Photo by Jay Westerveld
On Chester’s ballot in November is the “Preservation Fund” referendum.While it may sound green and fuzzy, Chester’s record suggests this tax might not be that simple.
Chester’s administration might use “preservation” grant-writing for political resumes, as opposed to preservation. Picture a hypothetical county executive candidate bragging “I made millions for my town, imagine what I can do for our county!”
The evidence is clear: In 2024, Chester tapped a licensed pesticide applicator to find grants to “manage” one existing preserved space. That consultant recommended “stewardship” costs that might go (verbatim) “into the millions.”
Chester’s Conservation Advisory Council joined the “Monarch Towns USA” program, installing ‘Monarch Town’ signs and, last week, shared a post across social media and on its website about the importance of Autumn’s Monarch caterpillars (the imperiled migrating generation). In that same week, The town mowed the acres of Milkweed right behind these signs, killing every Monarch caterpillar. The conservation board did nothing...not even the scout project I’d suggested a when this happened a year before, to move the caterpillars to safer locales.
Proponents of this tax point to Warwick as a successful example, but that’s a misleading false parallel: Warwick, Orange County’s largest town, presents a much different economic model, with a higher median income and tax base.
Back when Warwick enacted their tax, they had many more farms than Chester has, now. Chester has shown little authentic preservation effort. Adding more taxes in this town that has enabled enormous recent tax increases won’t make Chester suddenly “See the light” and do the right thing.
Having worked for over 45 years to preserve our open spaces, I wonder where the overnight “environmentalists” pushing this tax were, all that time.
Vote no on this “Preservation” tax intended to “preserve” political careers while over-development continues.
Jay Westerveld
Chester