Open space issue on hold
CARA MATTHEWS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
Original publication: Feb. 21, 2001

CARMEL — Putnam County legislators will likely wait until early summer to decide whether they will hold a referendum this November on spending $10 million for open space preservation, said Legislator Sam Oliverio, D-Putnam Valley.

Last summer, legislators voted against putting an open space question on the November ballot. They revived the issue last month, and Health, Social, Educational and Environmental Committee members continued discussions about it last night.

"I think it will pass. I've got to tell you, I don't think it will pass by a super margin like it did in some of the Westchester towns," said Oliverio, who heads the committee.

Voters in seven Westchester communities agreed last year to spend a total of $17 million to preserve open space.

Legislator Tony Hay, R-Southeast, said he thinks the $10 million on open space will be a "tough sell" to voters.

County officials have said that taxes could increase $50 to $75 a year if the referendum passed.

Hay said the county Finance Department estimates that $10 million borrowed by the county would result in about $20 million in debt over the next 15 years. That includes a loss of $15.4 million for the bonds and $4.4 million in tax revenue on the land, without taking into account potential tax increases.

Oliverio said the Legislature will send letters to all the town and village officials in the county, asking for their opinion on a countywide referendum. "Would they rather pursue this through a home-rule stance?" he said.

Legislator Vincent Tamagna, R-Philipstown, said a Soil and Water Conservation Board meeting the last week of March will be devoted in part to a discussion of open space. There will be a large forum in May or June about open space, he said. Tamagna said officials and community members will make up a list of recommendations on how to give out the $10 million.

Legislator Robert Pozzi, D-Mahopac, and chairman of the Legislature, said he is sending a letter to County Executive Robert Bondi, requesting an inventory of open space in the county and a comparison with other counties.

If a referendum passed, a committee with representatives from all the towns in the county would oversee how the money is spent, Oliverio said.

Tally Blumberg, a spokeswoman for the Open Space Institute, said yesterday that her group will contact advocates for an open space referendum.

She said the organization has done extensive work in the western part of the county, but it seems there is more to do on the eastern side. The institute has helped secure thousands of acres in western Putnam County and preserve them as undeveloped land.

For example, the group obtained property that was targeted to become a residential subdivision, and the property was added to Clarence Fahnestock Memorial State Park. Other purchases were thousands of acres for Hudson Highlands and Sterling Forest state parks.