As Newcastle Selectmen’s Chairman Brian Foote said at the board’s Monday, July 27 meeting, the town can't beat the price it's about to receive for labor.

“There's the application fee, the $400 for materials and then you really can't beat the labor,” he said.

That's because there will be no cost for labor if permits are approved and the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association can fix a Newcastle erosion issue.

The board agreed, 5-0, to allow the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association to seek a permit from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and to acquire approximately $400 in materials to deal with erosion at Mills Beach in Newcastle.

The project, pending approval from the DEP, would build a series of steps from the road down towards the beach to help prevent the bank from further erosion.

DLWA Program Director Garrison Beck said the association had received grants that allowed for a summer work crew to be installed to begin working on some of Damariscotta Lake's erosion hot spots.

“We did a watershed survey last spring with the approval of the DEP and DOT (Maine Department of Transportation) and put together a five-year plan to try and deal with the erosion issue,” Beck said.

That issue is not small, either; Beck said that when more than 20 volunteers went around the lake a year ago they found more than 170 sites with erosion problems.

“(The erosion issue) is low-priority at most sites — most of the sites are residential,” Beck said. “With a little instruction most folks could probably (fix the issues) on their own.”

Beck said one of the larger erosion issues around the lake is from rutted roads; and soil and fill falling into the lake. Beck said that, on average, about 61 tons of sediment per year make its way into the lake.

Although erosion is found throughout the state, it is mainly focused on the central and southern bodies of water like Damariscotta Lake, Beck said.

“That's where there's a concentration of roads and structures, and with any lake there's a point of interest,” he said. “There's a reason people want to build their houses near (lakes).”

So, to combat the erosion around the lake, the DLWA procured a grant that allowed it to hire a staff of three part-time employees (a pair of recent Lincoln Academy grads and a recent college graduate), as a youth conservation corps, which was called the Buffer Brigade.

“(Because they are being paid by a grant) we are getting labor at no cost,” Beck said. “The only cost homeowners have to pay is for materials.”

Soon, that means that the town of Newcastle, which owns Mills Beach, will be employing some free labor to fix an area of concern.

Beck said that several years worth of sand from winter sanding has mixed with water runoff to create a problem at Mills Beach. One of the solutions proposed was to add in “infiltration steps,” which will not only act as stairs for people who use the beach, but will help to corral the erosion.

Superintendent of Roads Steve Reynolds endorsed the plan, citing it as a low-cost way to fix a potential problem.

“It helps the town, helps the watershed, and it's a good use of public funds,” he said. “And at such a public location, it shows that the town's involved.”

Beck said the DEP approval, which he predicted was likely to be granted, is likely to come within the next two weeks. Once approved, the project is expected to be finished in one day.