Darien Facilities Committee elects Dennis Maroney as chair, expands Middlesex study to campus-wide review

Dennis Maroney was unanimously elected chair of the Darien School District Facilities Committee at a special meeting that also focused on next steps for a Middlesex Middle School facility study.

Committee members handed the agenda to district staff and consultants to continue work on the Middlesex ed-specifications. A presenter said the team will request a traffic study be included even though some board members had previously indicated a study might not be necessary "if you're not changing the footprint of the campus significantly," because the project team heard concerns about parking and bus queuing.

Why it matters: committee members pressed for a broader, campus-wide approach rather than a piecemeal project, citing enrollment growth in nearby Oxbridge and the district’s ELP program. One committee member said the ELP building "is, I believe, over 93% capacity," and urged planners to examine the entire property — including fields and the parcel where a senior center previously stood — for future space needs.

Staff and consultants described the traffic study as an in-depth analysis that will "count cars, they count buses, they count wait times" and will include vehicle, bus, bicycle and pedestrian counts on Middlesex Road and feeder routes such as Edgerton. Committee members asked whether the study would produce actionable recommendations — for example, new entrance locations or signal timing changes — and staff said it could propose those mitigation measures.

On process, staff said the ed-specs (the documents that guide design and procurement) are expected later in the spring and will come to the Facilities Committee first before being forwarded to the full board for review and a vote. The committee discussed potential working sessions and presentations so members can review the draft ed-specs and decide whether to adopt them at that time.

Members also raised design questions that will be left to later design stages: the board can include high-level requirements in the ed-specs (for example, an auditorium sized to seat the full school), but architects and a building committee will develop detailed options for the existing auditorium, classroom layouts and other renovation choices.

The meeting concluded with staff confirming there were no members of the public present for public comment. A motion to adjourn passed following the discussion.

Next steps: staff will coordinate timing with consultants and produce the ed-specs for committee review in the spring; the committee will return the draft to the full board for a final vote once the committee has completed its review.