The Sconset Trust asked the Community Preservation Committee on Sept. 30, 2005, for $263,239 toward Phase 3 of a multi-year preservation program for the Sconset Lighthouse. The trust said the total project cost is $363,449 and that the trust would contribute $100,200, or about 28 percent of the total.

The trust’s executive director, Julie Roddickmeade, said the trust purchased the lighthouse in 2006 and moved it off the bluff in 2007 because of erosion. “As part of that purchase, we agreed to steward and protect the lighthouse in perpetuity,” she said, adding that the Coast Guard retains responsibility for the light as a navigational aid.

Preservation architect Marcia Fader briefed the committee on the Phase 3 scope, which she described as exterior coating work, removal of incompatible materials and embedded iron, glazing work and carpentry done to National Preservation Restoration standards. Fader said the work is intended to stabilize the porous, tapered brick walls and reapply breathable exterior coatings compatible with those materials.

Robert Franklin, chair of the lighthouse committee for the trust, and Rob Benchley, the lighthouse keeper, explained the trust’s three-part financing plan if CPC funding is awarded: (1) the CPC request, (2) proceeds from a 2026 gala dedicated to this project, and (3) allocations from a donor-restricted lighthouse maintenance and preservation fund.

Trust representatives said mobilization is a major cost driver: contractors, scaffolding, crew housing and ferrying equipment make it more efficient to perform larger packages of work every few years rather than frequent small jobs. They said the on-site work lasts about two months once crews and equipment are on site, but the overall planning and mobilization window is longer.

Committee members asked several procedural questions. One member noted that “project management is one of the things that is generally excluded from CPA funding” and pointed to a $5,700 project-management line in the trust’s budget; the committee said it would treat that item according to CPA eligibility rules. Trust presenters said they could revise the budget if required.

Committee members also asked about bluff erosion. Trust speakers said the lighthouse and parking area did not show measurable winter erosion in the latest monitoring, though a middle area had lost about three feet in a recent season. The trust said it is monitoring three points at the bluff and has already begun planning to move a section of fence back from the bluff edge as needed; one speaker added that the trust has lost about 30 feet of bluff since the 2007 move.

No final CPC vote on the Sconset Trust request was recorded in the meeting minutes; the item was presented and the committee discussed eligibility, budget items and timeline.