Brunswick residents can be forgiven if they forget they live in a coastal community. After all, so much of the town’s rugged coast is privately owned.

On Monday, the town council has an opportunity to decide the fate of a parcel of land in its possession that could provide residents with a recreational spot with a view of the water — one that isn’t dominated by a boat launch.

The decision isn’t that simple, and the debate surrounding the land has been mired in the worst sort of small-town accusations and shenanigans.

Here’s what we know about 946 Mere Point Road: In 2009, then-owner Richard Nudd of Massachusetts received notice that the town had placed a lien on the vacation home for failure to pay taxes. The town foreclosed on the property in 2011. Nudd later offered to pay the town $500 a month to pay off his debt. The offer was rejected.

In 2012 and 2013, a man claiming — erroneously, it turned out — to be Nudd’s stepson offered to pay part of the back taxes in exchange for the deed. The town wisely rejected that offer.

Fast forward to 2016. In a letter to the town manager, dated July 12, Nudd outlined the hardships he experienced in life as the reasons why he was unable to pay the taxes. Nudd said he was in a bad place between 2009-11 and got some bad advice, otherwise he should not have “walked away from my inheritance.”

But walk away he did. The former vacation home is now town property, the actual house itself, according to the town, is uninhabitable.

Meanwhile, Nudd has not come to Brunswick to address the board. Save for his July 12 letter, he appears to have gone MIA. Instead, a local attorney, André G. Duchette, learned about the matter, approached Nudd and has been speaking on Nudd’s behalf, all the while insisting that Nudd is not his client.

Recently, Duchette waved a $64,000 check — equal to the amount owed in back taxes — before the town council, in hopes that would persuade the town to return to Nudd the property.

Duchette has told the council that Nudd will sell the property — worth about $250,000 — should he reacquire it and that Duchette was, in fact, legally representing the buyer.

The $64,000 question is who is paying Duchette, who is fronting the back taxes owed, and what is their interest in the property?

We can only speculate on the answer, as Duchette still refuses to disclose who he’s working for.

Asked by Town Councilor Steve Walker whether Duchette had been in contact with Mere Point neighbors opposed to the town keeping the land, Duchette responded: “Again, it’s no secret to anyone that this is certainly a political, hot-button topic, and therefore the buyer doesn’t want that information to be disclosed.”

That the council had to pry bits of non-information from Duchette is troublesome. There are too many unanswered questions, too many backroom players for the town to momentarily consider selling what is now town property back to the interested parties.

In short, the whole thing stinks.

As was pointed out by Council Chairwoman Sarah Brayman, Nudd had “eight or nine years” to pay his taxes, but the town had not heard from him for five years.

Brunswick should keep the land. Don’t sell it to a land trust. Don’t sell it to a private buyer (at least not yet). Don’t give it back.

Coastal access is at a premium in Brunswick. There doesn’t seem to be any public access — whether on Maquoit Bay, Middle Bay or in East Brunswick — that is not dominated by a boat launch. Residents deserve a quiet place to park and enjoy, at the very least, a view of the water without competing with fan boats and boat trailers.

Unsurprisingly, much of the objections to converting the land into public use are residents of the surrounding land. Rebecca Klotzle, an attorney representing several of the Mere Point residents, hinted at costly litigation should the town seek a public option for the parcel. She recommended giving the property back to Nudd — an option she called the “path of least resistance” for the town, warning any movement to create public access at the property will be “pitted with potential land mines.”

To say that public access to the water is tantamount to “destroying the neighborhood” and “destroying the property value,” as one resident told the council, is utter hogwash.

Brunswick resident Coleen McKenna maybe said it best: “And what is so bad about the public? Why is everybody so compelled to keep us out? Why — why are we so bad — why is it so awful to have a small, neighborhood park in your neighborhood?”

To the Brunswick Town Council — have courage to do what’s best for all residents of Brunswick. Keep the parcel and take time to consider the best public use of this land so that it can be enjoyed by all.