Amenia Town Board authorizes more borrowing for new garage

AMENIA — The Town Board unanimously authorized an additional $2.1 million in borrowing for the new town garage and salt storage shed Thursday, Oct. 15, as construction nears.

The town authorized $6.3 million in bonds in 2024 and another $3.9 million in July 2025, bringing total borrowing authorized for the project to $12.3 million.

The latest authorization is subject to a “permissive referendum,” meaning it will take effect unless residents submit a valid petition requiring a townwide vote.

The new town garage complex is being built on five acres of town-owned land located on the east side of Route 22 south of Sinpatch Road. Some clearing and grading work has already been done at the site.

Plans call for six double bays in the main building that will include an office and breakroom. The salt shed will include attached storage space with four enclosed bays and two open bays.

In other business, the Town Board voted unanimously to amend the town’s 2026 budget to provide $149,733 in interest for a bond anticipation note.

EMS proposal

County Legislator Chris Drago, D-19, presented a report on the work of the county Public Safety Committee where he serves as vice-chairman with County Legislator Eric Alexander, D-25.

In an effort to reduce EMS response times and lower annual costs for participating towns, Drago said that Town Supervisors of four area towns are meeting regularly to devise a new system of coverage. Area towns participating are Amenia, North East, Washington and Stanford.

“How can we provide better ambulance service at lower cost,” was the question being addressed by the Public Safety Committee, Drago said.

“If we have lower volume of calls, we must pay them more,” Drago said of the existing ambulance service.

The potential solution is a collaborative system called a “redirect model,” Drago said. Under that plan, the four towns would comprise a single service area with a shared pool of ambulances.

When one ambulance is called into service, the others in the pool would reposition themselves so that an ambulance is always available within a reasonable distance, Drago explained.

Seen as a short-term solution that could involve county-sponsored supplemental ambulances, Drago said that a longer-term solution could be devised by creating a plan model for the state Governor to consider.