AUGUSTA, Maine — Just before Thursday's sunrise, the Legislature passed a supplemental budget, including some $60 million in storm disaster relief funds for both coastal and inland counties.
Commissioner Heather Johnson's Economic & Community Development Department will handle $10 million of it for small businesses and nonprofits.
"What does strengthening going forward look like," Johnson posed. "How do we build and support resilience?"
She explained the funds would not only be used to rebuild damaged structures but make those structures resilient to future storms. For instance, if an existing breaker box was now below the flood line, the funds could help move it or install a new one.
Commissioner Patrick Keliher of the Maine Department of Marine Resources will help MaineDOT with the other $50 million, aimed at infrastructure.
"The devastation is at a real critical level for Maine’s working waterfront, and the goal here is to get this money on the ground as quickly as we can," Keliher said.
No one was sure in which category Tricia Brown fit. She and her husband built their Steuben wharf in 2022, from which they commercially fish and run Acadia Puffin Cruises. On Jan. 10, a powerful storm obliterated their new wharf. FEMA personnel came door to door, and Brown said they were kind and helpful, but then the FEMA website denied her assistance because her wharf wasn’t part of her home.
A FEMA spokesperson confirmed the Stafford Act only allows them to process home damage and personal belongings. They said a Small Business Association disaster loan might help. Brown said she had been in limbo with the SBA for weeks, after rebuilding the wharf herself in time for May’s start to puffin season.
"We’ve spent about $35-40,000 out of pocket on our replacement gear over at the wharf," Brown said, adding her relatively small structure was a cheap fix compared to her neighbor.
She estimated their longer destroyed wharf would run half a million dollars. She hoped this new state funding might reach them all, saying she was worried they’d be competing with the whole coast.
Keliher said the cost of building back stronger was still unknown and would take several years.
"As we go through and start to see this, we’ll have a better understanding of whether it is enough," he said of the $60 million price tag.
The MaineDOT and DMR plan to begin accepting applications May 9, with Economic & Community Development accepting small business and nonprofit applications on May 16. By law, they can begin disbursing funds 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, which is July 17.