Bellvale Farm recipient of preservation grant

Warwick — Town of Warwick preservation proponents went to Homer, N.Y., last Thursday to see Warwick’s Al Buckbee, owner of Bellvale Farms, receive a state grant that will protect 103 acres of his dairy and vegetable farm. Buckbee’s farm joins 15 other farms throughout the town that have been preserved thanks to the town’s purchase of development rights initiative. Federal, state, county, private, and local funds have been used to preserve farms throughout the Town of Warwick. Seymour Gordon, chairman of the town’s Agricultural and Open Space Preservation Board, was in Homer last week with Buckbee. “Al Buckbee was asked to come to Homer by the state Commissioner of Agriculture,” said Gordon. “His farm was originally known as the Iron Forge Farm but is now incorporated as Bellvale Farm. It creates a continuum of preserved land that stretches from behind Town Hall all the way to Bellvale Lakes Road.” Included in that continuum are 332 acres of the original Bellvale Farm, 365 acres of the Wisner Buckbee farm, and 74 acres of the Raymond and Carol Mabee farm. Gordon said Buckbee’s application to the state for funding was the result of the state’s yearly “Request for Proposals.” The town submitted three applications, including the Buckbee farm, for the grants that total $35 million and will protect 13,300 acres of farmland in 22 counties. The most significant criteria for this state grant, according to Gordon, was the quality of soil, the fact that it is an operating farm with extensive infrastructure, and the probability of succession with a young generation involved. Buckbee received $626,719, which is 75 percent of his easement value, according to Gordon. The town has applied to Orange County for the remaining 25 percent. This purchase incurred no cost to the town, Gordon said, except for preparation of the application, appraisal, and survey. Since 2000, the town has spent about $7.3 million to preserve farmland, that from a $9.5 million bond approved by voters. The remaining money from that bond has gone to purchasing land for the town beach in Greenwood Lake as well as for recreational facilities. The town has also received $9 million from outside entities for land preservation purposes. Having spent the bond money, the town now waits for funds to build in its Community Preservation Fund, thanks to the voters’ approval last year of a three-quarters of one percent tax on real estate transactions. Through October, the town had $410,373.73 in the fund. Gordon said 2007 was the best year yet for the town’s purchase of development rights program. Six farms sold their development rights through the town’s program this year alone. Adding in the Buckbee acreage brings the total number of acres preserved to over 2,400. “I feel proud to have been part of this,” said Gordon.