Amenia sets public hearings on preliminary 2025 budget

AMENIA — Following public hearings on the preliminary town budget for 2025, the Town Board at their regular meeting on Thursday, Nov. 7, set a special meeting date to approve the town’s final budget.

The special meeting was set for Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.

The 2025 budget review process had begun with a review of departmental requests on Thursday, Oct. 3. Review has continued through October and to the present.

Two public budget hearings were held during the Town Board meeting. The first proposed overriding the annual tax cap requirement of 2%, to allow for a greater increase.

Councilman Paul Winters explained that each year state officials impose the tax cap. The need to override this year stems largely from an increase in Northern Dutchess ambulance service costs, a service contract shared among Millerton/North East, Amenia and Dover.

Earlier in the year, Northern Dutchess had proposed a 75% increase in fees, but further negotiations reduced that increase to 30% for the current year, with a larger increase to be imposed in following years to keep the same level of service.

As a result of the negotiations, the 2025 cost for ambulance service will be $480,462.

Winters explained that the projected increased mill rate for 2025 will be 4.5%.

The vote to override the 2% tax cap was unanimous.

During the public hearing on the overall town budget, resident Ken Topolsky urged the Town Board to consider adding a solar energy fund set aside to implement alternative energy sources.

“You’ve got to start working on it now,” Topolsky said.

Continuing discussion about the SUV-Bronco being purchased for use by the Building Department, Winters reiterated that a policy be implemented so that the vehicle will be scheduled for sharing between that office and others for official business.

In other business, because the Town Attorney had advised about a procedure to be followed to form any town advisory board, the Town Board scheduled a public hearing for residents to consider the formation of an Economic Development Committee.

The public hearing was set by unanimous vote for Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Town Hall, beginning at 7 p.m.

Discussion continued on the drafting of a local law to govern cannabis distribution establishments, as the Town Board discussed the various concerns shared with them by the Planning Board. Lengthy discussion included the means of measuring distance between any store and any public space including park, place of worship, school, playground or cemetery. Being debated, in addition to the distance itself, was the means of measuring distance whether to property line or to entrance and what would constitute an entrance.

The outcome of the discussion was a decision to ask the professional planner in charge of drafting the law to incorporate the many discussion points into a single drafted law and to determine that the resulting local drafted law would agree with all state cannabis regulations. At that point, the Town Board felt that the single draft could better be considered by the Town Board and the Planning Board.