On Monday night, Westport Island selectmen reviewed a letter from Kennebec Estuary Land Trust (KELT) explaining that all other funding for the Squam Creek preserve had been secured and the project now needs the town’s pledged amount. 

In June 2016, voters authorized a $50,000 contribution.  Selectmen’s Chairman George Richardson Jr. said the town has arranged to secure a loan financing $5,000 per year over 10 years at 2.84 percent interest.

A vigorous funding campaign of more than a year included a challenge gift of $100,000 from a local family. A crowd-funding site raised $15,000. The seller agreed to cut the property’s price to $400,000, nd $141,000 in federal grant funding was secured.

In a phone interview with the Wiscasset Newspaper, Dennis Dunbar, resident and KELT board member and a Westport Islesident, expressed KELT’s “heartfelt thanks for all the support we received from the town.”

Next steps will be to install a parking area and kiosk when the weather permits.  An opening ceremony will be set for early summer. In the interim, two hikes are planned — one on May 13 to view the birds; the other, May 20, when hikers will be able to see the wildflowers. Both events are part of KELT’s spring stewardship program.

Also Monday, Tamara Tyler, accompanied by neighbor Gary Webber and friends Ron and Mary Stead, asked for the town’s help with flooding in her driveway and within 20 feet of her home. She said it may be originating on an adjacent property. Selectmen said the property line needed to be identified before steps could be taken.

Selectmen announced that a review of the 2017-18 Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 budget will be held at the town office on Monday, March 13 at 6 p.m. All Westport Island residents are welcome.