Brunswick Town Council and Finance Committee CIP Workshop – December 8, 2025
Brunswick Town Council and Finance Committee Capital Improvements Program Workshop – December 8, 2025
The Town Council and Finance Committee held a joint workshop on December 8, 2025, to review the draft Capital Improvements Program (CIP). The meeting focused on proposed infrastructure projects from Public Works and Engineering, including stream crossings, road maintenance, major road reconstructions, and new transportation initiatives. Town Manager Julia Hens provided a financial overview, highlighting the substantial cost of the full project list and the need for prioritization. No votes were taken; the session was informational.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Jennifer Navarro (resident of Thomas Point Road) : Expressed strong concerns about the safety and condition of Thomas Point Road. She stated that the road is structurally deficient, unsafe, and inadequate for current traffic, noting that the CIP schedules a full reconstruction only in 2030-31 without any interim safety measures. She referenced FEMA flood mitigation on her property, documented dangerous conditions, and cited legal precedents (Norton v. Hall, Gooden v. State) arguing the town has a ministerial duty to mitigate foreseeable harm. She requested immediate interim measures such as signage, shoulder stabilization, and drainage relief, and questioned why the road was not prioritized higher. She also asked the town manager whether Thomas Point Road is a more dire concern than other projects like Longfellow or Columbia.
Discussion Items
- Stream Crossings: Engineer Trey Cruz presented several culvert replacement projects, including Richard's (with a $450,000 construction request), Sparwell (both bids came in high due to post-COVID inflation), Bunganock Road (planned as a bridge to transfer maintenance to MaineDOT), River Road, and Pleasant Hill Road (identified in the hazard mitigation plan for overtopping). New projects included Harpswell Road and Main Street culverts as part of the Marebrook watershed restoration, working from downstream to upstream.
- Road Maintenance Overview: Cruz explained pavement treatment types (resurfacing, shim/overlay, mill/fill, reclaim, full-depth reconstruction) and their costs. He noted the town averages 5.3 miles paved per year over the last 12 years, with about 147 miles of town-owned roads. The 2026 paving plan includes Moore's Court, Main Street (with MaineDOT MPI match), Old Bath Road, Lunt Road, and the Wildwood neighborhood. Public Works Director Ryan Leightner added that Highland Road was pushed back due to scope and cost, while Lunt and Collinsbrook were raised in priority.
- Existing Major Road Projects: Cruz reviewed Cushing Street (worst pavement condition, poor drainage, curb cuts), Mellville Avenue (coordination with sewer district), McMillan Drive, Columbia Avenue (drainage and ADA issues), and Thomas Point Road (20-foot width, poor drainage, no pedestrian/cyclist facilities). All are in the CIP.
- New Proposed Major Projects: Balker Street (design already paid, construction requested; fire department requested striping), Noble Street (poor condition, complex right-of-way issues), Princess Point Road (1.2-mile dead end, poor shape), Greenleaf/Stimpson/Adriscoggin Street (collapsing drainage), Old Pennelville Road (gravel road needing new base), Peterson Lane (paving requested), and Middle Bay Road (wider shoulders considered for 2030-31).
- Other Transportation Projects: Intersection studies for Mirror Point/McCoy (possible roundabout or signal), Church/Pleasant Hill, Collins Brook/Durham (crest curve with collision warning system), a hybrid pedestrian beacon on Harpswell Road for the town commons, the Lower Road rail-trail feasibility (connecting Brunswick to Augusta), and Range Road (possible extension of town maintenance).
- Financial Overview: Town Manager Julia Hens presented a summary of all proposed projects by year. Year 2026 totals about $2.05 million (including $300,000 design and $3.25 million Jordan Avenue already funded). Years 2028-29 spike to $11 million. She explained funding sources: debt, MaineDOT MPI match (50/50), Congressional directed spending, TIF revenues, reserves, and grants. She showed historical debt service and modeled the full project list leading to $7.5 million annual debt service if all were bonded, which she called untenable, emphasizing that the CIP is a planning document and prioritization will be needed. Councilor Hicks asked about linking projects to climate resilience grants.
Key Outcomes
- The meeting was a workshop only; no votes or decisions were taken.
- Staff will continue refining the CIP, incorporating council feedback and prioritizing projects.
- The finance committee and council will discuss funding strategies, including increasing the paving reserve and possibly creating a stream crossing reserve.
- The town manager noted that the full draft CIP will be presented in early 2026.
- A motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
All right, good evening, everyone, and welcome to the December 8th meeting of the town council and the finance committee to consider uh the capital improvements program for the town of Brunswick. My name is Steve Weems. I'm a pro tem host for the meeting tonight, standing in for the chair of the finance committee, Nat Shedd, who is with us on Zoom. And as far as I can tell in the room, we have counselors Jamie Ecker, Jen Hicks, Sandy Uptograph, Kathy Wilson is on Zoom. Did I miss anybody else? Nat Shed in also in his his home. With us also are, excuse me, Council Ecker. I believe Nathan Michelle is probably joining us. All right. Nathan, counselor vice chair, Nathan McDonald will be joining joining us by Zoom. I guess my first duty is to ask the town manager, Julia Hens, if this meeting was properly noticed. It was. Thank you very much. So our purpose tonight is to delve into certain departmental aspects of the capital improvements program. And I think to introduce that, I will turn it over to the town manager. Thank you, Councilor Weems. Um we have a I think it's a joint presentation with Public Works and Engineering. Our town engineer, Trey Cruz, and our department of public works director, Ryan Leightner here. Take it away. Oh, weren't you gonna do a presentation first? I was gonna do it second after they see all your good presentation, all your good projects. All right. Well buckle in because I have a long presentation. The goal of my presentation was to go over every CIP item that I'm associated with or public works that hasn't already been in a meeting. So uh Larry, if you get that presentation up. All right, hello, and uh thank you for having me, Town Council and Finance Committee. Um I kind of broke this presentation into four major topics, and I'd kind of like to go through each of these broad categories, and then I can kind of stop for questions, comments, and concerns at each one. So first I would just like to begin with uh stream crossings. Uh is this dead. Uh next slide. Uh next slide. Oh uh were we supposed to have public comment before the presentations? Okay. All right. Um so to begin this, I just had a uh chart here. I don't expect anyone to necessarily read this right away. This is just kind of a discussing stream crossings. The town has a very strong uh uh has a strong desire to do stream smart style crossings. These are the ones that promote possible wildlife crossings. Uh they're more environmentally sound and friendly. They try to mimic natural resources more. So this is a variety of types of crossings, uh bridges, different kinds of bridges, uh three-sided box culverts, open bottom arches, embedded culverts are completely on all four sides, uh embedded pipes, embedded uh different types of round pipes. So they all have different benefits and values of different lifespan, some are more suited for certain types of drainage projects, some are dependent on the foundational possible loading and the bedrock under a crossing. So this just kind of a good idea of the different types of crossings. Just a little bit of a preface before I start going through some of these. Uh next slide. So first I'm gonna begin with uh Richard's culvert replacement. This is part of the Mayor Brook. Um this design was paid for by a 319 grain, and we are doing a construction funding request of 450,000 for next year. Um this was part of the Mayor Brook Restoration Project.
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