BRUNSWICK

The town of Brunswick held a second public site walk of the tax acquired property at 946 Mere Point Road on Wednesday night as neighbors, town councilors and committee members were able to see the property for themselves at high tide.

A previous site walk was held Saturday at low tide, showing exposed mud flats and eelgrass beds.

At issue is the town trying to discern what is the best use of the property for the citizens of Brunswick — whether to make it a public access point to Merrymeeting Bay or sell it to be returned to the tax rolls.

Brunswick Marine Warden Dan Devereaux addressed the crowd of nearly 20 people, delineating the unofficial boundaries of the property as sitting between two ravines.

Devereaux pointed out various other access points to the bay, however, none with a westward sunset view. Laughing, Devereaux added that there’s no bad place on the water in Brunswick to watch the sunset.

Devereaux invited the public to ask questions and roam the property to see for themselves what possible uses the property could provide.

Heather Osterfeld owns property about 100 feet away from 946 Mere Point Road. She said that even neighbors who do not abut the property are affected as that part of the neighborhood forms a “C” around part of the bay.

Osterfeld said that even if a neighbor is not an abutter, they will still be looking at whatever public use the town may plan for the property.

“When you buy a property, you analyze what’s around you. It’s a way of predicting the future and the sensibility of making an investment,” Osterfeld said.

Osterfeld started her career in Brunswick as a special educator at Brunswick Junior High 37 years ago. She said when her husband was transferred to Vermont, she went “kicking and screaming,” vowing to return one day.

She said she saved for 37 years to be able to find a place in the tiny neighborhood. She said the common misconception is that it is a neighborhood of people born with a silver spoon in their mouths rather than people who have worked and saved to be there.

“That’s my sanctuary — that’s my dream come true that I’ve worked for my whole life,” Osterfeld said pointing in the direction of her home.

Arabella Strovink’s back door is about 50 feet away from the property.

“We’ve lived in the neighborhood since 2013. We were married in Maine in 1999 in this beautiful part of the world. It’s a great place to raise our family,” Strovink said.

Strovink said that through all of the arguments, the sad story of how this property came to be acquired by the town has been missed.

“I just think it’s a shame that there are situations like this where people do have to foreclose on a home where they can’t pay what seems to be a very small amount of taxes at the time. I think this is a very human story,” Strovink said.

According to Strovink, the now-derelict house that sits on the property — uninhabitable according to Devereaux because of mold — was once built by a father and son.

Strovink said that the son, a military veteran, fell on hard times after inheriting the property and could not raise the money to keep it in his family.

Both Strovink and Osterfeld said they believe that the best way to do what’s right by the people of Brunswick is to sell the property as a single-family lot and let the people of the town benefit from the taxes it will provide.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com

The best use

• AT ISSUE is the town trying to discern what is the best use of the Mere Point property for the citizens of Brunswick — whether to make it a public access point to Merrymeeting Bay or sell it to be returned to the tax rolls.