HILLTOWNS — Berne-Knox-Westerlo anticipates being able to finally move its business offices to 1772 Helderberg Trail, a neighboring property that district residents authorized the school to purchase in a vote nearly two years ago. 

Board of education President Kim Lovell told The Enterprise this week that the district has been working on meeting state requirements around adding a new structure to the list of district facilities — work which is now done, save for final approval from the New York State Education Department. 

“The process includes inspections for various compliance purposes, inquiries about any projects planned for maintenance or renovations to a proposed facility, and then a detailed review of the plans by the Facilities Planning department at NYSED before approving any project work,” Lovell wrote in an email, answering Enterprise questions.

She said that the department had asked the district to make “minor improvements to a fire wall and a simple repair in the garage.” 

Lovell said that the district anticipates getting its certificate of occupancy early this week and will then begin relocating its business office, a move she estimated would take only a few days.

The property was formerly home to Hilltown Healthcare, the only large-scale medical office in the Hilltowns, which leased space from property owners James and Kimberly Conklin. The Conklins sold the property to BKW in 2022 for $410,000, after first approaching the district the year prior. The district used part of its fund balance, which until then had exceeded state limits, to make the purchase. 

The district had announced that it planned to move its business office to one section of the building there, and lease the other section to a community-centered organization that’s yet to be determined. In December of 2022, Hilltown Healthcare relocated down the road to 1705 Helderberg Trail, a property that it had purchased prior to the sale of the house it originally occupied.