Town eyes replacement spaces for offices, police HQ and court

By NEAL RENTZ

With a potential loss of the rental use of the former Lewisboro Elementary School property looming, the town has started taking steps to find an alternative location for some offices, the police department and town court.

The town is currently renting the property, which is located at 79 Bouton Road, South Salem, through an agreement with the Katonah-Lewisboro School District.

At the May 12 town board meeting, Councilwoman Andrea Rendo announced a task force had recently been formed to seek an alternative space to the former school. The task force consists of building inspector Kevin Kelly, as well as Mike Lynch, Duff Price, Tom Kelly, Steve O’Hara and Adam Giardina. The town board liaison is Rendo.  

During a recent town board meeting, Lynch, a member of several Katonah-Lewisboro School District committees, provided information about the former Lewisboro Elementary School and said the district has no intention to sell the property.

Rendo said previously she had recently been told by Superintendent of Schools Ray Blanch that the district’s intention was to mothball the school and not reopen it in any capacity until 2029 or 2030.

Lynch previously suggested to the town board that it find a temporary home for some of its office, the police department and town court and make a detailed plan for a future location.

At this week’s meeting, Rendo said the task force together with herself and Supervisor Tony Gonçalves, recently toured three properties. But she declined to identify their locations at the request of the property owners.

During this week’s meeting the town board went into an executive session for approximately 45 minutes to discuss the properties, but did not address the issue further during the public meeting.

In a follow-up interview this week, Gonçalves said the town would seek to speak with school district officials. 

“We will be firming up the date in a subsequent meeting with the school district within the next two months,” he said.

The town board has not decided if it wanted to rent space, Gonçalves said. “Ideally, the preference is to not rent but we are looking at all options which would include any combination of purchasing, renting and building new, most likely done in phases and dependent on schedule with the school district.”

“The task force has given their input based on the visits to all sites being considered,” Gonçalves said. “The town board is in the process of reviewing that input and hopefully soon come to a consensus on next steps. The task force will continue to be involved as we move on to the next phases.”