The Darien Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Monday to approve a $400,000 operating budget for the Great Island property.
Also during the meeting, selectmen were told that consultants just hired to suggest future plans for the property had stressed how important it is to get plenty of public suggestions on what should be offered at the site.
The budget includes $175,000 in rent payments to the town. One tenant there is moving out, Town Administrator Kathleen Buch told the board. If the loss of the tenant’s rent puts enough of a dent in the budget, a request for more money might be brought to the board, she said.
The other $225,000 will be transferred from the town government General Fund. The money will finance “faculty repair and maintenance” on the town property.
Buch said the budget for the added money wasn’t ready for the Board of Selectman’s approval when it approved its version of the town budget. The Great Island budget was then sent to the Representative Town Meeting, which approved the full $400,000.
Buch then brought up the budget at Monday night’s selectmen’s meeting. Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve the money, with board member Marcy Minnick absent.
Board member Sarah Neumann asked how the board could keep informed on the progress of repair and maintenance projects at Great Island. Buch said the reports on spending that already go to the Board of Finance could go to selectmen as well. Zagrodzky said he liked the idea.
Great Island also came up at an earlier point in the meeting. Selectman Monica McNally, also chairman of the Great Island Advisory Committee, said that the RTM had approved money to hire consultants who would collect suggestions from the public on what the town should use Great Island for. Her committee would be meeting with the consultants and in September a public hearing would be held where people could make suggestions.
“We’ve had outreach from folks who have been encouraging us to get a lot of public input into the idea generation for Great Island, and I can say that’s been front and center for what these consultants have proposed,” First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky said.
“They recognize the importance of getting ‘smart’ community input — and by ‘smart’ I mean it’s organized and delivered and made in a thoughtful way,” he said. “They’re very much on top of that and will ensure that we cast a wide net in terms of getting ideas and making sure that the public is engaged in an efficient way.”