BRUNSWICK

After repeatedly butting heads with nearby residents, the completion of the Downeaster layover facility located behind Turner Street will move forward unimpeded.

The deadline to appeal the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issuance of a stormwater permit passed on Dec. 29, leaving the 6.7- acre, $12.7 million Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority project cleared to complete construction. The steel frame of the storage facility, which can hold three locomotives, is already in place.

Not everyone is cheering, however. Sandy Buckles of the former Brunswick West Neighborhood Coalition said on Monday that the group opted not to file an appeal or seek further action against the project, but said that she herself does not plan on sticking around to see it built. Buckles says she has little choice but to move.

“I’m sitting here looking out on my back deck and all I see is this humongous, obnoxious looking building going up behind me. It’s a waste — it’s a waste of Maine taxpayer money and that’s what makes me mad,” Buckles said.

Wayne Davis of Trainriders Northeast said he is relieved the long process is over and while he said he doesn’t want to diminish the sense of loss for those living in the adjacent neighborhood, he believes they should wait until the project is completed before feeling they have to move away.

Davis said in two or three years when the facility is completed along with berms, landscaping and the addition of trees, current residents would wonder why they left.

“I walked over there Sunday and the train was sitting there, plugged into the facility and it cycled once while I walked. You had to strain to hear it. It’s not the hideous monster it’s been portrayed to be,” Davis said.

Still, Davis said it’s been an arduous process — one he would not care to repeat. He said one of the board members found a postcard that simply said, “Another supposedly fun thing that I will never do again.” The card will remain displayed on Davis’ bulletin board as a reminder.

Davis said he hopes now residents can focus on the good things the train was intended to do for the community.

He said he recently took about 60 calendars up and down Maine Street, spending about two hours handing them out and talking to people.

“I didn’t bump into one person who was opposed — it made me feel very good. They like the train — they think it’s a good thing and they can hardly wait for the additional trips,” Davis said.

dmcintire@timesrecord.com

Dec. 29 deadline

• THE DEADLINE to appeal the Maine Department of Environmental Protection issuance of a stormwater permit passed on Dec. 29, leaving the 6.7-acre, $12.7 million Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority project cleared to complete construction.