Construction bids for the Brunswick West layover building that would house Amtrak Downeaster trains overnight came in higher than expected, but one rail authority official said it’s too early to tell what those numbers might mean for the project.

“It’s going to take some more time for us to get an understanding of all the specifics and how to move forward,” said Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA).

Quinn said the rail authority’s board of directors might address the matter at a June 25 meeting and that the choice — pending more information about pricing and available funding — will be whether to continue with the project as designed or to start over.

“Ultimately, the board will make the decision,” Quinn said. “I don’t have a recommendation now.”

The bidding process has closed, Quinn said, and three firms submitted proposals.

According to documents obtained by The Times Record, the lowest base bid amount for the project came in nearly $2 million over a rough project budget of $10 million — though NNEPRA has only secured $5 million for the project so far.

The lowest bid was $12.2 million, with the highest at nearly $20 million. A third bidder proposed construction costs of $16.4 million.

Quinn said she could not comment Thursday evening on whether it is realistic for NNEPRA to support the project cost at that level.

In December 2011, NNEPRA learned that it would not receive funding in response to its request for a federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant to pay for $20 million in rail projects, including the layover facility.

Quinn said then that $5 million from NNEPRA and the $20 million in grants would have provided funding for the planned 60,000-square-foot train layover facility in addition to a number of other improvements between Portland and Brunswick to improve service.

Amtrak intends to extend its Boston-to-Portland passenger rail service to Brunswick this fall. NNEPRA officials say that a layover facility in Brunswick is essential to ensuring the viability of that expansion. After studying options, they proposed building the layover facility along tracks near Bouchard Drive.

People who live near the proposed layover site argue that it will negatively affect their health, property values and quality of life. They continue to urge rail officials to seek alternative locations for the facility.

Location

During a stop to speak with constituents in Brunswick on Wednesday, Sen. Stan Gerzofsky, D-Brunswick, told members of a neighborhood group opposed to the planned project location that the high bid numbers should prompts NNEPRA to rethink whether that location is the best site.

Quinn challenged that judgment.

“When the board selected this site, it was the best site based on its history, its use, the ability to accommodate the facility and its proximity to the station,” Quinn said Thursday. “Those factors are still very valid.”

Since shortly after NNEPRA announced plans to build the layover facility on the site known as Brunswick West, the Brunswick West Neighborhood Group has worked to convince local, state and NNEPRA officials to reconsider the location choice.

Last month, Charles Wallace, a sound engineer whose business is located next to the proposed layover facility site, had the first opportunity to measure sound levels of a train idling near the neighborhood. The results, he said, showed that “without mitigation, there would be a severe impact (to residents) due to activity outside of the building.”

Neighbors have suggested that an industrial area would provide better surroundings for the facility.

On Wednesday, Gerzofsky said locating the building elsewhere would also cost less because of fewer environmental concerns.

“There is not as much of an environmental impact out at Cook’s Corner or elsewhere,” Gerzofsky said.

“I don’t think those comments have a lot of merit,” Quinn said. “We set design specifications for this facility — for one tailored to this location. How that would change at another location, we don’t know.”

Concerns from neighbors about noise and vibration at that site, however, did make it into design plans for the project. The request for proposals specifies that the building “will not exceed the stated municipal noise criteria levels” at certain sites along the track.

In January, members of the neighborhood group pushed for NNEPRA to agree to use municipal noise standards. Quinn told the Brunswick Town Council in February that a project on the site could stand up to municipal standards but said that NNEPRA is not obligated to meet those noise standards.

A previous opinion from Brunswick’s town attorney, Pat Scully, confirmed that NNEPRA is not obligated to hold to those standards.

That, not money, Gerzofsky said Wednesday, is his primary problem with the location.

“They can’t just throw money at this — there isn’t any more money to throw at this,” Gerzofsky said. “They’re going to need to be creative.”

Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham and member of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, joined Gerzofsky on Wednesday in Brunswick and echoed doubts based on the new bid figures.

“This makes it even more questionable now because it is way beyond the budget they originally proposed,” Diamond said. “I think this puts a whole new look on the entire process.”

“I don’t know that it does,” Quinn told The Times Record on Thursday.

Train service

Quinn said previously that construction of the layover facility would begin after the start of regular Amtrak service to Brunswick and Freeport in November.

However, Quinn told the Town Council in February that service without the layover facility would be, ultimately, unsustainable, requiring empty trains to make a daily trip to and from Portland.

“These will provide little to no transportation benefits and waste available slots of frequencies that we could use to provide service between Brunswick and Freeport and Boston,” Quinn said in February.

Without the layover facility, Quinn said, the start of service could mean mid-day layovers that leave trains idling on the tracks.

“Trains in the middle of the day won’t go back and forth to the Portland layover but will be on hold on the tracks if there is no facility here,” Quinn told the council in February. “And mid-day layovers could last from one to five hours.”