Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-41, left, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, second from left, and Assemblymember Didi Barrett, D-106, right, flank incoming Dutchess County comptroller Dan Aymar-Blair, second from right, at his oath-taking ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 4, in LaGrangeville, New York.
LAGRANGEVILLE — At a ceremony to cement his win as Dutchess County comptroller, Democrat Dan Aymar-Blair was officially sworn into office on Saturday, Jan. 4, by New York State comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli as family, friends and supporters enthusiastically cheered him on.
The ceremony marked both a new beginning for Aymar-Blair and the end of a challenging chapter which pitted him in a very tight race against incumbent Republican Gregg Pulver, who was appointed to the position approximately two years ago by former county executive William F.X. O’Neil.
The well-attended event was hosted by former county comptroller Robin Lois, who stepped down from the role in 2023 prior to Pulver’s appointment to accept a position with the state as deputy comptroller. Political notables such as Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-41, Assemblymember Didi Barrett, D-106, County Legislator Chris Drago, D-19, and Republican county executive Sue Serino joined Aymar-Blair and his family for the ceremony which emphasized integrity, accountability and bipartisan goodwill with a mindset toward the needs of Dutchess County residents.
The ceremony began with a display by the color guard as the U.S., state, and county flags were carried forth for the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the singing of the national anthem and an invocation. Robin Lois provided the opening remarks, reminding the audience of what the position entails. “The comptroller is the watchdog,” Lois said. “Dan will do a fantastic job.” The following speaker, Rebecca Edwards, the town supervisor of Poughkeepsie, agreed, listing the traits which she believes distinguishes Aymar-Blair. “Dan is the perfect person,” Edwards said. “He’s experienced, qualified … dedicated.”
Sen. Michelle Hinchey, D-41, also praised Aymar-Blair in her remarks while acknowledging the audience for making his victory possible. “Government, politics and running for office is a team sport,” said Hinchey, who conveyed her gratitude to guests at the nearly full Large Hall at Tymor Park in LaGrangeville while explaining the under-the-radar role of the comptroller who is tasked with office responsibilities, constituent outreach, oversight and operating in fair-minded, nonpartisan fashion, regardless of the obstacles ahead. “You need a comptroller with the courage to stand up to both sides of the aisle,” Hinchey said. “That is Dan Aymar-Blair.” State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli agreed with Hinchey, citing the comptroller’s need to serve as a beacon, emphatically stating “The most essential qualification is being independent.”
While independence and fearlessness are assets for the position, cohesiveness and collaboration is equally critical. Aymar-Blair feels strongly about serving all county residents in a positive, productive manner, especially when his intervention is clearly needed. “I’m motivated by the belief that government can — and must — help out,” the incoming comptroller said. “People are hurting. People are struggling … The prescription is good management.”
POUGHKEEPSIE — New mental health care access is coming to Northern Dutchess County as the demand for mental health services has been increasing.
Family Services Inc., an outpatient mental health clinic, has outgrown their facility, which was located at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck. Now, the incorporation is upgrading to a much larger location in Rhinebeck that is expected to open late this year.
“They’ll be working on being able to accommodate seeing children there as well. It’ll be basically like individual therapy or counseling sessions for youth and adults.” said Mental Health Commissioner Jean-Marie Niebuhr. “It will also be group therapy. There’ll be some opportunities for medication management, psychotropic medication management for mental health conditions.”
Family Services currently has eight locations, five of which are within Dutchess County and can be found in Millbrook, Rhinebeck, Beacon, Eastern Dutchess and Poughkeepsie.
The new facility will bring more resources and expand access to adults, and will now house the new children’s behavioral health program. This program will provide children up to the age of 17 with services that could include: comprehensive evaluation, crisis intervention, individual or family therapy, psychiatric evaluation and medication management, according to the Dutchess County website.
As well as this, Family Services can provide group or individual therapy with integrated needs for adults over the age of 18.
Therapy, individual and group, at Family Services is provided through licensed therapists and counselors, who have been trained in how to approach each individualistic situation. They also have a team of experienced psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners and nurses, if someone is seeking medication or medical needs.
“There’s five, and those are public mental health clinics, which means that they should be able to accommodate people with any type of insurance, or no insurance,” said Niebuhr. “They also take, of course, Medicaid and Medicare.”
Regardless of a person’s income or insurance coverage, Family Services works hard to provide for anyone in need. Their goal is to ensure the community can have access to quality behavioral health support, without any sort of stigma attached to it.
Dutchess County’s Department of Mental Health has provided $205,000 in funding to support Family Services’ new location and bringing mental health services to the northern part of the county. According to the Dutchess County’s government website, this funding was part of a contract amendment, redirecting previous funds that Family Services received and to repurpose the funding in order to establish the much needed children’s behavioral health services in their new Northern Dutchess location.
