BRUNSWICK
The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) has added three new local representatives to an advisory board that will review progress on a train layover facility project planned for a site bordered by Stanwood Street, Church Road, Turner Street and Bouchard Drive, according to a press release from the Brunswick West Neighborhood Coalition.
District 4 Town Councilor John Perreault and residents Dan Sullivan and Bob McEvoy will join the advisory group alongside resident Anna Nelson and Atlarge Town Councilor Joanne King.
At a Nov. 7 Town Council meeting, Nelson — a spokeswoman for the neighborhood group — called for Perreault to be named to the advisory group instead of King, citing “(Perreault’s) experience in the construction field.” Both councilors will now serve on the panel.
The neighborhood group, which according to the release “ supports Downeaster service to Brunswick, but is proactively engaged in protecting its neighborhood from the certain negative impacts this ( train layover) facility would inflict,” will now have three representatives on the advisory panel instead of two.
The neighborhood coalition supports construction of the facility at location in East Brunswick instead of current plans that would build the facility at the site NNEPRA calls Brunswick West.
In a phone interview Nov. 9, NNEPRA executive director Patricia Quinn told The Times Record that there are “ no really viable alternatives” to the Brunswick West site.
The neighborhood coalition also called for noise mitigation measures if the facility is built at the site currently proposed.
On Nov. 7, Nelson told the Town Council that “substantial mitigation is needed or the neighborhood will change forever.”
A Nov. 3 letter from Quinn to Brunswick officials indicated that construction of a 60,000- square-foot facility would likely exceed the project’s budget and could result in NNEPRA reverting to plans for a 40,000- square-foot facility.
If three trains were to be parked overnight, that facility could leave one train idling outside, Quinn told The Times Record in a phone interview Nov. 9.
According to a report compiled in August by Charlie Wallace — founder of an environmental engineering firm based near the Brunswick West site — a noise study of a train idling on nearby tracks exceeded World Health Organization criteria for sleep disturbance.
Wallace’s study was prepared for McEvoy, who will now serve on the advisory panel.
Nelson, spokeswoman for the neighborhood coalition, said the first meeting of the advisory group will take place Friday at 10 a. m. in NNEPRA’s Portland office at 75 W. Commercial St., Suite 104.
¦ A NOV. 3 LETTER from NNEPRA executive director Patricia Quinn to Brunswick officials indicated that construction of a 60,000-square-foot facility would likely exceed the project’s budget and could result in NNEPRA reverting to plans for a 40,000-square-foot facility.
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