Damariscotta receives multi-million dollar grant to protect from flooding

DAMARISCOTTA (WGME) -- The town of Damariscotta has received a multi-million dollar grant to do some work that the town manager says needs to happen.

This project has been in the works for years, and it will keep local businesses and a parking lot from flooding.

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“I’ve seen kayaks in the puddle!” Colby and Gale Service Station Manager Daryl Fraser said. “Yeah a couple years ago we had a kayaker in the puddle.”

It happens a few times a year, flooding into the parking lot and into businesses behind Main Street in Damariscotta.

“When the tide is very high and there’s a strong breeze out of the south, it comes up through the drains and gets right into the shop,” Artsake Framing Gallery Owner Alan Baldwin said.

But hopefully, that won't happen anymore.

“Finally, this past April we were awarded $3 million, and that $3 million matches about $1.4 million that we have locally, only $161,000 of that is taxpayer money,” Damariscotta Town Manager Matt Lutkus said.

The grant money and money raised by the town will be used for construction of the parking lot, pedestrian walkways and park improvements.

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“It will pay for a portion of the cost of our new restroom, which will start being constructed in two weeks,” Lutkus said. “It’ll pay for a new sewer system, sanitary sewer system under the parking lot.”

There are a few options to protect businesses, like raising the parking lot, but the details are still being worked out.

“The solution has to include more than protecting against the storm that might hit in the next 20/30 years, it has to take into account the quality of life in the town,” Lutkus said.

Construction on the restroom will start in the next two weeks. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2022.