Supervisor Jesse Dwyer acknowledges concerns regarding request to open college in Sterling Forest

During the April 10 Warwick Town Board meeting, Supervisor Jesse Dwyer acknowledged concerns about an application before the Town Planning Board regarding a request to renovate what had been a small research facility operated by New York University on Old Forge Road in Sterling Forest for use as a college.

He said the town has received thousands of emails about the project proposed by Beth Medrash Meor Yitzchok College, a private institution of higher learning based in Monsey.

“We feel very confident that the Planning Board is doing a great job thoroughly reviewing this application, as they do every single application that comes before the Planning Board,” Dwyer said. “We’re fully confident in their decision that they make.”

The Planning Board is scheduled to meet Wednesday evening, April 16, to discuss proposal. According to the board’s agenda, Beth Medrash Meor Yitzchok College seeks permission to create “an Institution of Higher Learning with 200 to 300 students with 12 to 18 professors/administrators with overnight accommodations.”

In other planning matters, the Warwick Town Board approved the increase of the Planning Board pre-application fee from $500 to $750. Dwyer said the town has not raised this fee in many years, despite the rising cost of engineers, attorneys and planners.

He said the pre-application allows a potential applicant to meet with the Planning Board and the town’s professionals to evaluate the likelihood of their project moving forward.

The board doesn’t want taxpayers covering these costs, Dwyer said.

In other business

• Dwyer said the bike/hike project, which would connect the Hickory Hills Golf Course to Cascade Road, should by completed by the middle of May, noting the weather has posed some challenges.

• The town awarded the design contract for Jayne Street Bridge to HDR Engineering.

Dwyer explained the replacement of the bridge is being paid for with grant funding and his hope the project will being early next year. HDR Engineering will also provide construction management services for FEMA-funded culvert replacement work at Hoyt, Cascade, Ball and Pumpkin Hill Roads, as well as replacing the Old Ridge Road retaining wall.

Dwyer said the town hopes those projects will be completed before Labor Day, in time for the increased roadway travel Warwick experiences in the fall.

• The board accepted a bid from Quackenbush Water Systems to install equipment for the Pine Island Well in an amount not to exceed $27,132, as well as a bid from J&M Electric & Son Inc. to trench and run new electrical lines for the well in an amount not to exceed $8,025.

Dwyer said the town already has the permits to the well into the town system and the completion of the project should lead to “an immediate and dramatic increase in the quality of the water in that district.”

• The town has purchased the development rights for Burt Farms located off Route 17A at the entrance of the village of Warwick. Dwyer emphasized the importance of this 87-acre property in helping to complete a green belt surrounding the village from development.

• The Town Board approved the appointment of Michael Helme as coordinator of the Climate Smart Community Advisory Board and named Peter Lyons Hall, Greg Gallucio and Bill Makofske as members.