In a report by the Town’s P&Z Department, it was revealed that in Fairfield, by voluntarily complying with FEMA’s flood erosion protection requirements, some 2,700 homeowners in town were realizing savings on their “Flood insurance” protection if about $450,000 per year.

The information was contained in the Department’s “Floodplain Management Review,” which was presented to the Board of Selectmen on Jan.19, 2019. This “Review” touted all the actions the Town was engaged in to bolster it’s floodplain management and meet FEMA’s standards. 

Quite surprisingly, there was not any mention of the notice of Violation received by the Town from FEMA in 2017 over Penfield! 

At a meeting of the Flood and Erosion Board on April 17, 2017, the head of the Public Works Dept. told the Board that height and beam requirements of FEMA had to be met to comply with the grants available and to the Insurance RatingSystem. There were no surprises when FEMA told Fairfield they were out of compliance; there were no surprises when FEMA told Management that Fairfield would not get the $4.0 million grant. The administration decided to keep it a secret from the towns people. This was not fair.

Because of management ineptness, some 2700 homeowners ( plus Town properties) will suffer the loss of well over $500,000 due to increased costs ( this depends on actual mortgage values and home replacement values). Plus, the entire town must pay the costs to rebuild Penfield for the third time!