To the editor:
When I received notice that a 60,000- square- foot train garage would be built 25 yards from our backyards, I had no doubt that Brunswick would never allow it.
Brunswick cares for its residents and preserves our town’s beauty and charm — in large part by keeping industry separate from where people live. I fear this Town Council and town manager are putting an end to that.
I am horrified to see the majority of town councilors cower to the threats from the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) and Amtrak.
NNEPRA’s engineers have misled the council in ways that would be obvious had they walked the site, yet they accept their reports without question.
At a meeting last summer, NNEPRA’s engineers site “map” made it look like the garage would be acres from our homes hidden by trees. All but two of the town councilors who spoke that night did what bullies do: They characterized the neighbors as anti-train, anti- progress and declared our neighborhood as too quiet and it was time we shared in the “noise.”
They didn’t address the fact that our property values have plummeted 30 percent or the negative environmental impact and health risks it will have on us because it is too close to our homes.
The day before Thanksgiving, NNEPRA and Amtrak clear-cut the area behind our homes. What used to be the view of a train surrounded by trees is now the view of Route 1, including the light at River Road.
Three more tracks of trains and a Walmart-sized building will be 25 yards from us, and between the hours of 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. train whistles and lights will be tested.
Train will idle while they are refueled, repaired and train cars switched. The lights, noise and vibrations will be unbearable and unrelenting.
There is no reason this facility can’t go to the Industrial Park, the former Navy base or Cook’s Corner.
Drive down Hennessey Avenue and take a right onto Bouchard Drive to see how they have devastated our neighborhood because the majority of our Town Council and our town manager have sold us out. And it could happen to you too.
Julie Wise, Brunswick
letters@timesrecord.com
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