Legislature unanimously approves Grossmann's Farm contract

The Nassau County Legislature in late December unanimously approved a 10-year contract with the Nassau Land Trust to operate Grossmann’s Farm in Malverne, finalizing an ordeal that begin in June 2009, when the Grossmann family decided to sell the 5.5-acre farm.

County Executive Ed Mangano is expected to sign the agreement by mid-January.

“The county believes that it is important to keep the farming gem that is Grossmann’s Farm operating so that future generations of county residents can experience the county’s rich farming heritage hands-on,” read the agreement, noting that it is for this reason it selected the nonprofit land preservation organization.

Upon learning of the Legislature’s approval, Land Trust founder and Chairman Lloyd Zuckerberg said the organization was “honored and privileged to have been selected by the county to revitalize Grossmann’s Farm and bring it back to life as a vital community resource and regional showcase.”

Under the agreement, which has an initial term of 10 years with two five-year renewals, the Land Trust must use the property to operate a farm and a farm stand, conduct a community-supported agricultural shares program and education programs for those of all ages.

Working to that end, the Land Trust has been in the planning and development stages for quite some time. It hired farmer Bill Walsh in August, about a month after a speeding car crashed into part of the Grossmann’s Farm barn complex, destroying it and causing its demolition. The Land Trust, according to Zuckerberg, had planned to turn that part of the barn, which had at one time been The Country Shop, into a classroom space for the educational program.

Although disappointed about losing that 60-year-old structure, which had been the newest and only weatherproof section of the barn, the Land Trust will have to invest some $500,000 over the first 10 years of the agreement into capital improvements that include a new barn, farm stand, fencing and ADA-compliant restrooms.