FREEPORT
Grants worth $121,346 are available to the town. But to get them, councilors would have to approve $36,650 in local spending.
All of the grants come from state or federal agencies.
A Project Canopy Grant worth $7,800 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Services program would pay for work at Leon Gorman Park on School Street Extension.
The town would have to match that amount, with $7,000 coming from the Stormwater Maintenance Reserve account and $800 from local in-kind contributions. The grant would be used to install plantings around, and improvements to, the park’s retention pond.
Work likely would be done by the town’s Public Works employees.
Maine Department of Transportation is offering a $32,873 grant to replace a set of narrow, steep wooden stairs leading to the water’s edge at Sandy Beach, off Cushing Briggs Road and Sandy Beach Drive. Although still stable, the lumber is old and the rails sway and bow with the undulating terrain.
Offered through MDOT’s Small Harbor Improvement Program, the money would pay for materials and engineering, while installation of the new steps would be on the town’s dime: $4,999 from the Public Infrastructure Improvement Reserve account plus $3,860 in in-kind labor costs.
An additional $20,000, requiring an equal local match, would come from the state Department of Conservation to study the health of Freeport’s shellfish stocks and beds, and to design a plan to increase their productivity.
The Town Council meets tonight to dicuss the grants, 8 p.m. at Merriconeag Waldorf School on Desert Road, preceded by a 6:30 p.m. workshop.
jtleonard@timesrecord.com
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