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Council authorizes applications for Maine DOT adaptation funds for harbor upgrades and harbor master office
Summary
Council authorized staff to submit two grant applications to the Maine Department of Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation Fund: up to $200,000 for harbor master office upgrades (5% match) and up to $4,000,000 for raising/extending the City Landing breakwater (5% match). The council approved delegation of signature authority to the city manager.
The council voted June 18 to pursue state funding to address recurring flooding and sea‑level related damage at City Landing.
Joellen Warren, deputy economic development director and resiliency planner, described two applications to the Maine Department of Transportation Infrastructure Adaptation Fund. Staff recommended applying for up to $200,000 to evaluate and implement harbor master office upgrades (design, scoping, possible elevation or relocation) with a five percent city match. Warren said the larger package could be used as matching funds for other federal or state programs and that previous studies point to needed work on the breakwater.
Council then approved submission of a second application for up to $4,000,000 to raise and extend the City Landing breakwater—work that staff described as a multi‑stage hazard mitigation project. Warren noted earlier studies of sedimentation and vulnerability and the potential to assemble other grants (including FEMA/MEMA) to reach a total project scale estimated in the transcript as $8–$12 million when fully assembled.
Both grant submissions were approved by the council (motions passed 5–0), with authorization for the city manager to execute required documents. Councilors emphasized the need to act quickly to secure state funding while modeling future federal matches.
