Scarborough recently received a state grant to plan and design a modern commercial fishing pier for Pine Point. Though the grant will help, the town is still looking for more grants to help pay for the construction.

On Saturday, Gov. John Baldacci, Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine), Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Scarborough Town Councilor Shawn Babine announced the $50,000 Small Harbor Improvement Grant during Gov. Baldacci’s visit to the Pine Point pier in Scarborough.

Harbor Improvement grants are awarded through the Maine Department of Transportation and are meant for pier reconstructions such as the one proposed for Pine Point and other harbor work such as dredging. Towns are required to match from 25 to 50 percent of the grant amount, and according to Rob Elder of the Department of Transportation, the higher the matched amount the greater a town’s chances for a grant.

According to Babine, the town has already approved $400,000 for the pier, well beyond the required percentage. However, according to Elder, the project is estimated at $900,000.

“We have a big gap to fill,” said Babine.

“This is a great program,” said Elder, who is also a member of the grant committee. “We’re going to help Scarborough in the years to come find the money to build this the way it needs to be built.”

According to Elder, the new pier will be superior in size and utilities. The current pier is 6 feet wide, has limited power and no water. Plans for renovation include a width of 20 feet, power, water, cranes for loading equipment and possibly fuel.

“The big deal here is that you can drive two or three pickup trucks down it and load boats from there,” said Elder.

For local fisherman David Provencher, this would mean relief from the hard work of rowing equipment out to boats or waiting for low tide to load and unload.

“Right now the way things are done here aren’t done anywhere else along the coast,” said Provencher. “The way we do it is pretty back breaking.”

Babine agrees that the pier requires unnecessary and potentially dangerous work.

“Right now these guys have to wait until low tide, and then they’re down there in the mud, using their backs to lift and load stuff, getting their trucks stuck in the mud,” said Babine. “If they get hurt, they’re out of work and then their families suffer.”

According to Babine, the new pier could be built in about three months, but the problem is finding the rest of the money. The town will look for more state grants, said Babine, such as a Community Development Block Grant.

Since the town has already approved the $400,000, if it were to add any more town money it would have to go to referendum, something Babine said the council hasn’t yet discussed. Though the council hasn’t looked at this option, Babine hopes it will pay for all of the pier improvements.

“If we can afford a $27 million high school and a new $53 million school project, then we can afford $900,000 for the pier,” said Babine. “The fishermen are just as important.”

For Provencher, the new pier would be a welcome improvement, but it wouldn’t necessarily be a perfect solution.

“One thing I’m worried about is lines waiting to use the dock,” he said. “If there are going to be waiting lines, I have a funny feeling some guys will go back to the old way.”

Right now, said Provencher, since the dock can’t be used all the time for loading and unloading, multiple people can work at once. The wider pier and cranes would be helpful, he said, but only a few can use it at a time.

As the town starts to research what grants are available, said Babine, the gap between the $450,000 available and the goal of $900,000 will close. But if it doesn’t, he hopes the town will find a way to pay for the rest.

“This is a part of Scarborough we’ve forgotten,” he said.