Bedford Open Space Acquisition Committee Adds New Chair, Members

BEDFORD, N.Y. - In a major facelift, Bedford’s seven-member Open Space Acquisition Committee got a new chair and three new faces last week.

Although the realignment closely follows the Town Board’s July shelving of a controversial way to increase land-acquisition funds, Supervisor Ellen Calves denied any linkage, calling it part of a townwide try at committee housekeeping.

John Needham, who took the lead earlier this year in discussing the proposed way to boost funding, will now chair the advisory committee. He succeeds co-chairs Wendy Belzberg and George Bianco, who will remain as committee members.

Needham did not immediately respond to emailed questions; neither Belzberg nor Bianco could be reached for comment.

Two committee members, Tina Foster and Christopher Gavigan, resigned their posts this summer with more than two years remaining on their four-year term. They also could not be reached for comment. But in emails giving up their seats, Foster, a real estate broker, cited a conflict of interest and Gavigan recommended his own successor, Griffin Creech.

Creech, Dan Ginnel, Lori Ensinger and Kathryn Hoenig were the new members confirmed by the Town Board at its Oct. 1 meeting.

In an interview, Calves said they were coming aboard as part of a broader effort to open a place for new voices on the town’s numerous committees. Longtime members of those committees, she said, had been asked whether they would surrender their seats to give others an opportunity to serve. 

“Tina [Foster] and Chris [Gavigan] both sent emails saying, ‘happy to step aside,’” Calves said.

Belzberg and Bianco, the supervisor said, had agreed “it would be good to have new leadership.” 

As co-chair of the open-space panel back in March, Belzberg had joined Needham in recommending a bold new approach to building a larger pot of land-acquisition cash. Such funding now relies principally on an annual town contribution of about a half-million dollars, the open-space program’s 2 percent share of property-tax revenue.

As money to buy up property for preservation dwindled, a town-appointed task force early this year looked to state legislation to rebuild the coffers.  

Under the Hudson Valley Community Preservation Act, the town could establish a Land Preservation Fund.

Bankrolled by a transfer tax on Bedford’s most expensive real-estate deals, the fund was seen as a windfall, increasing land-purchase cash by $4 million annually, its proponents said in their March presentation to the Town Board.

In the ensuing weeks, however, that estimate fell as stiff opposition from brokers forced reductions in transfer-tax size. By June, the projected annual take had dropped to $1.77 million. Still, the real estate community continued to balk, warning that the new tax would make it much tougher to sell Bedford to potential homebuyers.

In July, saying the transfer-tax proposal “needs more focus,” Calves pigeonholed it indefinitely.  

Bedford’s available funds for land buys stands now at about $1.5 million, including this year’s town contribution of $496,399, Comptroller Brian Kenneally said last week. A prime acre of Bedford real estate, Needham has noted, commands about a $315,000 selling price.