If Dutchess County residents are unable to access any of their local facilities, there is an option to get services online. Telehealth amenities can be obtained through Zoom, based on the individual’s needs and an assessment done by the clinical team.
Currently, the insurances that Family Services accepts are: Medicaid, Medicare, Aetna, Beacon Health Options, Blue Cross Blue Shield, CDPHP, Empire Plan, Fidelis, MVP, UBH Optum and Wellcare. However, the insurance being accepted can be subject to change at any time, and should be checked prior to any appointment.
“I envision the clinics being sort of the backbone of our mental health system. And accessing that type of care is really important because if you’re getting care, you’re much less likely to end up in a crisis,” said Niebuhr. “And of course, we want to do everything we can to avoid a crisis. So if people can easily get the help they need when things aren’t as bad, then hopefully we would prevent them from ever being in a mental health crisis.”
To schedule an intake appointment, call 845-276-4600 or the non-urgent email: intake@familyservicesny.org.
Cumberland Farms gas station on Route 343 in downtown Amenia.
AMENIA — Expanding the capacity for wastewater handling at the Cumberland Farms site along Route 343, the Planning Board at its regular meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, discussed the plans and referred the project on to Dutchess County officials for decision.
Representing Cumberland Farms was Caryn Mlodzianowski, project engineer for Bohler Engineering of Albany, specialists in engineering challenging sites.
Mlodzianowski described plans to replace the current inadequate septic system at the site with a larger capacity system installing four tanks that would collect, settle, pump and process, all on-site. A two-foot retaining wall on the western side is included in the plan. She was seeking site plan approval.
“The project is for construction of a new wastewater treatment facility,” explained John Andrews, Planning Board engineer, noting that the project is classed as a “minor improvement,” and therefore not subject to a public hearing.
“The site is subject to flooding and located in a floodway,” Andrews noted. “When you seek to fill in a floodway, the site needs to be examined by county officials.
Although bog turtles were said to be absent from the site, Planning Board member Ken Topolsky asked for documentation of the possible effects of any disturbance within the site’s wetlands.
Agreeing that there is a substantive flood potential on the site, Planning Board member Nina Peek also noted the absence of promised landscaping along the Route 343 frontage between the current parking lot and the road.
An application to allow for a private driveway to one of the lots that are part of the Tower Hill Subdivision was detailed by Rich Rennia of Rennia Engineering.
Terming it a “slight change in the map,” Rennia said that the plans were originally approved in June 2023, revised in January 2024, and re-approved the following month.
“One of the lots is now looking for a private driveway,” Rennia said.
The new proposal only adjusts a lot line, Andrews noted, but a public hearing on the change would be needed.
The Planning Board agreed to schedule a public hearing on the lot line change for their regular meeting on Wednesday, March 12.
MILLERTON — The Town of North East held a board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 13, to create a “memorandum of understanding” contract between the Village of Millerton and the town, explaining how the town will assist the village after its Highway and Water Department building caught fire on Feb. 3.
“The resolution authorizes the town superintendent of highways to assist the Village of Millerton and its highway department with plowing, repair and maintenance of the village highways,” supervisor Chris Kennan said. “Pursuant to provisions of section 142e of the Highway Law, during the period of the Village’s state of emergency.”
Village mayor Jenn Najdek was in attendance to share updates on the status of the investigation and village needs after the fire. “Everyone did a really good job, under extremely stressful circumstances, to figure out a path moving forward,” Najdek said, explaining the support from the town, county, state and surrounding communities has been beneficial and remains appreciated.
“We’re pretty fortunate. It makes you realize what a special place this is to live in,” Najdek said. “When all those resources all of a sudden show up at your door when you need them, that’s pretty cool.”
The town has unanimously accepted a bid for the installation of the Highway garage’s fencing, working with the company Fesco Fence.
For this project, the town received eight different bids from potential contractors with the ranging costs of $166,000 to $328,676. Fesco Fence was the lowest bid submitted, which included the company’s 10% contingency allowance of $15,090.91.
During the meeting Kennan spoke briefly about a new cell tower slated to be built in Ancram. He is receptive to feedback on the topic which has elicited a mixed response from residents. “It’s not in our town, but it’s right on our border and we are familiar with things like the Transfer Station that was placed in the Town of Salisbury,” Kennan said. “I think it’s important that we at least note this so we have an opportunity to talk about it.”
As of Thursday night, the town had collected 37% of taxes, and paid off the Fire District’s budget, according to Tilly Strauss. Along with taxes, the board created a flyer to send out with every receipt to show the community where their money will be going.
