Town Should Say 'No' to Penfield Lighthouse

The question: Should the town of Fairfield submit a bid for the historic Penfield Reef Lighthouse when the federal General Services Administration opens the bidding process in mid-August?

Here is one homeowner’s succinct answer: No.

Fairfield taxpayers, already overburdened by year after year of increases, do not need one more item added to our town’s annual budget. Think about it…

• The projected $2.4 million to $6.4 million overruns in the Fairfield Metro Center budget, a situation compounded by the cloistered April 2010 deal between the town (read former First Selectman Ken Flatto and Town Attorney Richard Saxl) and the state that cost the town an estimated $6 million in parking fees at the new station.
• The $20,000 authorized by the RTM on June 29 to pay for the audit of the Fairfield Metro Center’s budget.
• Town officials’ (again, read Flatto, et al) decision to invest millions of dollars of the town’s pension fund with convicted felon Bernie Madoff. The bottom line, I believe, is a hefty $30 million in losses for the town.
• The Board of Education’s annual over-the-top increase in its operating budget, despite the economic downturn and poor job market.

Enough already. We do not need another expenditure.

As the lighthouse’s owner, Fairfield would be required to follow historic preservation guidelines and, as such, would be responsible for the maintenance and repairs to the structure – built in 1874 and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The U.S. Coast Guard maintains the lighthouse’s beacons and automated fog signal as aids to navigation, but nothing else.

Using recent high bids on lighthouses in Massachusetts and New Jersey as a barometer, the initial cost to the town could range from $90,000 to $190,000. However, necessary repairs to the lighthouse are estimated at more than $200,000, according to a recent meeting of town officials and residents. And that’s just for starters.

I agree with comments by Selectman Jim Walsh and William Sapone, the latter recently appointed co-chair of the newly-reformed Penfield Reef Lighthouse Committee. The lighthouse, Sapone said, “is a very important icon for the town, historically and aesthetically.”

The Penfield Reef Lighthouse is visible from town beaches and the Black Rock section of Bridgeport, and has provided valuable service to generations of sailors. At low tide, it’s possible to walk much of the way to the lighthouse, but it’s tricky and deemed unwise. The lighthouse’s sturdy granite walls have served it well during the severe storms that occasionally sweep through Long Island Sound.

After nearly a century of resident keepers, Penfield Light was automated by the Coast Guard in 1971.

I say, put the lighthouse in the hands of a local non-profit that has Fairfield’s interests at heart. I believe the Fairfield Museum and History Center would be a logical, strong candidate. It already offers guidance on maintaining several town-owned historic structures, such as Burr Mansion on Old Post Road and the Ogden House on Bronson Road.

I had the opportunity to work with the museum during its recent baseball exhibit, and found the key people to be caring individuals. The museum’s executive director, Michael Jehle, is first-rate, a man who spent his vacation last summer aboard a sailboat in the Pacific. He's a member of the Penfield Reef Lighthouse Committee, too.

My recommendation: The museum should raise the funds to purchase the Penfield Reef Lighthouse, and provide the money to oversee its operation year-round. Go for it, Mike.