The gym floor in the Amenia Town Hall that is used for recreational programs has warped and broken tiles and will be refurbished. Pickleball players report that uneven buckling of tiles affects ball bounces.
AMENIA — Following months of study and discussion, the Town Board voted unanimously at its regular meeting on Thursday, July 18, to select a contractor who will refurbish the deteriorated Town Hall gym floor that supports recreational programs for several local groups.
Receiving proposals from four contractors, the Town Board chose Gugliotti Associates of Plantsville, Conn., to complete the project.
The town has determined that an original maple floor underlies the top layers of flooring. If that hard maple floor can be sanded and refinished, the project cost will be $17,308. If it turns out that the old maple flooring is deteriorated beyond repair, then the cost of installing a new Herculan membrane floor will total $41,500.
In preparation for what would be a capital improvement to the town’s water district, the Town Board considered seven proposals from engineering firms qualified to prepare a preliminary engineering services plan. Together with the town’s water district operator, VRI, the Town Board selected Delaware Engineering of Red Hook to prepare the plan for a total cost of $36,000.
The plan will include an engineer’s assessment of the town’s water sources and a review of storage and distribution systems. Delaware will also engage in a limited analysis of the area served by the water district and finances, as well as make recommendations for a prioritized improvements plan with general cost estimates for each phase. Under the contract, Delaware Engineering will also identify sources of grant funding and avenues for low-cost financing.
In other action, the Town Board agreed that the Climate Smart Task Force can proceed with a grant application through the state Climate Smart Communities program. A required match amount of $5,000 will be taken from the Climate Smart budget line in support of an application for a state grant of $25,000 to be used in updating the town’s Comprehensive Plan. The updates will include elements ensuring sustainability. Resident Christina Gast of the town’s conservation advisory council was appointed to represent the town in submitting the grant application.
Initiating planning for the drafting of a local law to guide cannabis distribution within the town, the Town Board discussed responses to preliminary questions posed by a planning consultant.
One question to be determined by the town is the distance that a dispensary would need to stand from sensitive locations including schools, parks, recreational fields and churches.
Councilwoman Rosanna Hamm suggested increasing the distance from 200 feet to 500 feet from parks and houses of worship, for example.
Town Supervisor Leo Blackman indicated that he would like to see mapping of the effects of the different proposed radii.
Councilman Paul Winters said that if the radii were expanded to 500 feet, that would exclude all locations in the Amenia downtown area. He felt that the only two remaining possible locations would be Freshtown Plaza to the north or the Fudgy’s Plaza to the south.
“The people who will purchase marijuana,” Winters said, “would not be remaining nearby. They would take it home.”
Adequate parking and tasteful signage were also seen as issues needing resolution.
“Historically,” Hamm said, “bars were away from the center, partly because of parking.”
“Now we don’t have any,” Blackman observed.
The planner is also seeking information about decommissioning a dispensary, an aspect of the law to be written. Councilman Brad Rebillard asked for clarification from town attorney Ian Lindars.
Lindars explained that decommissioning must be included to define what would become of the leftover inventory.
Kevin Kelly
“I was exposed to that cutthroat, ‘Yes, chef’ culture. It’s not for me. I don’t want anyone apologizing for who they are or what they love.”— Kevin Kelly
Kevin Kelly doesn’t call himself a chef; he prefers “cook.” His business, After Hours, based in Great Barrington, operates as what Kelly calls “a restaurant without a home,” a pop-up dining concept that prioritizes collaboration over competition, flexibility over permanence, and accessibility over exclusivity.
Kelly grew up in Great Barrington and has roots in the Southern Berkshires that go back ten generations. He began working in restaurants at age 14. “I started at Allium and was hooked right off the bat,” he said. He worked across the region from Cantina 229 in New Marlborough to The Old Inn on the Green at Jacob’s Pillow before heading to Babson College in Boston to study business. After a few years in Boston kitchens, he returned home to open a restaurant. But the math didn’t work. “The traditional model just didn’t feel financially sustainable,” he said. “So, I took a step back and asked, ‘If that doesn’t work, then what does?’”
The answer became After Hours. Rather than investing in a single location, Kelly partners with various venues and brings the restaurant experience to them. He uses the commercial kitchen at The Thornewood, a former inn turned workforce housing in Great Barrington. “They didn’t really have much use for the commercial kitchen, and I happened to connect with them when they acquired the property. We were actually the first tenant in the building,” said Kelly. Events are usually family-style and rooted in seasonal, local ingredients, sourced from local farms whenever possible including Dancing Greens, Indian Line, Off The Shelf and North Plain.
