Officials in Blue Hill are applying for a Working Waterfront grant that would be used to purchase this property adjacent to the town’s wharf in South Blue Hill. The property up for sale would add a half-acre of land to the town’s wharf site and also offers possible uses for the building and the prospect of rebuilding the pier.—STAFF PHOTO BY JAMES STRAUB

BLUE HILL — In an effort to keep the working waterfront working, selectmen authorized the Marine Resource Committee to apply for a grant to buy property adjacent to the town wharf in South Blue Hill.

The committee expects to submit its application for a Working Waterfront grant with the Land for Maine’s Future board by the Jan. 15 deadline.

If the state approves the concept, the town would take the next step and hire an appraiser.

Funding for Maine’s Working Waterfront access program was established in 2005 and has been enhanced by voter-approved bond issues over the years.

Funds are available to waterfront communities to help them acquire or preserve commercial fisheries access properties.

Officials in Blue Hill are interested in buying a half-acre parcel adjacent to the South Blue Hill wharf. The property includes a house and has been on the market with an asking price of $825,000.

If the town’s application is well received, the town would hire an appraiser, who would establish two appraisals for a one-acre waterfront parcel that would include a half-acre of town-owned property and the half-acre site up for sale.

One appraisal would be based on the property’s highest value on the open market. The other would be based on the value of the property with a restricted-use covenant in place, one that would preserve access for commercial fishing activity.

The wharf in South Blue Hill Monday morning provides a window onto the town’s working waterfront.—STAFF PHOTO BY JAMES STRAUB

A covenant that restricts the use of the property reduces its value. The amount of the Working Waterfront grant would be the difference between the higher value of a one-acre waterfront parcel on the open market and its value with a restricted-use covenant.

For instance, if the value is $1 million without restrictions and $350,000 when restrictions are put in place, the grant would be $650,000.

Voters at Blue Hill’s annual Town Meeting last April appropriated $10,000 to preserve or improve working waterfront in town. The cost of a state-approved appraisal, estimated at $7,000, would be paid from the appropriation.

Since the Working Waterfront access program started, it has conserved or is working on nine working waterfront properties with a total fair market value of more than $8 million.

The Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Land for Maine’s Future program oversee the Working Waterfront access program. Coastal Enterprises Inc. and the Island Institute serve as program managers under contract with the DMR.

Area communities that have received Working Waterfront grants include Isle au Haut in Knox County off Deer Isle and Tremont on Mount Desert Island.

Isle au Haut received $104,000 to purchase a covenant on town-owned waterfront valued at $350,000.

In Tremont, a covenant will assure that Davis Wharf located in Goose Cove will continue the fishing tradition at the property owned by the Davis family. An allocation of $265,000 from the Land for Maine’s Future program was used to buy a covenant on the property with a fair market value of $720,000.