Bethel 2003:
More growth ahead

By CHRIS CONROY

BETHEL, NY — With 2002 behind it, the Town of Bethel begins 2003 with high hopes for the future.

Town Supervisor Allan Scott was very pleased with the past year and doesn’t expect much to change.

“I think we’re going to have the same kind of really great growth that we’ve had so far, he said. “We’ll probably see a little more than we have in the past on the commercial side.”

To encourage this growth, the town will be making use of the Bethel Local Development Corporation (BLDC), a non-profit group created to encourage economic development. In addition to obtaining and distributing grant money, the BLDC will continue to serve as an all-purpose contact point for the beginnings of some large projects, most notably the now green-lighted performing arts center that will be built by the Gerry Foundation.

The performing arts center figures prominently into Bethel’s coming plans. It is expected that after obtaining site plan approval from the planning board, the Gerry Foundation will break ground on the multimillion dollar project. No date has been set for when that will happen, Scott said.

Scott said housing development is also expected to continue. The increased revenue from developed properties could even lead to future town tax cuts. Most of the increased revenue is attributed to land being developed by Woodstone Development Corporation.

With economic growth looking positive, there will still be some financial concerns.

The need to rebuild the surplus fund for the highway department is at the top of Scott’s list. The usual surplus funds were used over the past year to complete a number of paving projects.

“We’re going to a bare bones situation in the highway department to increase the surplus,” Scott said.

Town board members Bob Blais and Bob Bonnacci have been assigned to work with Highway Superintendent Dick Yeomans to keep expenditures down. The town will be keeping an eye on the international situation, too, as fluctuating oil prices could impact highway spending requirements. “It’s a good year all around to watch highway expenditures.”

Bethel will also be tackling the task of revising its master plan. The last major revision was completed decades ago. Tom Shepstone, of Shepstone Management, a regular face at town and planning board meetings, will facilitate the plan’s revision. A review committee has been set up to offer input into the project. A number of public hearings are expected to take place.

All in all, Scott said he feels the year will be a good one.

“There’s going to be a lot happening here,” he said.