Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, October 12, 2016
3
Town of Newburgh plans to buy lakeside property
The Town of Newburgh is preparing to purchase a 20-acre tract of land at Chadwick Lake.
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
The Town of Newburgh is gearing
up to purchase a parcel of land next to
Chadwick Lake. Offered through a tax
sale, the land purchase will be part of a
long-term strategy to protect the town’s
lake reservoir.
The town’s intention is to acquire the
county-owned property “for reservoir
protection,” Town Supervisor Gil
Piaquadio said at a public hearing on
the proposed purchase at Town Hall
this month. “Waters flowing from it
are tributaries of the Quassaick Creek
Watershed,” explained town Attorney
Mark Taylor.
The 20-acre property is priced at
approximately $10,000, what Town
Supervisor Gil Piaquadio described as
“a pretty good price” given its location.
The sale price equals the amount of back
taxes owed on the property, he said.
The town draws its drinking water
from both the Delaware Aqueduct and
the Chadwick Lake reservoir. Piaquadio
said the town currently owns about 80
percent of the property surrounding the
lake. “We’re well on our way to securing
it fully,” Piaquadio said Friday.
The land is located along Fostertown
Road. The purchase will be made from a
Consolidated Water District fund set up
for the acquisition of lakeside property.
“It ultimately protects the watershed,”
he said.
Each year, Orange County claims
properties from non-payment of taxes
through the foreclosure process. The
properties are put to public auction from
June to September. “I called the county
and said the town is interested in this
one,” Piaquadio said.
“Orange County has a program where
they review properties that have been
subject to tax foreclosure,” Taylor said,
which identifies properties with high
conservation value. “They typically offer
it to the municipality where the property
is located for an advantageous purchase
price.”
This also helps the county “to make
itself whole” in terms of delinquent taxes,
Taylor added. “The town has no intention
of developing the property,” Piaquadio
said.
Neighbor Mike Glass asked the town
council to make sure the parcel remained
undeveloped. “It should stay forever
green,” Glass asserted.
The public hearing on the purchase
was closed last Monday. The council is
expected to approve the purchase at its
next regular council meeting on Monday,
Nov. 7.