BRUNSWICK
The Brunswick Town Council will consider using up to $350,000 from the sale of tax-acquired Mere Point Road property to help fund Land for Brunswick’s Future projects that allow public access to the ocean.
Councilor Steve Walker is sponsoring the proposal and voted against selling the 946 Mere Point Road property, a westerly-facing waterfront lot on Maquoit Bay. A group of residents unsuccessfully petitioned the town to set a referendum vote on whether to use the land as a public park. The case is being litigated in court and has been appealed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.
Following years of discussion of what to do with the property, the council ultimately voted to sell the land. The property was listed at $350,000, but was purchased in June by a California couple for $550,000.
At a previous council meeting, Walker said Brunswick needs to decide what kind of community it wants to have in 50 years, and if money is not set aside for public water access, the town will miss out on opportunities.
In an email to fellow councilors drafted
last week, Walker said in 2006, Brunswick residents voted nearly two to one in favor of an advisory referendum question to allow the council to provide up to $1 million for Land for Brunswick’s Future purposes. The next year, the Land for Brunswick’s Future board was created.
While the program has been carried in the Brunswick Capital Improvement Plan for nearly a decade, funds have not been approved for this use to date, Walker said.
Walker said with the sale of the Mere Point Road property, money could be allocated toward funding coastal access projects.
“I would like to propose as an agenda item for our upcoming Sept. 5 meeting that up to $350,000 of the 946 monies be used to finally capitalize the Land for Brunswick’s Future program with the direction that these funds be used … specifically for projects that provide public access to Brunswick’s waters,” Walker said in the email.
Walker suggested remaining funds from the property sale would be added to the town’s general fund to be used at the discretion of the town council.
The council will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at Town Hall.
jlaaka@timesrecord.com
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