Residents work to conserve Bluff Point

Residents work to conserve Bluff Point

    BLUFF POINT—The Finger Lakes Land Trust is working with the Bluff Point Association to form land conservation easements.
    Over this past winter, the two groups partnered to promote voluntary land conservation of the Bluff Point. According to the land trust, the partnership also included a $5,000 contribution to the trust for conservation work. During the past two years, the FLLT has worked to educate bluff land owners about conservation easements.
    Land trust protection specialist Elizabeth Newbold spoke to the Bluff Point Association at its annual meeting, Saturday, July 21. She said it is the first agreement of its kind the land trust has established.
    The FLLT is a nonprofit organization that works with landowners to create conservation easements. Newbold explained an easement is when the property owner signs away their rights to subdivide and build on that land. She said this is done to protect land against certain types of development. She added the agreements are forever and still exist even if the land is sold. Landowners are still able to log, hunt, farm, and otherwise use the property.
    The association and the land trust will be holding a meeting July 31 at Lisa Saether’s house for bluff residents to get more information, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
    In other business:
    • Penn Yan Central School District Superintendent David Hamilton spoke to the Bluff Point Association about several topics. When asked about the middle school, he explained the district did studies to see if it were feasible to close the middle school building. However, he explained one study indicated Penn Yan would not be able to do that until at least 2014-15. Hamilton added the district will look at other options to use extra space at the schools.
    • Joe Hoff spoke about hydraulic fracturing, including the town of Pulteney being the only municipality on Keuka Lake that voted down a moratorium. He added the BPA agrees with the Keuka Lake Association’s request that the lake’s watershed plus 4,000 be protected under the state’s final ruling. Hoff said that buffer zone is identical to the ones proposed for the New York City and Syracuse watersheds.
    • Gary Smith, vice president of Keuka College’s center for professional studies, reported that there are nearly 1,000 adults studying at 10 community colleges across the state through the accelerated studies for adults program. He explained the program is administered by Keuka College at offices in the Keuka Business Park.