Bedford eyes final piece of Buxton Gorge Preserve

BEDFORD, N.Y. - Bedford is moving to fill in the final piece of the Buxton Gorge Preserve, the environmentally sensitive Bedford Hills acreage it began to assemble a half dozen years ago.

The last 13-plus acres—owned by, and across the street from, Bedford Community Church—has no price tag yet. But 80 percent of the acquisition cost would be covered by a state water-protection grant, Lori Ensinger told the Town Board last month. The town would pay the remaining 20 percent out of more than $1.7 million in open-space funds already on-hand.

Ensinger, a Katonah resident and past president of Westchester Land Trust, addressed the board’s May 19 meeting as a member of Bedford’s Open Space Acquisition Committee. She called the purchase a “compelling public/private partnership” protecting the Bedford Aquifer, which lies beneath the property, as well as three wells supplying public drinking water and the Broad Brook watershed.

“It’s all about drinking-water protection and ecological protection,” Ensinger said.

Supervisor Ellen Calves, speaking last week, said, “I think it’s a great acquisition. . . . It protects water quality [and] expands our existing open-space parcels.”

The open-space panel recommends property purchases, drawing on a town fund to pay for them. The fund, established in 2000 to acquire open space, establish parks and protect water, is funded by taking 2 percent—roughly a half-million dollars—of Bedford’s total annual property-tax levy. Its cash balance was seen last month as $1,726,772.

Any formal Town Board support would be forthcoming only after a final purchase price was agreed upon and a public hearing held.

Using figures associated with last year’s purchase of a similarly sized tract on Reyburn Road in Katonah, Ensinger cited a “hypothetical” sale price of $1.5 million, plus $100,000 in due-diligence costs, to project a $1.6 million acquisition cost. A state Water Quality Improvement Program (WQIP) grant would cover $1,280,000 of that total and Bedford would pick up the remaining $320,000.

“We don’t have exact numbers,” Ensinger acknowledged, “and we won’t [have them] until the final purchase price is determined by three appraisals.”

The Buxton Gorge property covered some 100 acres when then-Supervisor Chris Burdick closed on a purchase of more than half the land in 2020. Four years later, as a member of the state Assembly, Burdick cut the ribbon on the town’s acquisition of another 30 acres.

Muscoot Boats Approved

New York City has given the green light to Bedford’s request to make town-owned fishing boats available for residents to rent in the Muscoot Reservoir.

“We have been approved,” the supervisor said. “We have [purchased] two boats, one of them 12-foot, one 14-foot,” Calves said in an interview last week. “We’re waiting for them to be delivered and then we’ll have an info session.”

Privately owned boats, inspected and licensed by the city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), are already stored at Muscoot. Calves said she pursued the boat-rental program to make the reservoir and its abundant fish available to more residents. “I did this to make it more accessible,” she said.

Details were still being worked out as The Katonah-Lewisboro Times went to press. But the principal rule—“You have to be fishing,” as Calves put it—is indelibly in place. Potential anglers will need the appropriate paperwork, including a state fishing license and DEP access permit. Visit KatonahLewisboroTimes for details as they develop.

Katonah Park Upgrades

The Town Board approved borrowing up to a half-million dollars to improve Katonah Memorial Park’s playground.

A required public hearing preceded the roll-call vote, which authorized issuing a maximum of $500,000 in bonds to finance a summer facelift of the park. Upgraded park facilities are expected to be ready for use by late fall.

Chris Soi, the superintendent of recreation and parks, said his department has been conducting extensive community outreach, seeking public input on park improvements and specific attractions that should be added or replaced.