BRUNSWICK

Opponents of a proposed train layover and maintenance facility will appear before the Town Council to argue their case on Oct. 7, one week prior to the town’s official public hearing on the issue.

District 4 Councilor John Perreault, with help from attorney and district two Councilor Ben Tucker, managed to get the item added to the evening’s agenda after a convoluted procedural discussion.

Perreault, who is on the Layover Building Advisory Group, said that he had been unable to get a similar item on previous agendas. He wanted to provide a chance for members of the West Brunswick Neighborhood Coalition to address the council with their concerns about the Amtrak layover facility proposed to be built near their homes.

“They’re always responding to (Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority’s) questions, (but) they want their own time to present some information,” Perreault said.

His motion passed 7-2, with Tucker and council Chairwoman Suzan Wilson opposed.

However, councilors later voted 8-0 to table the item until a future agenda — presumably the council’s next meeting on Oct. 7 — so, Perreault said, he could “have a proper motion (drafted) and people here to tell us why they would like to speak to us.”

The decision comes two days after the Federal Rail Administration released its environmental assessment of the proposed layover building.

Officials from NNEPRA, which manages operation of Amtrak’s Downeaster passenger train between Brunswick and Boston, say they need the $12 million, 60,000-square-foot building to address residents’ complaints of noise, vibration and air quality, as well as to allow for additional trips.

But residents of several neighborhoods between Stanwood Street and Church Road say the building is too large, too conspicuous and will not fix the problems.

The town has no jurisdiction over the project. Rather, whether the layover building meets feasibility standards is subject to the FRA’s findings. With the assessment’s release, the clock also began ticking on a 30-day period for the public to comment on the assessment’s findings, which expires Oct. 13.

The town’s public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 26, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Brunswick Station. During the meeting NNEPRA officials will answer questions about the building and its proposed construction schedule.

In related news, the town’s request to the FRA for additional quiet zones — where train engineers would not be required to sound the locomotive’s horn at road crossings during overnight and early morning hours — remains pending, according to Town Manager Gary Brown.

Initial approval was rescinded almost immediately after it was given, Brown said, because the rail oversight body could not replicate train movement calculations submitted by Pan Am Railways, which owns the tracks over which the Downeaster travels.

Brunswick’s calculations checked out, Brown said, and added that he expected a final ruling either by the end of this week or next.

In other business Monday, councilors lent their support to a grant application, submitted by a Brunswick-based marine research firm, to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Darcie Couture of Resource Access International LLC is asking for the maximum amount of $350,000, which would be used to fund local efforts to eradicate the European green crab. Couture said the funds also would be used to recruit fishermen and diggers from other coastal communities, such as Harpswell and Chebeague Island.

The council also decided unanimously to accept Shobe Avenue and Krampf and Windorf circles as town ways. The roads previously were part of the U.S. Navy’s housing developments in what now is called McKeen Landing, after being purchased and renovated for sale and lease by Auburn developer George Schott’s Affordable Maine Housing group.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com

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