By Shawn Magrath
Sun Staff Writer
smagrath@evesun.com

PRESTON – The expansion of Bowman Lake State Park in the Towns of Preston and McDonough has town leaders working to minimize the effect they say it will inevitably have on local taxpayers.
Preston Supervisor Peter Flanagan and McDonough Supervisor Arrington Canor have been in contact with the NYS Parks and Recreation Department to evaluate what Bowman’s expansion means for town residents. Though a lot of state-owned land in Chenango County is partially taxable, park land, including Bowman, is tax exempt.
Flanagan says despite the state’s claim that expansion and upgrades will bring more visitors and revenue into the area, it may not outweigh the extra tax burden it creates.
Preston is now negotiating a road maintenance agreement with NYS Parks to keep up Bliven-Sherman Road, a town road that runs approximately four miles through the towns of McDonough and Preston that, with the park’s expansion, is essentially an entrance to the park.
“The land purchased used to be farm and open land, so there’s already a lot of concerns,” said Flanagan, noting that land – bought by the Open Space Institute on behalf of NYS Parks last year – is now tax exempt and costing the town revenue. “The park was surrounded by 7,700 acres of state land already.”
Maintaining Bliven-Sherman Road would only exacerbate the burden for local taxpayers, he added.
The towns’ hope is New York State will maintain part or all of Bliven-Sherman Road. In a June letter drafted to the State Office of Parks and Recreation, Flanagan suggested that Preston maintain a section of the road that is “now basically a mile-long entrance to the park” but will seek an annual fee.
“We would be happy to see the state pick up their fair share of the road maintenance,” he said. “That would generate no taxes because it’s part of the Parks Department.”
In January, 2016, the Open Space Institute announced acquisition of land adjacent to Bowman Lake State Park. The 307-acre property, located in the towns of Preston and McDonough, was secured by OSI at the request of NYS Parks and Rec which is acquiring it from OSI using the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.
The property is expected to grow the size of the park by almost 50 percent to nearly 1,000 acres. OSI says the preserved land will provide an important buffer to the camping park’s entrance, add hiking trails, and add new landscapes and habitats to the park.
The proposal has been formally objected by Chenango County by a resolution citing that several state parks, including Hunts Pond in New Berlin, have been closed due to the state’s fiscal restraints in recent years.
Preston and McDonough officials are also awaiting more information about a proposal to install a three-phase electrical line that would traverse county and town roads to power nearly 100 Bowman campsites.