PORTLAND — Half a dozen supporters of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester testified before the Maine Turnpike Authority board Thursday that the nonprofit cannot afford the $3,000 annual fee for highway signs.

About 20 people attended the public hearing on new rules governing turnpike signs, some urging the board to waive the fees for museums and nonprofit educational sites. It was held at the MTA offices on Congress Street.

Michael Graham, director of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, a national historic landmark on Route 26, said he was representing Sister Frances Carr, Sister June Carpenter and Brother Arnold Hadd of the Shaker community.

“I am grateful this afternoon to recognize that for 19 years, brown-and-white signs along the Maine Turnpike have boldly put the name ‘Shaker Village’ in front of hundreds of thousands of tourists and travelers,” he said. “The Maine Turnpike Authority has provided those signs at no cost to Shaker Village. Many visitors tell us that those signs piqued their curiosity and caused them to make an otherwise unplanned visit to Shaker Village.”

To meet federal requirements for about $170 million in highway funding, the Maine Legislature passed a law in April that will result in about 90 signs being removed or relocated closer to the exits leading to the locations advertised, or being replaced with smaller signs that meet federal rules. The law affects the turnpike, Interstate 95 and I-295.

The Shaker Village signs are among those to be removed over the next five years.

“We have been told that we will lose our brown-and-white turnpike signs and that we will qualify to receive new logo signs that will cost us $3,000 annually,” Graham said.

“Quite simply, Shaker Village cannot possibly afford this exceptionally high, annual expense in order to retain our presence along Maine’s most-heavily traveled roadway,” he said. “Over a 10-year period, that sum amounts to $30,000, which Shaker Village needs for historic preservation and the continuation of educational programs.”

In addition to being the world’s only active Shaker community, Shaker Village is the largest of Maine’s 43 national historic landmarks, and is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Districts.

Graham said that in 1972, Shaker Village became a nonprofit corporation that provides educational outreach and preserves Shaker culture for present and future generations.

“We maintain 17 historic buildings, we manage 1,800 acres of land, we operate a museum and we have four full-time and 12 part-time employees and we preserve a collection of more than 100,000 historic objects with an annual budget of $280,000,” Graham said. “Like many other nonprofit organizations, and like many other Mainers, we at Shaker Village know how to live within our means, which is a delicate balance.”

Graham said, “Generations of faithful souls through 231 years have sustained a living culture, still at Shaker Village, that today is studied, valued and honored by people from around the world.”

Jessica Routhier of South Portland, president of Maine Archives and Museums,  pleaded Thursday for a special policy for nonprofits and museums. She said cultural tourism benefits the state at large.

Steve Chandler of New Gloucester told the MTA board that his family and the Shaker community have worked together for centuries. “For everything that comes up at the Shaker Village, they always do the right thing. For you, do the right thing, too.”

State Rep. Ellie Espling, R-New Gloucester, said she opposed the legislation passed in April.

“I was concerned about the policy and how it affects our area, especially the Shaker Village,” she said. “Those folks can’t afford high fees and were caught off-guard.”

MTA board Chairman Daniel Wathen of Augusta said a contract with the sign vendor expires in 2016 and the board will negotiate a new one, but for now, the fees cannot be changed.

The board will accept written comments on the sign rules until Friday. They may be sent to the Maine Turnpike Authority, 2360 Congress St., Portland, ME 04102