Last Updated on November 13, 2026 by Matthew Hallock

FAIRFIELD, CT — Last night at the Regional Fire Training Center, the Water Pollution Control Utility (WPCU) and its out-of-town consultants (Geddis Architects and Tighe & Bond) had a second chance to answer the public on their proposed $12 million beachfront pump station at 1610 Fairfield Beach Road. This was a project debut for the Sewer Department since their reorg last year, and First Selectman Christine Vitale was there for the presentation.

It went as well as the first time. More than two months ago, before the Town Plan and Zoning (TPZ) Commission, it was clear immediately why erecting an elevated, above-ground structure on stilts with water pumps and critical electrical gear at the end of the Pine Creek peninsula facing into the Sound, literally in the face of Mother Nature, is dangerously poor engineering. Residents backed that up, pointing out that modern, zero-footprint submersible technology does the job below grade without putting a permanent target in the flood zone.  https://youtu.be/Lfji23_bdN0

  1. Follow the Money: No Inspections, Unbid Waivers, and “End of Useful Life” Before Fairfield commits $12 million to another shoreline structure — and multiply everything by the seven pumphouses slated to be replaced — taxpayers deserve basic accountability
  2. Where Are the Physical Inspections? WPCU declares a 65-year-old facility at the “end of its useful life,” yet they still haven’t produced third-party physical inspection logs or a complete, itemized asset inventory proving what was actually inspected. A cheeky observer might opine that some state employees were at the end of their useful lives.
  3. It looks like a construction no-go: Down a one-way street that’s a dead end with no parking. How are trucks and equipment going to fit in there, while accommodating the residents, with the canal on one side and Sound on the other.
  4. 43% of All Municipal No-Bid Waivers: Look at the Quarterly Public Bidding Exceptions Report. WPCA equipment accounted for 43% of every single-source, non-competitive bid waiver on the town side in FY26 — hundreds of thousands of dollars handed out without open competitive bidding. We still don’t have receiving logs proving where all those parts and services went. Before spending another dime on consultants or coastal construction, freeze the capital commitment and run an independent audit on WPCU’s single-source expenditures.
  5. The Win-Win: “Scinto’s Way” & Pine Creek Restoration We don’t need a $12 million concrete box on stilts at Fairfield Beach. Put modern, zero-footprint submersible pumps underground at a fraction of the cost — and redirect the rest of that capital into a real Town-to-Sound environmental restoration across the Pine Creek watershed.
  6. From “Scinto’s Regret” to “Scinto’s Way”: Instead of a high-density flood-zone development atop the contaminated former lumber yard burn site at Thorpe Street, formally rename Thorpe Street as Scinto’s Way. He should get the contract to transform it into a natural, car-free Town-to-Sound bike and pedestrian greenway linking downtown through Pine Creek Open Space.
  7. Remediate the Closed Pine Creek Landfill: Clean up the 25 years of legacy municipal waste sitting beneath the closed landfill using catalytic Waste-to-Energy (W2E) technology to generate clean on-site power and recover toxic acreage as permanent public open space.
  8. Unified Land Management: Realign Public Works maintenance operations alongside Parks and Recreation leadership so our fields, tide gates, and open-space corridors are managed with real accountability.

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