Old Field Mayor Gulbransen Outlines Environmental and Preservation Goals for New Term

Tom Gulbransen, a village board member since 2007 and Old Field's mayor since his first appointment in 2023, secured another term on March 18 and quickly laid out what he wants to accomplish in this tight-knit Brookhaven community of under 1,000 North Shore residents.

The centerpiece of his agenda is the restoration of the Old Field Point Lighthouse, a historic structure that the village has been working to preserve for several years. Gulbransen said his administration will pursue grant funding and recruit volunteer support to advance the project, though neither a target budget nor a completion timeline was specified.

Coastal erosion and shoreline resilience form the second pillar of his platform, a priority that carries real weight for Old Field households whose properties border the North Shore coastline. To fund mitigation work, Gulbransen pointed to partnerships with the Town of Brookhaven, regional environmental groups and state grant programs rather than direct levies on village taxpayers, though no specific funding has been committed or awarded.

Communication and community preparedness rounded out the mayor's stated priorities, themes that have defined his public record across nearly two decades of board service. In the interview, he described his governing approach as "listen[ing] for the needs of communities of colleagues of neighbors of nature," a phrase that underscores how thoroughly he ties conservation to municipal management.

With trustee meetings serving as the primary venue where project timelines, budgets and volunteer roles will be worked out, residents tracking either the lighthouse restoration or the shoreline work will need to stay close to village communications for specifics. Those concrete details, starting with who pays and how much, remain the open questions heading into the new term.