The plan to shuffle town facilities, including moving the senior center to Town Hall and the Board of Education to a new office at 35 Leroy Ave., continues to stir up controversy in Darien. The Board of Selectmen debated the project again Monday night, with Democrat members Callie Sullivan and David Bayne brining up more objections.
"The process for considering the best use of 35 Leroy and the right size for the new senior center has been flawed since the start of the shuffle debate," Sullivan said. She complained that requests to consider alternative options have repeatedly been denied or ignored.
Sullivan says a new appraisal is needed for the property at 35 Leroy Ave., pointing out that the town could sell the property with a two-thirds vote from the Representative Town Meeting. She took issue with dividing the Board of Education from Town Hall. "To move the Board of Ed to its own private Idaho, where they can do their own thing and the town can do their own thing, is not right I think for the students or the taxpayers."
Bayne agreed. "We're talking about an $8 [million] to $9 million cost for the total project. The whole thing is driven by the need to fix the senior center, but I see no real need to move the school office to 35 Leroy."
Bayne objected to town officials calling the shuffle a $4.5 million project, ignoring the $4.2 million the town spent to buy the property at 35 Leroy. He said the total cost was way too high and said the town should consider other options.
The Board of Finance last week failed to approve $325,000 for architecture fees for the project and was split 3-3 on the decision with one member absent. They will vote again Tuesday night.
Bayne and Sullivan said the project should go to the RTM first, before any fees are approved. Jayme Stevenson disagreed, saying an architect's expertise was needed first.
"It is a disservice to members of the RTM to not give the information to them in easily digestible fashion. In order to get the project to the point where I feel the presentation meets standards acceptable to the RTM, we need to spend some money."
What do you think of the shuffle project? Do you think it is in the best interest of the town or do you think other options need to be considered? Start a conversation in the comments below, on Facebook or on Twitter.
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