Selectmen OK Senior Center Move, Revive Police HQ Overhaul

The Darien Board of Selectmen voted, 3-2, Tuesday evening to pursue First Selectman Dave Campbell's proposed shuffle of the town's senior center and board of education offices, overpowering objections by the board's Democrats.

Under the plan, the Darien Board of Education's offices will be shifted to the town's vacant property at 35 Leroy Ave., clearing the way for the relocation of the Darien Senior Activities Center to the district's existing space abutting Town Hall.

Selectmen David Bayne and Callie Sullivan raised a litany of concerns about the plan at Tuesday's meeting—including its cost, its suitability for the needs of Darien's senior citizens, and its potential to preclude future capital projects—but the board's Republican majority won the day, arguing that the proposal was a practical and cost-effective way of addressing deteriorating conditions at the senior center.

The vote did not cover the financing of the shuffle, but Campbell said the board would likely take up that aspect at its next meeting.

In two additional votes—both unanimous—the board elected to revive the previously-shelved overhaul of the Darien Police Department's headquarters and release $2 million in bonded funds toward a deferred Weed Beach revamp.

The headquarters project, delayed in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash, is now scheduled to begin in March 2011.

An additional $1.6 million for the beach project—originally slated to come out of the town's general fund—will now require an additional bonding issue due to concerns over its impact on the town's reserves. That component of the plan will require approval from the Board of Finance and Representative Town Meeting.

More on this story soon from Patch.