Another 45 acres of marshland could be preserved if the Scarborough Town Council on Wednesday approves spending $250,000 in bond money to help finance a $1 million purchase.

“It’s part of our industrial park and it could potentially be developed in the future,” retiring Scarborough Town Manager Ron Owens said last week during one of his final days on the job. “A good part of the property is wetland and it became a high priority for the conservation groups in town to try and protect the property so the wildlife area could be expanded.”

Two groups, Friends of Scarborough Marsh and the Conservation Land Trust, are working with several partners and using a variety of funding sources, including the money from the town, to buy the property and keep it a wildlife sanctuary, said C.D. Armstrong, a member of the Friends of Scarborough Marsh.

The site is a piece of wetland on Manson-Libby Road zoned for commercial use. It has roughly 50 percent wetland and 50 percent upland that is currently part of the Scarborough Industrial Park, Armstrong said.

The Gervais family owns the property and is selling it to help conserve and maintain the natural habitat in the area, Armstrong said.

“We’re hoping that surrounding abutters of the wetland marsh would like to do that, too,” Armstrong said. “If the town approves the money, it’s a win-win.”

The $250,000 would come from a $2.5 million bond for open spaces that Scarborough voters approved in 2003.

“This is just one of the latest efforts to preserve some open space areas,” said Owens, whose replacement, Thomas Hall, the former Rockland town manager, started this week.

The Scarborough Marsh represents about 15 percent of Maine’s salt marsh, and is the state’s largest and continous salt marsh. It is home to numerous threatened and endangered species, as well as many non-threatened species, Armstrong said.

Closely monitoring development in Scarborough while protecting the marsh lands is critical, which is why helping pay for part of the land’s purchase is in the town’s best interest, said Scarborough Town Councilor Michael Wood.

“When a lot of people think of Scarborough, they think of the marsh,” Wood said. “Scarborough is a highly sought-after town for development. It’s important to protect these lands and make sure we pursue protection of valuable resources along with maintaining wise development.”

Wednesday’s Town Council meeting was held after deadline for The Current.