SEARSPORT – The group in charge of defining the use of 600 acres on Sears Island set the machinery in motion Friday to find a conservation easement holder by mid-January.

During a two-hour meeting at the SAD 56 superintendent’s building, the Sears Island Joint Use Planning Committee by consensus agreed on a job description of 11 criteria for the organization filling the conservation role and set a timetable for the search.

An easement is usually a legal permanent document, according to the committee. It limits some rights of the landowner and should be a clear document that meets the conservation needs of the landowner.

Committee members Scott Dickerson of Coastal Mountains Land Trust and Robert Grindrod of the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Inc. agreed to collaborate on a draft of a request for proposal, or RFP. The draft is to be ready by next Wednesday, Dec. 12.

The Maine Department of Transportation eventually will post the RFP on its Web site and advertise the position of conservation easement holder in a newspaper. Proposals must be self-funded.

“As opposed to offering somebody a chance to make money, we’re offering somebody the chance to take on a headache,” one committee member quipped.

The committee has been working on land use for Sears Island since July 2006. Altogether, 341 acres will be used for a port facility on the island, and the remaining 600 acres will be set aside for a conservation easement for preservation and recreation.

“We are critically behind schedule in this process,” said Dickerson. “All of our interests are shackled until we finish the task we took on.”

Facilitator Dianne Smith said the committee will “sunset,” or be finished, by June 30, 2008, one year after the group’s formation. Members would like to engage a conservation firm by March 2008 to be able to work together on goals.

The committee also looked at dredge and trail information provided by Deane VanDusen of the Maine DOT and reviewed land use maps of the island provided by Bob Ramsdell.

George Chappell may be reached at gchappell@bangordailynews.net or 236-4598.