OGUNQUIT — The Select Board voted Tuesday to approve a $275,000 “Footbridge Beach Revitalization” project as a municipal bond, which included efforts to fix the pedestrian bridge at Footbridge Beach and renovate the bathrooms. In a separate meeting, the board also approved a $150,000 gift from resident Wayne Griffin to landscape a portion of Marginal Way near “Devil’s Kitchen,” contingent on negotiations between the town and Griffin.

The current landscaping plan for Marginal Way involves removing all the plant material and soil in an area near “Devil’s Kitchen” and landscaping the area with native plants ”“ mainly a mixture of ferns, shrubs and bushes. Thomas Lynch, who designed the proposal, says his plan will eliminate the invasive species problem in the area, improve drainage and runoff, and fight coastline erosion.

The Marginal Way committee narrowly voted 4-3 in favor of approving the new plan, and the Select Board voted 4-1 to preliminarily accept the gift.

Central to the concerns over the $150,000 gift were worries that Griffin’s wishes for the property would weigh heavily on the landscaping outcome. Griffin’s own property abuts the area he is offering to improve, and several members of the Marginal Way committee voiced their concerns that conifers are being excluding from the town property on Marginal Way because they would grow too high and impede Griffin’s view of the ocean. Several Austrian pines currently occupy the space that were planted several years ago, and plans to trim them were never carried out according to Town Manager Thomas Fortier.

“I’m not naive,” Select Board Chair Barbara Dailey said. “I’m sure [Griffin] wants a good view, let’s be clear, and the challenge for us is to weigh the economics, to weigh the parameters that have been offered; to weigh the valuation equation of $150,000 worth of landscaping.”

Other members of the Select Board supported the gift and were encouraged by the private effort to improve Marginal Way, which had long been under-maintained by the town due to financial constraints.

“This is the kind of thing we want to do,” Select Board Member David Barton said. “The ulterior motives that are being suggested here simply don’t apply. … I’m enthusiastic about this, I think it’s a great time to see what works down there; what’ll grow.”

Select Board Member Robert Winn Jr. cast the dissenting vote. The project, if it receives final approval, will be completed in 8 weeks.

In a budget meeting held earlier that day, the Select Board voted unanimously to approve the “Footbridge Revitalization” Project as part of the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Town Manager Thomas Fortier said the town will be pursuing grants to supplement this project. This combined two separate efforts to fix the bridge and renovate the bathrooms in the area, and will go to voters later this year.

“[The bridge] is a lynchpin for that whole little enclave of activity,” Barton said of Footbridge Beach.