BEDFORD, N.Y. - Under a change that more than doubles permitted output, solar-panel arrays up to 25 kilowatts now qualify in Bedford for fast-track approval.
Reflecting updated requirements in the state’s eight-year-old Unified Solar Permit, the Town Board last week raised the maximum output allowed under the streamlined process. Until the board’s action, qualifying solar arrays had been limited to 12-kW output or less.
Since 2017, the Building Department has approved 12-kW and smaller systems using only a quick checklist and charging a $300 fee. Anything larger required the costlier, lengthier quality controls needed to obtain a building permit.
Fast-track permits for the higher-output systems will continue to cost $300 for a rooftop solar array, but $400 for the rare ground-mounted installation, which must also be vetted by the planning department.
“Under the old permitting, 65 percent of the systems would need a more-onerous [approval] process,” Mark Thielking, director of energy and sustainability, told the board’s Oct. 21 meeting. “With this new [25-kW] size, 90 percent would be cleared through the streamlined process.”
Bedford’s average solar installation over the past 10 years has been 15 kW, Thielking said, almost all (97 percent) mounted on rooftops.
WEDNESDAY MEETING
The Town Board, which normally meets on a month’s first and third Tuesdays, will convene instead next week on Wednesday (Nov. 5) to avoid any conflict with Election Day activities.
STOP SIGN HEARING
Stop signs at two Babbitt Road intersections, which sparked community pushback when they were proposed last summer, are up for reconsideration next week after a months-long trial run.
The board set a public hearing for Wednesday (Nov. 5) at 6:15 p.m. to gauge residents’ reaction to the signs, installed as a test at the Franklin Avenue and Glen Road intersections in Bedford Hills.
In the test, stop signs were installed in both directions where Babbitt Road meets Franklin Avenue as well as on Franklin itself, the latter requested by Public Works Commissioner Kevin Winn “to ensure that drivers stop at the intersection.”
Additional stop signs went up at Glen Road’s intersection with Babbitt Road and on Babbitt Road westbound at Glen Road.
Early last summer, the town considered requests by some residents for stop signs at Franklin and Glen as well as at Payne Avenue.
But others in the neighborhood told a July 15 public hearing that stricter enforcement of parking restrictions could better address visibility issues. They called for changes in the specific sign allocations .
The board, postponing adoption of a local law authorizing the original sign proposals, ordered a pilot program to test the residents’ recommended changes.
BUXTON BONDS
Bedford will both borrow money and tap open-space cash to cover a $3 million-plus price tag for more than 24 acres of Buxton Gorge.
The land, almost a third of the 90-acre preserve on Buxton Road in Bedford Hills, sold in late 2023 for $3,065,000.
At the time, the board approved $1.565 million in bonds and $1.5 million from the town’s Open Spaces Fund. Last week, it approved a new bond resolution that revised the period of the land’s probable usefulness from five years to 30.
DEPUTY CLERK
Katonah resident Lingyun Lou was named last week to succeed Nina Kellogg as deputy to Town Clerk Allie Whalen.
“Ms. Lou has served the community working with various clubs and committees since 2020,” Whalen said in a memo urging Town Board approval of the appointment. “She also comes with many years working in the private sector in management roles.”
As Whalen recorded the minutes of last week’s meeting, Lou sat beside her, taking in the myriad responsibilities of the work she will perform in the clerk’s absence
The departure of Kellogg on Halloween after 27 years as deputy follows last year’s retirement of the elected town clerk, Lisbeth “Boo” Fumagalli after 22 years in the office.
PLAYGROUND GRANT?
Katonah Village Memorial Park’s 30-year-old playground would get a needed resurfacing if the state grants $100,000 to cover almost half the work’s cost.
In a letter to State Sen. Peter Harckham, Supervisor Ellen Calves said Bedford would dip into the park’s $1 million reserve to finance the project’s remaining $105,689 estimated cost.
The grant would come from Albany’s Community Resiliency, Economic Sustainability and Technology (CREST) Program. In August, Harckham presented a $100,000 CREST grant to the town, money the supervisor said would go toward sidewalks and other improvements.
In her letter on behalf of the park, Calves called the playground “a beloved community gathering center.”
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