Thank you!
Your support is sustaining the future of local news in our communities.

A year for infrastructure in Washington and Millbrook

A year for infrastructure in Washington and Millbrook

Sheriff Kirk Imperati is beneath the umbrella, Rabbi Hanoch Hecht is standing next to him, and Rabbi Mendy Moschkia is on the ladder helping to add the lit candles to the menorah in Millbrook Dec. 10, 2023, the first Sunday after the start of Hanukkah.

Photo By Judith O’Hara Balfe

Water and wastewater

The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation awarded the Village of Millbrook a Water Infrastructure Improvement Act grant of $1,837,500 toward the upgrade of the wastewater treatment plant, or about a quarter of the expected $7.35 million cost. A 30-year, 0% interest loan will cover the rest.

The replacement of the South Millbrook sewer pump is estimated to cost $325,000-$350,000. The pump is already purchased; the village is now waiting for the generator. The installation is expected to be done in the first quarter of 2024.

Sidewalks and accessibility

The first phases of sidewalk replacement on Franklin Avenue are 90% completed, and are expected to be done this spring. In May, new trees will be planted. The sidewalk replacement on the north end of Franklin will follow the same process, starting with applications for grants and funding.

The Town of Washington received a grant for $100,000 for the Recreation Department building at the Town Park, for accessibility and HVAC updates for year-round senior activities, including two accessible parking spots, a new walkway/accessible ramp and a new accessible door.

Environment

The town and village worked together to install an electric charging station at Washington Town Hall. The station officially opened in August 2023.

The village and town joined with neighboring Clinton to create a Natural Resources Inventory of the area, with help from the Cornell Cooperative Extension Dutchess County and the state Department of Environmental Conservation. It will provide useful information for planning and zoning decisions, said Washington Town Supervisor Gary Ciferri.

Bennett Park

The east section of Bennett Park, which boasts hiking, biking and walking trails, opened Sunday, Nov. 5. The eastern section comprises less than half of the completed 32-acre park planned for the site of the former Bennett College.

In January, the Millbrook Community Partnership will meet with the village Planning Board to determine next steps.

Work on the park and abutting Thorne Community Center will resume in the spring; the western portion of Bennett Park may even open within the year.

Judith O'Hara Balfe

Latest News

The Millerton News - November 12, 2026

The Millerton News - November 12, 2026

Download directly

Original art, attainable prices

Original art, attainable prices

Kenise Barnes Fine Art presents “Cool & Collected ’26,” its annual exhibition celebrating the joy of collecting, featuring works priced under $2,000.

D.H. Callahan

There’s a corner of YouTube populated by real-time footage of high-dollar art sales from prestigious New York and London auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips. Hundreds of thousands of viewers routinely watch with rapt attention, popcorn and cocktails in hand, as recognizable pieces from art history make their way to the upper echelons of grossly unattainable hammer prices. Pieces can often start with opening bids of tens of thousands of dollars and work their way up to multiple millions. Bidding increments alone can grow to sums unattainable for the average American family in several lifetimes.

Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Kent, Connecticut, wants to help make fine art more accessible. The 2026 version of the gallery’s annual “Cool and Collected” exhibition is subtitled “The Gift Edit” and features dozens of works by fine artists at prices that are much more in reach than an art-world outsider might expect. More than 30 artists contributed pieces to the show. Almost all available works are priced under $2,000, with many below $500. The collection features paintings, drawings, collage and ceramics.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

Jennifer Terzian’s sanctuary for contemporary art

Jennifer Terzian’s sanctuary for contemporary art
Jennifer Terzian, founder of Jennifer Terzian Gallery in Litchfield.
Provided
The gallery is really meant to create a very intimate relationship with the artist and the story behind their work.
—Jennifer Terzian

On a recent crisp, fall afternoon in Litchfield, Jennifer Terzian welcomed a steady stream of collectors, artists, and art-world insiders into her jewel box of an art space on South Street, just off the town’s manicured historic Green.

The occasion was an opening for Jenny Kemp, an artist noted for balancing fluidity and structure in her abstractions through repetition, variation, and gradual shifts in hue. Hers is exactly the kind of tactile, process-driven work Terzian champions at a subterranean space that feels less like a commercial art gallery and more like stumbling into an impeccably edited sanctuary of contemporary thought.

Keep ReadingShow less
our community
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.

Peter Cusack is finding the eternal in North Canaan

Peter Cusack is finding the eternal in North Canaan
Peter Cusack in his studio.
Provided

“I think art is the thing that allows us to feel there’s something in the universe that loves us,” said painter Peter Cusack in his new studio, a mid-19th-century stone church on Main Street in North Canaan.

For Cusack, art has always been a way of reaching toward something beyond the physical world. That sensibility runs through “Eternal: New, Recent, and Near Distant Paintings,” his upcoming exhibition in the church, a setting that seems an improbably good fit.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

Cowboy Junkies celebrate 40 years at the Mahaiwe

Cowboy Junkies celebrate 40 years at the Mahaiwe

Cowboy Junkies celebrate 40 years together at the Mahaiwe Nov. 14

Heather Pollock

Now celebrating 40 years, Cowboy Junkies will perform Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

The band is celebrating its long career with a triple-vinyl retrospective album called “Open to Beauty,” featuring a selection of songs from 2000 onward, including material from its most recent release, “Such Ferocious Beauty.”

Keep ReadingShow less
concerts

Mike Selbach finds the extraordinary in everyday life

Mike Selbach finds the extraordinary in everyday life
“R46 Interior” (2026). Solid cherry and acrylic, 21” x 26.75” x 0.75”
Provided

Subway stations may seem unlikely places to encounter the divine, but amid the rumble of trains, the crush of commuters and the cavernous underground passageways, Salisbury artist Mike Selbach finds moments of unexpected beauty.

In “Subway Saints,” his solo exhibition opening Thursday, Nov. 12 at the Warren Family Gallery at Berkshire School in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Selbach transforms ordinary commuters and familiar transit spaces into sacred moments.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit
google preferred source

Want more of our stories on Google? Click here to make us a Preferred Source.