New police HQ, town offices move discussed

By NEAL RENTZ

Outside of the new town office building on Route 35 shows a new entry. ROBERT J. CUMMINGS PHOTO

The Lewisboro Town Board on Monday discussed some of the major transitions for town employees, including plans for the new police headquarters and moving day for several town offices.

The board voted unanimously at the meeting Aug. 10 to hire a firm to provide cost estimates for the proposed new police headquarters. The board has agreed to hire Nasco Construction Services, at a cost of $10,000.

For the past several years, the town has housed its police and employees from some of its other departments at the former Lewisboro Elementary School. But the Katonah-Lewisboro School District decided to end its contract with the town to rent out space on the campus of the former school.

The town is planning to build a police headquarters at 81 Spring St., North Salem. The roughly 10,000-square-foot building would have a 5,000-square-foot first floor and an approximately 5,000-square-foot basement with a two-bay garage, which would be used by police officers to bring arrested people into the building.

NASCO is a company that estimates costs of projects such as the police department buildings, Supervisor Tony Gonçalves told the Town Board members. He said the building’s cost is something many people have been asking about.

“They’ll take the actual design documents and take a deep dive” to come up with an estimate, Gonçalves said. 

KG+D is the architectural firm that has been working on the police project for the town and will be working with NASCO, Gonçalves said. 

Gonçalves said the town is also working to move several departments from the former Lewisboro Elementary School to the Route 35 office building that was purchased by the town last year. 

Before the employees can move, the town has to finish moving files to the Route 35 building and put “some finishing touches on the building itself,” he said. 

Once a schedule for moving town employees to the office building is determined it will be announced to the public, the supervisor said. 

Cell tower criticized

Several people at the meeting called on the Town Board to not allow a cell tower to be placed on the salt dome property, which is on town-owned land near Echo Farm. 

In an interview this week, Gonçalves said the proposed cell tower has been before the Town Board for several years. It was first proposed in the late 2010s when Westchester County contracted with CityScape for a tower Master Plan, he said.

“We decided to wait and put the tower consideration on the backburner in September 2020 and wait until after the master plan was completed, which was in June 2023,” Gonçalves said. “We then considered the option for the alternate location at the South Salem Presbyterian Church steeple. Verizon came to us in September 2025 to say that the steeple was not suitable.” 

The Antenna Advisory Board compiled a report, and the Town Board is considering the Salt Dome site for the tower, he said.

During a public comment period, Caroline Kuntz, the owner of Echo Farm, was one of those who opposed the tower location. The farm is protected by a nondevelopment easement, Kuntz said. 

“It states that we will never build upon the land or develop it,” she said. “It protects the wildlife and the existing greenscape.”

“We chose to protect this open space and keep it green for future generations,” Kuntz said. “This cell tower negates the whole agreement to protect the beauty of a property and then putting up a cell tower makes no sense.” 

Kuntz said there is strong opposition to using the site, which is in a residential area.

“Scotts Lane and Longview [residents] will be looking directly out their windows at a cell tower,” she said, adding Salem Hill will also be in direct sight of the proposed cell tower. Kuntz said there is a petition drive underway in opposition to the proposal. 

Kuntz said she has experienced no gaps in her service. 

“This year, Echo Farm is 200 years old,” Kuntz said. “We have tried to maintain its historic character, and we’ve tried to share it with our community. Let’s keep Echo Farm this way for the next 200 years.”

Another speaker, Robert Fishman, said his property is in the line of sight of a cell tower located in the Town Park. He said there is adequate cell service in his neighborhood and no need for the tower proposed at the Salt Dome property.

A better location for the proposed cell tower is the town’s Highway Department garage located at 11 Main St., South Salem, and that site should be revisited by the Town Board, Fishman said. 

Matthew Tyne of Spring Street also spoke against the tower proposal. He said the property where he has lived since 1979 “made me fall in love with this town.” 

“The disproportionate burden of city or town infrastructure that is being located in this one area is in danger of turning what is the charming entrance to our hamlet into an industrial area,” Tyne said. 

Library Fair has website

Lewisboro Library trustee, Elena Dunn, announced to the board that a website has been created to focus on the annual Lewisboro Library Fair. This year’s event, the 65th, is Sept. 19.

The fair is the library’s largest fundraiser “and one of the biggest community events,” Dunn said.

The new website, lewisborolibraryfair.com, is dedicated to “all things Library Fair,” Dunn said. 

“When you’re there you can find out information on how to be a VIP and where you could get VIP tickets that give you a dedicated parking space at the fair and early access to some of the book sales,” Dunn said. “You can also learn how to be a sponsor and all the different sponsor levels.”

The website provides other information, such as information on how to become a fair volunteer, Dunn said. 

There are book sales prior and after the event, Dunn noted. 

The library is accepting donations for the fair every Saturday in August, from 9 a.m. to noon. The library is seeking donations of very gently used books, toys and “attic treasurers,” Dunn said.