Members of the Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation (BRMF) recently accepted a new sign from Laura Graham, Senior Planner from the Land for Maine’s Future (LMF) Program. This sign represents three years of work, much of which was conducted by Melissa Holmes Whitt, Esq. on behalf of BRMF.

Deanne Tibbetts, BRMF president, and BRMF treasurer Troy Plummer, applied for the program in March of 2019. In June of that same year, BRMF’s property at 87 Atlantic Avenue, Boothbay Harbor, was one of six properties chosen for the award that protects Maine’s working waterfront. The property is currently leased by Luke’s Lobster and is used as a lobster buying station.

BRMF is the second non-profit, and the first in many years to be selected for the program. Since they were chosen, the Department of Marine Resources (DMR), LMF, and Whitt Law have worked to forge new ground on the specifics of the agreement between the organizations. Graham said, “The next go round should be much easier. This was a first for us and there was a lot that we needed to figure out.” The result was a 24-page Working Waterfront Covenant and Right of First Refusal between the State of Maine and the Foundation. This is a major accomplishment for BRMF and as a result of it the property at 87 Atlantic Avenue has the protection of the state of Maine and will forever be used for commercial fishing.

This award for $250,000 was from the Working Waterfront Access Protection Program and will be used to rebuild the wharf at 87 Atlantic Ave. The Working Waterfront Access Program (WWAPP) is administered by DMR. Funding decisions are made by the Land for Maine’s Future board.

The Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation is a 501 (c) (3) with a mission of preserving and teaching about the maritime heritage of the Boothbay region. You can learn more about them at https://www.boothbayregionmaritimefoundation.org/home.