A major state grant awarded this year to the town of Chilmark to restore Squibnocket Beach may be in jeopardy because it was tied to a project that voters rejected at the annual town meeting in April.

The $280,000 grant was part of a pilot program created by Gov. Deval Patrick and administered by the Office of Coastal Zone Management to reduce the risks associated with coastal storms, erosion and sea level rise. The program encourages natural approaches known as green infrastructure.

But town leaders have recently learned that because the grant was tied specifically to the beach restoration plan that failed to win voter approval last spring, the money could be lost. A spokesman for Coastal Zone Management told the Gazette late Wednesday that the terms of the grant could possibly be amended.

“Any change would have to be consistent with the grant requirements and in line with the nature of the original proposal,” said Brad Washburn, assistant director of CZM. He said the town has not proposed any amendments, “but if a project were to be consistent with those kind of themes, it’s plausible that the scope could be amended.”

The news adds yet another wrinkle to a complicated discussion now taking place around the Squibnocket Beach restoration project. A town committee has been meeting all summer in a neutral fact-finding mission amid many competing stakeholders, including private homeowners at Squibnocket Farm and in Blacksmith Valley. As yet there is no consensus on a specific direction to take.

But during committee meetings this summer, questions surfaced about whether the town would be able to meet a June 30 deadline for spending the grant money, if all the interested parties could not agree on a plan to put in front of voters. At the request of committee chairman Jim Malkin, last week Chuck Hodgkinson, who wrote the grant application, and executive secretary Timothy Carroll contacted Mr. Washburn to learn more about the terms of the grant, including whether it can be rolled into fiscal year 2016, and whether some of the money would be available before then.

Mr. Washburn said Wednesday that the grant was already available, and could be used to reimburse any expenditures as long as they were in line with the original scope of work.

As far as rolling the grant into the next fiscal year, he said, “It’s a little early now, seeing as they haven’t started work yet, so I think we’d want to see what we could accomplish or what the town could accomplish prior to [the 2015] deadline.”

He added that extending the grant would be at the discretion of the Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs. “So I think it’s just a little premature yet to talk about that.”

Mr. Malkin said Tuesday that the program will only fund proposals that have been approved by a town meeting vote. The committee has been planning to bring a final recommendation to the annual town meeting in April or to a special town meeting this winter.

Town officials responded to CZM last week, asking what could be done to extend the grant into fiscal year 2016. Mr. Malkin reported that Mr. Washburn said he would talk to his superior at CZM, and with the department of revenue. Town officials expected an answer this week. Mr. Malkin said he was reluctant to continue “trying to push the door open more than we have been able to get it open.”

Mr. Washburn offered his assurance that the CZM was “committed to funding this project,” and was waiting for an indication from the town on how to proceed. “Any modifications to the scope or the timing of the project we’ll kind of take as they come,” he said.

Voters at the annual town meeting rejected a proposal to remove a stone revetment, relocate the town parking lot and build a raised causeway to replace the only access road to the homes at Squibnocket Farm. The proposal also would have increased the town’s beach holdings more than fivefold. It was the result of a months-long negotiation between the board of selectmen and the Squibnocket Farm Homeowners Association.

The grant would have been added to the town’s $400,000 contribution to pay for a 99-year lease on the beach property. Although the grant was awarded after the proposal was rejected, the application had been submitted in March.

Meanwhile, the committee has discussed the possibility of applying for another CZM grant, but Mr. Malkin said Tuesday that applications for the next funding round would be due this Friday. Mr. Washburn said it was unclear whether the green infrastructure program would continue next year.

Several alternative proposals have been submitted to the committee since July, but none are in their final stages. The Friends of Squibnocket, a group of homeowners near the beach, presented a proposal in September that featured a dune ridge that would protect a one-lane road and migrate inland over time. It was the result of several months of engineering studies paid for by the group. Other proposals, including one to create an artificial reef, were mostly conceptual.

The committee will revisit the issue at its meeting next Tuesday.

At a special town meeting Oct. 20, Mr. Malkin will present a progress report on the committee’s work so far.