Darien Looks To Protect What It Has While Building For The Future

DARIEN, CT — First Selectman Jon Zagrodzky gave his first State of the Town Address on Monday night and he stressed that Darien will focus on protecting what it already has while building for the future.

Zagrodzky, who was elected as Darien's chief elected official after running unopposed in November's election, gave the address to Representative Town Meeting members at Darien Town Hall. He thanked his predecessor Monica McNallty, as well as town government employees for their continued service.

Darien is no stranger to flooding problems, and Zagrodzky mentioned the importance of maintaining flood assets for future storm events.

He also expressed a desire to continue to protect relationships his predecessors have built with other government officials, both locally and at the state and federal level.

"You think about trying to protect what we have, we need to have a dialogue with individuals. We've done a good job at building those relationships, and I intend to spend a lot more time on that myself," Zagrodzky said. "These officials outside of Darien are quite powerful and can make our lives better or worse. It's very important we maintain an open dialogue with them."

Protecting mental health is also of paramount importance to Zagrodzky, who noted he lost an uncle to suicide about 30 years ago. He praised the mental health task force that was chartered recently, and he urged residents and government employees to pitch in and protect the well-being of others.

"The mental health crisis in this country is quite serious, as you all know," Zagrodzky said. "Give some thought as to how you might help advance the state of mental health in this town in your neighborhood, your circle of friends, your colleagues in town government."

Looking toward building for the future, Zagrodzky mentioned the development projects around town at Noroton Heights, Palmer's and Corbin Drive. He also touched on the flooding projects at Saltbox Lane and Tilley Pond, which are currently in the design phase.

The Saltbox Lane project is expected to wrap up design work by Jan. 25, and the actual project would take about a year. Tilley Pond design is estimated to be finished by June of 2026, and that would also take a year to finish, Zagrodzky said.

On capital projects, Zagrodzky noted he's not in favor of deferred maintenance or value engineering.

"We are paying the price today in some of our school buildings for having value-engineered a few things out of those buildings to save money," he said. "Invest the money now, get it right today."

The RTM on Monday night approved the town's purchase of the traffic circle near the entrance to Great Island, which was the last step in the acquisition process of the property.

Getting vehicular access to the island will take some time since the entry road needs to be widened, but Zagrodzky said he will urge the Great Island Advisory Committee to move forward on securing pedestrian and bicycle access so residents can enjoy the property sooner.

At some point, the town will need to figure out how best to use the property.

"That was an $85 million acquisition. That is not a trivial amount of money and it's a lot to spend. So it cannot be just a cost center in my judgment going forward. We need to figure out a revenue component," Zagrodzky said.

Zagrodzky also mentioned processes in government, respecting decisions made by commissions or committees, and then coming together to implement the decision as best as possible. He referred to the Cherry Lawn Playground project which has caused some divide.

To that end, Zagrodzky said he wants to charter a committee and perhaps get third-party involvement to "sharpen" and get more clarity about what each board/commission is supposed to do and what the processes are.

You can view all of the State of the Town addresses on Darien TV79.