BRUNSWICK

Competing financial needs from several departments are prompting the Brunswick Town Council to weigh carefully what projects it will endorse, including a new elementary school.

Councilors on Monday night did not take action on whether to support a $33 million request from the School Board to build a primary grade school to replace the Coffin School and renovate Brunswick Junior High.

The school projects are under consideration. It is possible, based on the night’s discussion, that the projects may be separated from one another via separate ordinances: a near $28 million, fully locally tax funded pre-K through Grade 2 school and later, a $5.7 million structurally improved junior high school built with hoped-for state financial aid.

The school building projects are coming up against the need for a central fire station, a request heard by Finance Committee members during its Dec. 1 meeting.

No price tag was cited for a new fire station by Councilor Jane Millett Monday night. However, word of the fire department’s need came after councilors listened to a presentation seeking money for an expansion of public bus routes between Brunswick and Portland.

The date for a public hearing on the school proposals has not been set. It may be late in January or early in February at a Town Council meeting, said Chairwoman Sarah Brayman.

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