DARIEN – Darien residents will soon have more transparency into the work being done on the Big Island.
Fueled by public interest, town officials say they want the decision-making process to be more transparent in the future. That’s why the Board of Selectmen voted at its most recent meeting to form a five-member building committee by October to oversee development of the property.
Big Island Properties is home to the historic Ziegler Estate, a 60-acre property along Long Island Sound that Darien purchased for $85 million in 2023 and opened to the public the following year. Since the purchase, the town has worked to improve the property, such as repairing the main road and landscaping.
First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky said the committee will be chaired by landscape architect Reed Hilderbrand, who is also the design lead on the Big Island project. Town officials said they have potential candidates, but who will fill the remaining two positions has yet to be determined.
“We just have to start a process to solicit applications, get applications through the committee and get people interviewed by that committee,” Zagrodsky said.
Officials said the committee will promote better coordination among stakeholders, in addition to increasing public transparency. According to town officials, while the previous Board of Selectmen set a $1 million threshold for projects requiring a building committee, they believed the project’s unique circumstances warranted the creation of a committee to oversee the design work.
The council will now have sole responsibility for entrusting the $475,000 approved in February for a comprehensive accessibility plan that will cover the planning and design of Big Island parking lots, bike racks, shuttles and passenger drop-off locations, and roadway improvements.
Later, when they need to select a construction company to handle more work, the committee may be disbanded and reconstituted, Zagrodzky said.
The Board of Selectmen also discussed other matters related to Big Island at the meeting, such as recovering some funds set aside for the purchase of Big Island. The town plans to recoup $2.3 million in bond-authorized funds spent on the project because they won’t need as much as expected due to cheaper methods of rehabilitating the land due to changes in plans.
Instead, the board approved a $250,000 contingency for soil remediation, depending on the scope of the road improvement work, and an additional $6,000 for topographic surveys.
This was on top of an additional $27,000 approved at a previous meeting, but the contractor discovered that the tree inventory on site was largely inaccurate and required additional funds to redo it.
Wetlands and zoning applications require accurate surveys to understand what needs to be retained or moved with any building contractors when roads and parking lots are reconfigured.
This article was originally published on Darien official says Big Island redevelopment should be more transparent.
