Bob Faunce of the Lincoln Country Regional Planning Commission met with the selectmen on March 14 to talk about the dangers of flooding in Boothbay Harbor.

He showed pictures of the high tide on Feb 11, the highest tide of the month, showing only a couple feet separating this tide from buildings along the shoreline and extending over the harbor. He spoke about not just the rising sea waters, but also the “runup” of water that builds into waves which get large during storms, resulting in waves large enough to cause severe flooding.

Faunce proposed a two-part project for the town. The first step would be informing people who live on the shoreline about flood insurance, and the second step would be providing an engineer to evaluate buildings along the shoreline for flood danger and precautions that could be taken. The engineer could be hired using a NOAA grant, which would be $25,000 with 20 percent provided by the town. Faunce offered to help the town in the application process.

Chairman Denise Griffin spoke about the possible return on investment such a grant could bring the town.

“Let’s say a typical waterfront home along Atlantic Avenue has $5,000 a year in taxes,” Griffin said. “If a flood occurs and the landowners choose not to rebuild, that’s a loss of income to the town. If we chip in $5,000 and can save just one house, I’d say that’s money well spent.”

“We were proactive when we adopted the new FEMA flood maps last year,” Town Manager Tom Woodin said to Faunce, “We notified all waterfront land owners about the new guidelines. So that part's been done already.”

“I don’t think people truly understand though,” Faunce said. “There is a huge difference between a few inches in the basement and a flood on your first floor.”

“I think people who have lived in their homes for a long time are looking back at the history of their home,” Vice Chairman Bill Hamblen said. “In 80 years, they’ve seen maybe one flood, and it was six inches. So they say ‘I’m willing to take the risk.’”

“It’s worth testing the idea if business owners would want the opportunity to access the engineer,” Griffin said.

“I think being a coastal community this is an important issue,” Selectman Wendy Wolf agreed. “My inclination is to be supportive of this.”

The selectmen agreed to keep the issue in mind and keep in touch with Faunce. As he packed up Wolf remarked “I’d better go home and build my ark.”