Land Trust finalizes purchase of Bell Station property

It can be rare for an issue to have bipartisan support at the town, county and state levels. Last week, a purchase was made by the Finger Lakes Land Trust (FLLT) that seemed to satisfy what residents in Lansing, as well as politicians at all levels, wanted.

FLLT, which is a conservation organization focused on the Finger Lakes, announced in a press release that it had acquired the Bell Station property from New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG).

Funding for the purchase came from a $2 million loan from The Park Foundation,  $500,000 in individual donations and an internal loan from FLLT’s Opportunity Fund.

The 480-acre property is a mix of 200 acres of agricultural land and forested hillside, with 3,400 feet of Cayuga Lake shoreline on the eastern shore.

“This was a win-win-win,” said State Assemblyperson Anna Kelles. “Everyone was in support of this.”

The FLLT will open the property to the public on an interim basis starting June 10. There will also be an open house from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. that day.

In the press release, FLLT Executive Director Andrew Zepp said the acquisition was an important one for the Finger Lakes region.

“The Bell Station project will help maintain Cayuga Lake’s water quality while providing new opportunities for outdoor recreation and the generation of renewable energy,” he said. “We are grateful to Gov. Kathy Hochul and all of our elected officials and community members who acted together to make this possible.”

Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne has walked the property and seen its beauty before. He said that it is best for the land to be used for conservation, not development.

“It’s just nice; it’s gorgeous,” he said. “I think, right now, the general consensus for a lot of people is they want to preserve the natural resources as much as possible. That’s where we are in our society, and I totally embrace that.”

According to the press release, the plan is for FLLT to eventually sell the wooded portion of the land to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to be used for recreational purposes.

Those recreational purposes could include, according to the FLLT, hiking, cross-country skiing, wildlife watching, hunting and fishing.

Kelles said there are many reasons the land was never appropriate for development. The forested portion of the property is on a very steep slope going down to the shoreline, one that includes numerous endangered plant and bird species.

“Ecologically, it’s very important; secondly, because it’s steep slopes, it’s not appropriate for development,” she said. “Thirdly, because there’s no water and sewer, any development would require significant clear-cutting of the forest lands and would require septic systems to be installed.”

Those septic systems, Kelles said, can cause harmful algae blooms in Cayuga Lake, which she said is the Finger Lake most impacted by the harmful contamination. In addition, Kelles mentioned that development on a slope as steep as the one at Bell Station could lead to soil erosion through deforestation. This could cause silt buildup, which she said is an issue in southern Cayuga Lake.

She also pointed out the problem that extending a septic and water line could have for the wallets of Lansing residents.

“There’s no water and sewer there,” she said. “People don’t think about this, but to extend municipal water and sewer not only is a capital cost in the outset, but it increases the burden on taxpayers every single year because it’s an increase on infrastructure that has to be maintained. That’s done by property and sales tax. For all those reasons, it is not an appropriate plot for development. It’s a perfectly appropriate plot for conservation.”

FLLT also said that it will work with Lansing to put solar power converters on the property. LaVigne said he is in support of using part of the land for solar power.

“In my opinion, that makes sense,” he said. “I think in 2022, this is the best use of that land, and if we can get solar on that land, it would be a win-win.”

The purchase of Bell Station was something that officials were confident would happen for years, as FLLT and NYSEG had been in negotiations.

Then, NYSEG put the property up for auction (see tinyurl.com/ybqbh6w7). LaVigne said he does not know why the property was put up for auction, but there was an immediate response.

“We were talking to all the parties involved at the time, and then we heard it was up for auction and thought, ‘Wait a minute,’” he said. “We were kind of shocked. I think that’s what was the fuel, why you had such a united voice.”

The united voice from citizens and politicians helped convince NYSEG to agree to cancel a public auction set for October 2021.

LaVigne said that all conversations he’s had with NYSEG President Carl Taylor have been received well, and he has respect for Taylor.

“I was a bit disappointed, but I am not disappointed anymore that this transaction went through,” he said. “I’m not going to point fingers. I’ve had conversations with Mr. Taylor in the past, and he’s a very likable gentleman. I have a lot of respect for him. I don’t know what their decision was. He may not have had final say, and it may have come up from higher on the corporate ladder. He’s always been very cooperative with me and always received my phone calls. I believe we have a good relationship, and I’m glad it worked out for everyone.”

Taylor had a statement in the FLLT press release supporting NYSEG’s sale of the property to FLLT.

“NYSEG is pleased to officially transfer the Bell Station property to the Finger Lakes Land Trust,” he said. “We applaud the efforts by all involved in ensuring the conservation and preservation of this incredible natural resource.”

Although it took multiple years, Kelles said making Bell Station a property for conservation and public land use is something that has had public support for a while, and she’s glad it has happened.

“This is not controversial,” she said. “This is what the municipality wanted, the county wanted and the state wanted. You rarely get that trifecta, and this was a case where we were all aligned.”

LaVigne said he hopes unification on an issue like Bell Station is a step forward and that the community can use the resource for multiple purposes.

“Hopefully, you get to utilize everything and we all evolve together,” he said. “That’s how we grow; we listen to other people’s ideas, we think about them, we try to implement them, and we all move forward together.”

To learn more about the June 10 open house or to register for a guided hike on that day, visit the Finger Lakes Land Trust website at tinyurl.com/2p9cbpw5.

Lansing at Large appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Autumn Ridge Development Neighborhood garage sale

As May turns to June, it is still garage sale season across Tompkins County. There will be another neighborhood sale this weekend in the Autumn Ridge Development Neighborhood.

Saturday and Sunday, the community will hold a garage sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Multiple households will be selling their goods.

Autumn Ridge is located on East Shore Drive after Burdick Hill Road (traveling north) and Blackchin Boulevard (traveling south).

The residents of the Autumn Ridge Development Neighborhood ask for no early bird shoppers.