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Land trust seeks town support for 142-acre Camp Rising Sun conservation and trails project
Summary
Westfield Land Trust and the August Jonas Foundation presented a plan to place about 142 acres at Camp Rising Sun into conservation, use state WQIP funding, and seek a modest town contribution and Community Preservation Fund application to create passive trails and ADA-accessible features.
Westfield Land Trust presented a proposal to the Town Board on Aug. 27 to protect roughly 142 acres known as Camp Rising Sun, located off Oriole Mills Road, and to develop low-impact public trails and viewing platforms while protecting surface water and groundwater recharge areas.
"I'm Bob Davis. I'm the executive director of the Westfield Land Trust," said Bob Davis, who told the board the project would use WQIP funds from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and would involve acquiring the land from the August Jonas Foundation. Davis said the property includes "a little more than a mile of frontage on the Sawkill" and lies in a DEC priority source-water protection area. He said the land trust has already secured significant funding from DEC and Scenic Hudson and that, "for a relatively small investment by the town, you can leverage million dollars in additional grant funding."
The trust outlined plans for a roughly 12-space parking area, picnic and viewing platforms (including at least one ground-level ADA-accessible platform), and a looped multiuse trail with potential ADA upgrades. Davis said part of the property would remain reserved for Camp Rising Sun's summer program: "For 3 months, during the week, 9 to 5, that portion of the property would be closed for the public, but open to the campers." He added that gates would control access to separate camp- and public-use areas.
Board members asked about appraisal timing and costs; Davis estimated the town's portion could be in the low hundreds of thousands (discussing a range around "$3.50 to 400" in the meeting), while noting that buying the property outright could approach $1.6 million to $7 million if done without grant leverage. He said the land trust would apply to the Community Preservation Fund (CPF) and would push to close the state grant application by the end of the year.
Supervisor remarks and staff discussion indicated the CPF precedent and the town's success leveraging outside funds for previous land-protection projects. Board members suggested a site visit and noted that engineering/appraisal work and a cost estimate would be required for the CPF application.
The presentation was informational; no board vote was taken. The applicant said it would return with appraisals and more detailed cost estimates as part of any future formal request.
