Several groups that conserved 215 acres in Cumberland and North Yarmouth last year were reimbursed for part of the cost this week from state funding that had been withheld by Gov. Paul LePage.

On Tuesday, three land trusts filed documents with the Cumberland County Registry of Deeds to secure $225,000 in Land for Maine’s Future funds. The groups, along with the towns of Cumberland and North Yarmouth, used temporary financing last year to purchase Knight’s Pond Preserve, which straddles the two towns.

The towns, the Royal River Conservation Trust, the Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust, and the Trust for Public Land collaborated on the project.

The project’s future became less certain last year when Gov. Paul LePage refused to release $11.4 million in voter-approved bonds for approved land purchases through Land for Maine’s Future until the Legislature approved increased timber harvesting on state land. The money for Knight’s Pond Preserve was included in the withheld funds and the project became a rallying point for critics of the governor, who eventually agreed to issue the bonds.

The $1.1 million land sale was funded with $465,000 from the land trusts, $300,000 from Cumberland and $100,000 from North Yarmouth. When the Land for Maine’s Future money wasn’t released last year, the conservation groups pitched in another $225,000 as bridge funding so it didn’t miss a deadline to buy the land.

The preserve has been open for a year. Plans are in the works for more trails and a parking lot at the property.

Finalizing the deed documents this week means the groups now can be reimbursed with Land for Maine’s Future funds, said Penny Asherman, president of the board of the Chebeague and Cumberland Land Trust.

But the deal wasn’t finalized without one more round of political wrangling.

On Tuesday, the day the deal was completed, LePage issued a news release blasting the towns and conservation groups for “dragging their feet” on the state financing after criticizing him for withholding the bonds. The state has had a check ready for the project since August, LePage said.

“Now the funds are available and those responsible for submitting paperwork are purposely slow rolling the process for political purposes,” LePage said. In an email Wednesday, LePage’s spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett said the governor was pleased to see the project was finally closed.

Asherman said in a statement that all the work on Knight’s Pond Preserve was completed and that getting the Land of Maine’s Future funds was delayed for two months because the groups had to resolve a title question before filing the deed.

“This has been a long two-and-a-half-year process and we are happy to finally be receiving LMF funds on the one-year anniversary of Purchasing Knight’s Pond Preserve,” Asherman said.

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