Thank-you Fairfielders! Already, almost four hundred of you have stood  and signed our petition to FEMA, to allow the taxpayers and property owners time to fully understand this long-simmering issue. An issue of greed, incompetence and double-talk .

This coming Monday the Town is proposing  to vote on allocating some $11.5 million to resolve the building mess-- but there are no plans, no approved engineering drawings, no firm bids and contracts accepted. Again-- the town id proposing to do something to "just get it done!" A modus operandi we've seen operating before-- in fact that's how we got where we are now.

The Town of Fairfield management was notified of the FEMA building violations over six years ago. And, not only did the notifications go to Fairfield, they went to the State also. And the notice of Violation was clearly wrapped up in a great BIG  "DENIED"stamp all over the $4.2Million grant the Town had n=been promised ( if they followed the building plans).

To now claim "we didn't know" stretches the imagination. Building professionals knew the plans were changed; Town engineers supervise constructions according to plans, grant writers are keen on complying with the terms of a grant; Town attorneys receive official notices, and, in this case, filed two official appeals of the grant denial.

On Monday night this week the Board of Selectmen are preparing to allocate some amount of money, reportedly $15 million, to resolve this violation issue, and get FEMA off their backs. FEMA's waited six years. Now the Town (just after Budget preparation), suddenly "finds " $15 million in the piggy bank it can now use. Why wasn't this resolved six years ago? Why wasn't it resolved three years ago? Why did Fairfield management have to wait until FEMA threatened to cut the Town off from FEMA assistance programs before they took the violations in building the Penfield Pavilion on the Beach seriously? So, they plan on throwing another $15 million down the hole, the taxpayers don't get a voice, the townspeople are forgotten, and another boondoggle is born. No options, No plans, no design, no drawings, no construction guarantees-- just $15 million of taxpayer's hard-earned money thrown at a problem the town should have resolved years ago.

Please sign the petition, send it to your friends , relatives, neighbors, business owners. During Covid, the Town oft used a well-warn sentiment "We're in this together." Well, that applies in this particular case-- except for one class of people-- town managers who do what ever they want, regardless of what the taxpayers would like. Several officials also stated 'well, we could also just bond it'-- what a great way to make our children pay for our mistakes-- kick it down the road; borrow a bunch of money, and let someone else pay for it. 

Send the petition to your State Reps, your congressional delegation, and let FEMA know that:  A) we would have fixed this problem the day after the town was told the construction plans don't comply; B0, Baring that, we would have fixed the problem insta=ead of trying to Appeal the NOTICE of Violation (twice); C) we certainly would have fixed the issue when FEMA told us we would not get the $4,2 million grant!; E) the townspeople want the problem fixed now, and don't want the town to hide it inside the Town's contaminated fill stock pile they were building; F) the Townspeople deserve the full facts on the matter, and an opportunity to examine the true options; and  G) the Townspeople are fully-supportive of FEMA, do NOT want to lose FEMA as a valuable resource for the town ( a loss which this violation could result precipitate); H) The townspeople request time to study this issue, develop the options, obtain true , reliable costs, and submit to FEMA the corrective action.

Please read the petition, sign and forward. You will also see the updates on this site. Thank-you to those who donated through Change.org, to help spread the petition.

Thank-you,

Hugh Dolan

 

 

 

 

 

A long and sordid story of Governmental incompetence, ineptness, finger pointing and failure to protect the citizens has resulted in the Town of Fairfield being notified, over four years ago, that it was in violation of Federal Emergency Management Standards! The Town specifically agreed to comply with FEMA standards to make available Flood Insurance to Town Residents. It's actions to deliberately re-build Penfield Pavilion without complying with FEMA's agreed-to plans, has now put the Town , and it's property owners in significant danger of losing Flood Insurance discounts-- which could also negatively impact the mortgages which homeowners agreed to.

FEMA officials painstakingly explained Thursday evening,?Feb.23rd, the history of their work with and notifications to the Town Administrations- both past and current.  Unfortunately, only now, some six years (or more) later, has it been revealed to the homeowners the risks they face because of the Town's failure to comply with the law. FEMA stance is quite simple : you asked us for permission to rebuild Penfield, you submitted plans, we made suggestions, you agreed to our suggestions, we supported your request for a significant grant. then you changed, without our input, the foundation plans, you executed the change, we warned you that the changes were not approved and would put the $4 million grant at risk, you built it anyway, we refused to approve the grant, and we have notified Fairfield many times to correct the problems. Nothing has been done. Now the Insurance Rating for Flood protection is in jeopardy.

 

Please sign this Petition to the FEMA, New England Region, asking them to give the homeowners of Fairfield 60 days to gather together and study the options, in fair, open discussion-- and not be forced to be railroaded into choosing between two bad proposals "just to get it done." We, the petition signers, want to protect our Coast, protect our Beaches, preserve, as far as possible, the Penfield Building, and protect the homeowners and taxpayers of Fairfield.

it was apparent that FEMA was unaware that FAIRFIELD residents snd taxpayers had been kept in the dark about this whole issue; we are letting them know that the townspeople want to be informed, want the violation corrected, and want our coastline protected. The townspeople were NOT responsible for the inaction of management the last five or six years.

There are some 22,000 property owners who will have to pay to demolish and rebuild Penfield ( for the third time), and some 2000 or more property owners facing significant impacts  to their Flood Insurance Rates.

 

Please sign this petition to the FEMA New England Regional Administrator, requesting a "holding period " of any action to allow the citizens, homeowners, taxpayers  to help fully understand and resolve this serious issue.

 

Thank-you,

 

Hugh Dolan

 

dol659@hotmail.com