BETHELEHEM — The town of Bethlehem has wrapped up its acquisition of the 68-acre Stangle-Nolan property — under budget and a little over one year after announcing the project — allowing it to move ahead with turning it into a public forest preserve. 

The town board voted unanimously to close the project at its March 26 meeting and return a little more than $27,000 to its Farms and Forests Capital Reserve Fund. 

The town had received $195,000 from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to buy the property from residents Marilyn Stangle and Betty Nolan, who were wary of the solar developers that had been eying it. 

Bethlehem Open-Space Coordinator Lauren Axford, who spearheaded the grant process, told The Enterprise this week that the town got involved when it learned the women were selling the property, which is on Maple Avenue near the Pine Hollow Arboretum, but didn’t want any major developments on it. 

“The parcel continued to be very attractive to solar development companies and Betty and Marilyn really didn’t want to see their family farmland turn into a solar farm,” Axford said.

As part of the grant, the town was required to put up a 10-percent match, which would be used to cover the other costs associated with the purchase, Axford said, such as a survey, environmental assessment, and more. 

The town board had originally authorized the use of $52,000 from the Farms and Forests Capital Reserve Fund — part of a town program that “assists interested and willing landowners explore options for conservation on their land,” Axford said — but only used around $25,000 of that. 

Axford said that, now, the town’s parks and rec department will be in charge of creating trails and turning the property into a public-access preserve. 

However, she said, the department is “focused on completing the trail work at the Normanskill Ravine Park.”