Amenia has now been certified as a pro-housing community and has completed the proper paperwork to show its updated zoning and/or building permits, councilwoman Meg Winkler said. “We will be getting into that next year, maybe the end of this year,” Winkler said.
The new Town Hall is now taking its first baby steps, Kennan said, he spent most of Thursday morning at the new building where he was working with a HVAC company to get the system up and running.
“It has been out of service for several years, so there are a couple pieces of equipment in those units that are not working,” Kennan said. “It’s really a first step in our process of getting the work underway, is to get that system working properly.”
Village of Millerton offices on Route 22
MILLERTON — On Monday, Feb. 10, a board meeting was held, largely centered on the impact of the Feb. 3 fire that destroyed the Village Water and Highway building located on Route 22. In addition to the loss of the building, vehicles, equipment and tools were also destroyed.
“If we go back to the cause, it is still undetermined,” said mayor Jenn Najdek, who stated foul play had been ruled out. She also confirmed the garage remained off-limits as the investigation is still ongoing.
Alongside the Mayor, village trustees expressed their concern regarding rumors as to the cause of the fire. According to trustee David Sherman, transparency with the public is key to distinguishing fact from fiction. “I think we should, through whatever releases we can make, make it abundantly clear what that status is so we can squelch these kinds of rumors that are oozing up in the community,” said Sherman.
The Village is working with Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, an independent cause and origin investigation company, to determine the cause of the blaze. According to Najdek, once the investigation is complete, investigators will greenlight the premises for entrance. Najdek also emphasized while investigators are working toward determining a cause, one may or may not be found, contingent on what the investigation yields.
According to Najdek, the Town of East Fishkill sent their engineer the morning of the fire to assist Village’s water operators in setting up a system to ensure drinking water would continue to flow. The village’s supply of drinking water has been continuously evaluated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as well as the Board of health to ensure fitness for human consumption.
With one of the wells being destroyed in the fire, the Village’s water will be conditioned as required and pumped from well no. 1, known as the “doghouse,” to a holding tank as a temporary solution.
“Well no. 2 that was in the building, we can selectively demo around it, secure it, get a semi permanent structure,” Najdek said. “We don’t know what that’s going to be. There’s one hundred different solutions for that, and we will know more after this week.”
The Village trustees showed interest in an acting structure which resembles a “plug and play” system, where all water operating equipment will be housed. “We will be meeting with the engineer, the water operator and Pete [Dellaghelfa, Village’s Superintendent of Public Works], this week on-site and we will start looking for the immediate, short-term solution,” said Najdek.
Previously, the Millerton Water Department housed two 10-inch diameter wells in an unconsolidated aquifer that allowed filtration through 50 feet of sand and gravel. The water then gets pumped into an elevated holding tank, where it is treated and chlorinated before being distributed to residents.
Currently, well no. 1 is being operated by a generator while the power lines to the building are in the midst of being fixed. The intent of these lines, according to Najdek, is to potentially serve electricity to both of the wells and the baseball field lighting.
With the loss of vehicles and equipment, the village is hoping to be indemnified once insurance claims are settled. “We’ve incurred a lot of expenses so far,” Najdek said, explaining her confidence in village insurer New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal. “I feel pretty good about them being able to handle our needs in a timely manner.”
The Village will have a three-month window to borrow vehicles or equipment as needed from the town, county or the state. “God forbid the county’s truck hits the bed, we can ask the state ‘Do you have any trucks that you could loan us?’” Najdek said.
The mayor requested the Highway and Police department compile a wish list of vehicles and equipment for immediate needs. The village hopes to avoid buying used trucks and equipment, hopefully avoiding any problems that come with them, said public works superintendent Dellaghelfa. “It’s not that I’m against used. I just want to see that the village is getting their money’s worth.”
Once Najdek has confirmation from the insurance company, the village will start moving forward with the “wish-lists” from both the Highway and Police Departments. At this time, patience is what’s needed most, explained Najdek. “For those who have never been through a fire, this is a marathon. It’s not a sprint,” she said. “Sometimes answers don’t come into the third mile or fourth mile. It’s not something where information comes quickly from insurance companies everyday, so there will potentially be no updates.”
The village’s state of emergency declaration, which went into effect the morning of the fire, remains in place.
During the meeting, trustee Sherman provided updates on where the village stands for the Community Development Block Grant. The village is planning to use this grant to replace a few sections of sidewalks which need improvement.
“Some things are going to require some engineering input to see how we can rebuild this area,” Sherman said. “The aim is to put some estimates together and have the board’s consideration for our next meeting to approve making a CDBG application for this 2025 year and keeping it with a total cost under the $200,000 level, which is the max.”
According to Sherman, the focus will be on the sidewalks near John Street, also known as Smith Court and North Center Street. The Village needs to submit its request for the grant by Monday, March 3, to be considered.