Since launching in December 2023, After Hours has hosted more than 150 events and partnered with nearly 100 local businesses including Wards Nursery in Great Barrington, Paige’s Place in Otis, Massachusetts, The Berkshire Botanical Garden, and coming up is a summer residency at The White Hart in Salisbury. From multi-course dinners to casual market pop-ups, its model adapts to the space, the moment, and the ingredients. “We design menus based on the venue,” said Kelly. “Whatever the kitchen allows, we make it work.”
Looking for partnerships that are mutually beneficial adds to the community-oriented business model. “Something we always look to curate with events and event partners is finding ways to mutually collaborate on marketing. So, Wards is a great example where they’re really looking to tap into a younger demographic and that’s something we’re able to really bring to the table.”
Now, Kelly is extending the model with a new initiative called The After Hours Supper Club. A subscription-based model, members will receive monthly meals for two or four with seasonally inspired mains, small plates, desserts, and extras. A portion of the proceeds supports Berkshire Bounty, a nonprofit fighting local food insecurity.
The Supper Club is not Kelly’s first collaboration with Berkshire Bounty. Last Thanksgiving, he launched a “buy one, give one” meal kit where one purchased meal equaled one donated to a local family. “Berkshire Bounty is so grateful for the continued support from Kevin and After Hours. Through Kevin’s creativity and care, together we are making an impact on food security in this community and providing nourishing food for the most vulnerable among us,” said Morgan Ovitsky, Executive Director of Berkshire Bounty.The subscription model allows After Hours to extend its reach into homes across the region. “We’ve had strong early interest,” said Kelly. “We’re fulfilling our first orders in June.”
Staffing such a fluid operation is a challenge. To address this, Kelly also created After Hours Gigs, a flexible labor system where people can sign up for one-off shifts. “Most people around here have three or four jobs,” he said. “This lets them pick up a gig with low commitment.” About 15 to 20 people work regularly through the system, but Kelly is often still scrambling to fill roles on busy weekends. With five events in just four days on the calendar, Kelly keeps moving. “It’s a lot,” he said. “But you just do it. One event at a time.”
There is a distinctly anti-macho ethos to his kitchens. “I was exposed to that cutthroat, ‘Yes, chef’ culture. It’s not for me. I don’t want anyone apologizing for who they are or what they love.” When someone asks what to wear to a gig, his response is simple. “Be comfortable. Be presentable. Be yourself.”
What Kelly has built with After Hours is less a brand than a belief that food should be personal, shared, grounded in place and people. So, what’s the most delicious thing he’s made recently? “A white pizza with ramp pesto,” he told me, eyes lighting up. “We’ve started doing Sicilian slices at the farmer’s market. Breakfast pizzas are next.”
For more information, visit: www.afterhoursgb.com
Dee Salomon on what makes a garden a garden.
On June 20 and 21, the Cornwall Library will celebrate its 10th anniversary of Books & Blooms, the two-day celebration of gardens, art, and the rural beauty of Cornwall. This beloved annual benefit features a talk, reception, art exhibit, and self-guided tours of four extraordinary local gardens.
The first Library sponsored garden tour was in June 2010 and featured a talk by Page Dickey, an avid gardener and author. This year’s Books & Blooms will coincide with Ellen Moon’s exhibit “Thinking About Gardens,” a collection of watercolors capturing the quiet spirit of Cornwall’s private gardens. Moon, a weekly storyteller to the first grade at Cornwall Consolidated School and art curator for The Cornwall Library, paints en plein air. Her work investigates what constitutes a garden. In the description of the show, she writes: “there are many sorts...formal, botanical, cottage, vegetable, herb...even a path through the woods is a kind of garden. My current working definition of a garden is a human intervention in the landscape to enhance human appreciation of the landscape.” Also on display are two of her hand-embroidered jackets. One depicts spring’s flowering trees and pollinators. The other, a kimono, was inspired by Yeats’s “The Song of the Wandering Aengus.”
On Friday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m. writer and garden philosopher Dee Salomon will give a talk titled, “What Makes a Garden a Garden?” at Cornwall Town Hall. Beloved for her “Ungardener” column here in our newspapers, Salomon will reflect on the meaning of gardens and their place in the human imagination. The presentation is followed by a festive cocktail reception at the library, with live music by the Crownback Funk Trio, an improvisational blend of funk, blues, and jazz.
Then on Saturday, participants can enjoy self-guided tours of four distinctive Cornwall gardens, each with docents on hand to answer questions. From a terraced Italianate hillside overlooking the Housatonic River to a wild deer-frequented garden brimming with perennials and daffodils, these gardens tell stories of transformation, imagination, and place.
Books & Blooms is a reflection of the Cornwall Library’s vital role in town. “The library really is the central meeting place,” said event organizer Kirk Van Tassel. “People come here for talks, kids’ programs, art exhibits. It’s a cornerstone of community life.”
To purchase tickets, visit cornwalllibrary.org
