By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Transactions totaling just over $1 million were approved Wednesday morning by the Board of Selectwomen.

The two largest expenditures involve improvements or modifications to school property — one for modular classrooms at Coleytown Elementary School, and the other for paving at Bedford Middle and Staples High schools.

The selectwomen unanimously approved a $148,656 lease for modular classrooms to be placed at Coleytown Elementary School for four years. 

The leased classrooms, from Aries Building Systems LLC, will provide for growing enrollment of preschool students at the Stepping Stones preschool program, Elio Longo, the chief financial officer for Westport public schools, told the selectwomen. Enrollment in the preschool has increased from 35 students to about 75, he said.

All funding approvals and variances from the Planning and Zoning Department and the Zoning Board of Appeals have been secured for the Coleytown project, according to Longo. The ZBA approved the plan April 12 after initial security concerns about the exits and entrances to the modular classrooms were addressed.

The lease includes the cost for dismantling the classrooms in four years, Longo added.

The selectwomen also approved a $893,849 paving contract with A&J Construction of Brookfield for pavement preservation and repairs at Bedford Middle School and Staples High School.

Website maintenance contract

A consulting services agreement to maintain two websites — ChooseWestport.com, which promotes Westport to the commercial real estate market, and DiscoverWestportCt.com, which caters to the residential real estate market — also was approved Wednesday by the selectwomen.

The contract will cost the town $2,000 monthly to maintain both websites, according to Lynn Scully of the town’s Finance Department, who presented the service contract request to the board.

The content of the websites, created with economic development funds, is being transferred to the town, Scully said.  “We will have ownership of all the content,” she said.

First Selectwomen Jennifer Tooker said the project was bid out earlier in the process, and Visual Brand LLC was chosen to maintain the two websites. She made a motion to approve the services agreement, which passed unanimously.

Gretchen Webster is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Westport Journal. Learn more about us here.