the end.

“We could always revisit the agreement,” he said. “There was nothing etched in stone before we agreed to (the interlocal agreement), and there is not going to be (anything) etched in stone afterwards.”