Nearly 70 working waterfront properties that were severely damaged or destroyed by back-to-back storms in January are getting $21 million in state funding to pay for repairs.
The grant awards were announced Monday by Gov. Janet Mills. The properties, spread out along the coast from Kennebunk to Lubec, are considered important pieces of the working waterfront infrastructure that support Maine’s $600 million commercial fishing industry.
The funds have been awarded through the state’s Working Waterfront Resilience Grant Program and are part of $60 million in state funding that the Legislature authorized through the supplemental budget in May.
The Stonington Lobster Co-op, which lost one of its piers in the storms and quickly rebuilt in time for the 2024 summer lobster fishing season, received nearly $600,000 through the program. The smallest award announced Monday, for less than $3,500, will go to Johnson’s Boatyard on Long Island. Three properties in Portland each received $2 million, which was the highest individual amount awarded.
“Without this funding we wouldn’t be able to complete the reconstruction of our wharf here at the co-op after the damage caused by last winter’s storms,” said Ron Trundy, the co-op’s manager. “This funding lets us complete the work by reinforcing the base of the wharf with stonework and increasing the height of the wharf by two feet, which will make the co-op resilient to future storms.”
The New Harbor Co-op, which was one of several properties in that community that suffered heavy damage in the storm surge on Jan. 11, was awarded more than $500,000.
“This funding is critical for us, because we had to replace both docks here at the co-op after the storms last winter destroyed pilings, snapped fuel lines, left our office building with no support structure, and damaged electrical wiring and our freezer,” Linda Vannah, the co-op’s manager, said.
The funds are being used to rebuild the docks up to two feet higher, relocate the co-op office to a safer location, and to make other needed repairs, she said.
Six towns also were awarded grants, to supplement funding they received either from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the American Rescue Plan Act. Those amounts range from nearly $92,000 for Scarborough, to $2 million for Rockport. Other towns that received state funds include Beals, Georgetown, Kennebunkport and Lubec.
The grants announced today are considered preliminary, pending a final review of project eligibility, according to state officials. Once a project receives final grant approval, funding is expected to be distributed after Aug. 9, when the supplemental budget legislation takes effect.
The grant program is a joint initiative of the state departments of transportation and marine resources, along with the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and the Future.
The three agencies reviewed 80 applications for the program. To maximize the impact of the awards, projects eligible for funds included owners of critical infrastructure that served at least 10 commercial fishermen or aquaculturists for the purposes of providing waterfront access and landing products.
The Island Institute and the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association also dedicated resources to help property owners complete and submit grant applications.
The program enabled grant applicants to request up to $2 million for design, permitting and construction of their project. Applicants were also required to provide a 1-to-1 financial match toward the cost of the work, state officials said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated which recipient of storm repair funds received the smallest amount.