BRUNSWICK — Two Brunswick town councilors propose that the full council side with neighbors of a proposed train maintenance facility at a site in West Brunswick and request specific environmental review standards be used in constructing the building.

The planned 60,000-squarefoot structure would service Downeaster passenger trains arriving as part of the rail line’s expansion to Brunswick, scheduled to begin with two round trips by this fall.

In a proposal on the agenda for Monday’s Town Council meeting, council chairwoman Joanne King and District 4 Councilor John Perreault suggest that the council send a letter to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority (NNEPRA) asking that they comply with local noise regulations and standards from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection when planning and building the train maintenance facility.

Both Perreault and King are members of a NNEPRA advisory group for the facili- ty, which was scheduled to meet today at 10 a. m. at NNEPRA’s offices in Portland.

The local and state standards would specify the level of noise that would be allowed from the facility.

The proposed letter also would request that NNEPRA bring a Downeaster train to tracks in Brunswick to conduct sound level assessments, rather than using data from noise surveys at an existing layover facility in Portland.

If demand warrants greater service, NNEPRA hopes to expand from two round trips per day to seven daily trips to and from Brunswick, which NNEPRA executive director Patricia Quinn told The Times Record in November could mean three trains making overnight stays for maintenance in Brunswick.

The planned 60,000-squarefoot facility could store three trains indoors during maintenance operations, according to Quinn, but a November cost estimate for a project of that size exceeded expectations, according to a letter from Quinn to Brunswick Town Manager Gary Brown.

In December, Quinn said that budget constraints could still mean reverting to a 40,000-square-foot design that could store two trains inside for maintenance.

Design plans drafted Jan. 24 reflect plans for a three-train depot.

Following that group’s last meeting, the Brunswick West Neighborhood Coalition issued a statement requesting that NNEPRA use Maine Department of Environmental Protection standards in constructing the building.

The proposal included on the Town Council’s agenda for Monday echoes the request made by the neighborhood coalition at a Jan. 12 meeting of the advisory group, according to a letter from the coalition following that meeting.

In an email to The Times Record, Quinn wrote that NNEPRA was not prepared to commit at that meeting to using standards requested by the neighborhood group.

“Without having the specifics of those requirements at hand, it was not possible to commit at that time,” Quinn wrote.

The neighborhood coalition also requested that a Downeaster train travel to Brunswick for noise level assessments.

In the same email, Quinn wrote that assessments from the Portland facility would offer “the same level of accuracy” as sound tests in Brunswick and that a site tour of the facility in Portland would be planned for a future meeting of the advisory group.

According to an agenda for the group’s Dec. 2 meeting, the advisory group is expected to complete its review of the design standards and selection of a construction manager for the project by April 23.

dfishell@timesrecord.com