KINGFIELD - Friends of Kingfield Farmland has until December to raise money to buy 46 acres of hayfields that highlight the entrance to town on Route 27.

"After last week's meeting, the response and interest shown by the people who attended led owners Mark and Mary Hurvitt of Blue Hill to give the group an extension," said Stacy Cuppernell, a local woman who initiated the effort to buy and preserve the fields.

The property is listed by CSM Real Estate of Kingfield for $225,000.

Cuppernell signed a 90-day option on the property this summer after seeing a "For sale" sign posted on the property where she and many others frequently walk, bike, cross-country ski and snowmobile, she has said.

Concern over losing part of the Kingfield gateway prompted Cuppernell to seek support from area residents to purchase and protect what she sees as part of the town's agricultural heritage.

With the option on the property due to expire at the end of September, Cuppernell sent more than 200 letters to residents inviting them to the meeting to see if there was community interest and support for preserving the land.

She also invited Maine Farmland Trust staff to explore permanently protecting the property as working farmland once it is purchased.

About two dozen people attended, and Cuppernell was pleased with the interest expressed and the fact that one resident offered to pay for an appraisal of the land, she said.

Some townspeople have questioned the value of the land, part of which is in the flood plain. The land also offers approximately 1,000 feet of frontage on the Carrabassett River and about 700 feet of frontage on Route 27.

An independent appraiser will be hired, she said. The committee will then schedule its next meeting to decide on fundraising tactics.

There was also interest expressed at the meeting in preserving the whole intervale, which includes the 46 acres, she said.

Poland Spring Water Co. purchased 42 acres of adjoining hayfields north of the property with the intention of selling them to the town over the next 10 years as part of a tax-break agreement.