CANTON – Plans to move a major portion of the village away from the floodplain got a boost Thursday when officials learned they will receive a $400,000 federal grant.

“This is excellent news. It starts the process,” said Sue Gammon, a former selectman and member of the advisory committee charged with trying to get grants for the move.

Damage to the town was estimated at $2 million when heavy December rains flooded a part of the town, resulting in it being declared a federal disaster area. A large portion of the village is located in the Androscoggin River 100-year floodplain and often floods.

The town’s Comprehensive Plan Committee recommended moving the village, mostly located along Route 140 from the Gilbertville Bridge to the intersection with Route 108, as well as a portion of Route 108 itself, to another, higher section of Route 108, before the most recent flooding happened.

Committee Co-chairwoman Diane Ray has estimated a total cost of about $12 million for buying out homeowners and removing buildings over a period of years. The advisory committee continues to meet to apply for other grants that would help pay for the move, said Gammon.

The $400,000, a Community Development Innovative Housing Grant, is a start in that process, she said. It can be used only for buying out private property owners, not for moving or replacing public buildings, such as the municipal building and school, which are also located on the floodplain and often flooded.

Letters are going out this week to the 87 property owners located within the floodplain, explaining the plan. Whether a property owner wants to sell his property at the assessed market value will be voluntary.

Once letters are returned, the advisory committee will go through them and begin devising a plan. The committee has met with Federal Emergency Management Agency representatives who have helped devise a priority list of properties that must be moved.

Gammon said a series of public hearings will be held as the plan progresses.

If the village is relocated over the next few years, it will become only the second Maine municipality to move a significant portion of its built-up area in modern history. The town of Fort Fairfield, in northern Aroostook County, began moving 48 homes, or replacing these homes with others out of the Aroostook River floodplain, in 1994. The project took four years and several million dollars.

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