Lewisboro Board approves purchase of Cross River building for town offices

SOUTH SALEM, N.Y. - A host of Lewisboro town offices will soon get a new home, following a decision announced at the Town Board’s May 27 meeting.

The building, at 892 Route 35 in Cross River, currently bears the name Old Post Road Professional Building and Annex. 

In a vote at a special meeting on May 19, the Board approved the purchase of the building at a price of $2,222,500. 

“The building is currently used as an office building and has three floors with an elevator,” said Town Supervisor Tony Gonçalves. “We expect to close in the beginning of July.”

At the board's April 28 meeting, Goncalves announced the formation of a task force to investigate and visit multiple sites under consideration by the town. The task force presented its findings to the Board at the May 19 meeting, recommending that it move forward with the purchase of the Old Post Road Professional Building.

The initial plan is to relocate those offices that are currently in rented space at the former Lewisboro Elementary School. Those departments include the Building Department, Planning, Zoning, and the Assessor’s office. At this point, there are no plans to move the Lewisboro Police to the new location.

“It is possible that other offices located at the Town House will be moved there as well,” Gonçalves said. 

The town used money from its fund balance to make the 10 percent escrow deposit to purchase the building. “We will most likely, as discussed in prior meetings with the Board, issue a bond resolution that will allow us to borrow in the form of a bond anticipation note,” Gonçalves said. “This would allow us to utilize the fund balance for the remaining $2 million at closing.”

A bond anticipation note is also known as a BAN. “Sometime afterward and depending on our overall financial picture, if needed, we will issue a BAN to replenish the fund balance,” Gonçalves noted.

The move follows the decision by the Katonah Lewisboro Board of Education not to lease the space at the old elementary school for any term longer than month-to-month. The former school building needs extensive repairs and upgrades. While the Board of Ed reportedly does not plan to sell the property, the future of the school building itself is uncertain.

Among other business matters at the May 27 meeting, two Lewisboro candidates for Eagle Scout briefed the Board on their community-enhancement projects. James Bysshe’s and Bert Kolano’s projects both involve building footbridges in town preserves.

“I'm proposing building a series of small foot bridges across a section of trail in Oldfield Preserve, which connects the preserve to East Ridge Road,” said Bysshe. “As many of you may know, this section of trail is extremely muddy and very hard to walk through. That's where my bridges come in.”

Bysshe secured approval for his project from all residents of East Ridge Road, which is private. He also met with the town’s Open Space Committee and Wetlands coordinator. A board member also suggested that the Building Department review his plans. 

Kolano’s project will consist of 48 feet of boardwalk and 20 feet of bridge. It will go up in Brownell Preserve near the AT&T cell-tower service road. 

In a presentation to the Board, Kolano superimposed a drawing of the bridge and railings over the section of the preserve that it would cross. “There's a stream running through the middle, so that's the reason for the bridge,” Kolano said. 

The four boardwalk sections will each be 12 feet long, totaling 48 feet. The Board unanimously approved motions approving the two scouts’ projects, subject to appropriate insurance coverage.

The Board also passed two resolutions concerning town operations. The first resolution authorized the town supervisor to sign a contract for payroll services with Rochester-based Paychex. The town’s contract with ADP is up for renewal.

Based on a comparative analysis of offerings by ADP, Paychex, and a third firm, NeoGov, Comptroller Annie Burnham determined that Paychex had the most robust suite of services for the best price. 

The Board voted to authorize the Parks and Recreation department to seek bids for a security camera system at Lewisboro parks. “We have had quite a bit of vandalism,” said Recreation Supervisor Nicole Caviola. “Most recently, a recycling can was set on fire at Fox Valley and a vehicle drove on the field at Vista.

“We've started putting chains up and trying to block off as much as we can so that individuals cannot drive their vehicles on the fields,” Caviola said, “but they still find a way. And each time the police would investigate they didn’t get any leads.”

Parks and Rec must cover repair costs from its budget, and these have begun to be significant. A camera system would identify these mischief makers – as well as perpetrators of any other sort of criminal activity at the parks. What’s more, signs would go up notifying people that these areas would now be under camera surveillance.

The board also okayed a resolution renewing its agreement with Stevens United Methodist Church to host meetings of Lewisboro seniors. The agreement includes an increase of $50 in the per-meeting cost.