Scarborough voters could be asked in November to approve a $6 million bond to replenish the town fund that helps purchase land for conservation.

The Town Council must approve the town’s Parks and Conservation Land Board’s request in order for it to go on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The land acquisition fund will be nearly depleted if the council approves to allocate $800,000 from it toward conserving what is to be Silverbrook Preserve. Contributed / Scarborough Land Trust

On Wednesday, after the Leader’s print deadline, the council was set to give final approval to use the roughly $800,000 now in the land acquisition fund to be put toward the Scarborough Land Trust’s purchase of what is to be the 130-acre Silverbrook Preserve. If approved, the fund would be “exhausted,” according to board Chair Jessica Sargent.

“I think that it’s key to replenish the funds to protect natural areas from development, but also to preserve drinking water and water quality in rivers, streams and the Scarborough Marsh,” Sargent said. “Without replenishing the land acquisition fund … we don’t have the ability to do that.”

The board fields applications for the land acquisition fund’s use from conservation organizations, such as the Scarborough Land Trust, and scores the proposed purchases based on factors from size and location to wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities. Board members then recommend to the council how much money, and on which projects, the fund should be used.

The fund was created in 2000 when voters approved a $1.5 million bond. Voters then authorized replenishing it in 2003 with $2.5 million; in 2009, $1 million; and most recently in 2019, $2.5 million. Board members recognize the 2024 request is higher than previous years but argue it is necessary to keep up with an increase in land prices and to help meet the town’s 30-by-30 goal: conserving 30% of land and water in Scarborough by 2030.

Pleasant Hill Preserve is one of over a dozen properties that the land acquisition fund has helped conserve. Contributed / Scarborough Land Trust

“It’s to replenish the fund to both meet the 30-by-30 goal and to recognize that the costs of land have gone up over time,” Sargent said.

Town Councilor Karin Shupe, the board’s liaison to the council, said the fund is of great benefit to residents.

“I feel like this is directly responding to residents’ concerns about growth and also about the quality of life in Scarborough,” Shupe told the Leader. “Most people don’t live in Scarborough just because it’s a convenient (commute) to Portland. They came here because of the marsh, because of the beaches and the trails and the woods.”

Shupe also noted the uniqueness of the land acquisition fund: The only other town in Maine they’ve come across with a similar voter-authorized conservation fund is Falmouth, she said.

“We are a leader in this.”