AMENIA — Area residents brought their love of community (and their love of all things sweet) to the bake sale held at Freshtown Plaza in support of the Indian Rock Schoolhouse on Saturday, May 22.
Running from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the outdoor space between Freshtown and Amenia Pharmacy, a trio of Indian Rock Schoolhouse volunteers sat contentedly in the shade with a table piled high with homemade cakes, cookies, muffins, pies, garlic knots and other sweet and savory treats available for purchase.
The fundraiser was organized for the continued support of the historic one-room Indian Rock Schoolhouse, located at 25 Mygatt Road in Amenia. The schoolhouse association did confirm it is planning its annual picnic this fall.
— Kaitlin Lyle
Lucia Iandolo
Dover-based developers Chippawalla Properties Inc. are proposing a new inn and event space on Lake Ellis Road.
DOVER PLAINS — A proposal to convert a lakeside residence into the Lake Ellis Country Inn will move to another public hearing on Thursday, July 24, at Dover Town Hall as the Planning Board continues reviewing the project.
The Lake Ellis Country Inn is proposed for a property on Lake Ellis that is currently used as a private residence. Rennia Engineering Design, PLLC, has proposed converting the property into a lodging facility with 18 guest rooms spread between the main lake house and the lake house annex.
The Lake Ellis Country Inn will be the first new Inn to open in Dover Plains since the restoration and re-opening of the Old Drovers Inn in 2014. The Old Drovers Inn has a rich history dating back to 1750 and serves as a historic landmark as well as a bed and breakfast. The Preston Barn was added to the property in 2017 and serves as a space to host large events in the community.
Similar to the Old Drovers Inn, The Lake Ellis Country Inn has deep historical roots linked to the town of Dover. According to the Dutchess County Historic Resource Survey, the site has existed since the 1850’s and was used as a summer camp before being sold and turned into private residential property by the late 1980s, according to Planning Board application documents.
The land is owned by Chippawalla Properties Inc., an entity that is planning the project in collaboration with Rennia Engineering Design PLLC. The Inn is intended to be used for events such as weddings, vacations, retreats and conferences, and will provide access to outdoor activities like hiking and fishing.
Peter Sander, senior planner for Rennia Engineering Design, shared updates from the fire department and the highway superintendent at the July 6 meeting. The fire department approved the current structure layout, and the highway superintendent confirmed that there were no issues with the existing driveway or approach leading to the site.
Sander voiced that he received a letter from the JHK Hose Co., and they will be meeting to address whether the roadways and pathways to the site are adequate. There are still discussions about the number of events that can be held per year, and how many guests are permitted on the property for events.
During the meeting, Rennia Engineering Design was urged to consider the planning board’s comments, including how many events would be held throughout the calendar year, how to alert neighbors to those events and parking near the site. The planning board requested an extension of the deadline, and member Villano moved to extend the project until July 24.
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — The Planning Board took another step toward completing New York’s State Environmental Quality Review for the proposed Cascade Creek affordable housing development on July 8, receiving updates on traffic, fire protection, open space and stormwater management.
The proposal calls for 26 affordable single-family homes on a site along Route 22 and Old North Road. Once the environmental review is complete, the project can move to site plan review, where developers will present detailed engineering and design plans.
For now, applicants are still awaiting final approval for the land subdivision plans, a process that has carried on since Poughkeepsie-based developers Hudson River Housing submitted its first official application in November 2024. This year, board members and representatives of the developer have been going back and forth over several details of the plan, shoring up concerns and adjusting plans as necessary.
Peter Sander, Senior Planner at Rennia Engineering, reported that the state Department of Transportation had not found a need for a traffic light at the planned entrance to the site off of Route 22, nor would a left-turn lane be needed. Plans describe creating a four-way intersection where Old North Road meets Route 44 near Ritchie’s Amenia Deli.
To allay fears about firefighting, Sander said that the developer will install home sprinkler systems in each home. The developer has also reconfigured the house lots so that 59% of the property will be conserved as open space. Each house lot will have a tree and the number of lots will be reduced from 28 to 26, Sander said.
Sander reported that the developer would soon meet with fire department officials to determine the volume of water needed to hold in storage within the development to draw upon in case of a home fire.
To answer concerns about storm water drainage and collection, Sander explained that vegetated ditches called swales will carry the storm water and direct it into collection basins.
Planning Board member Ken Topolsky thanked the developers for having listened to the neighbors’ concerns.
“We have a long way to go in the process,” Topolsky said. “It’s time to get into the substantive aspects. They have met all town code requirements.”
“We have checked the administrative boxes,” Planning Board member James Vitiello said, noting that the developer has modified the plan in the process.
Planning Board member James Walsh said that he would want to hear plans for water storage and the results of talks with the fire department officials.
“The fire department said they favor sprinklers,” Sander said.
Board attorney Victoria Polidoro indicated that the SEQR process needs to be completed and that she would prepare a resolution to be considered at the next Planning Board meeting.
Topolsky noted that once the developer furnishes specific design details during the site plan process, additional public hearings will be scheduled.
Sophie Gardiner
STANFORD — A Repair Cafe will bring experienced fixers to the Stanford Free Library on July 18, offering free repairs for items ranging from lamps to jewelry to electronics.
The Repair Cafe is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the community room in the Stanford Free Library on Route 82.
Suzie Fromer, coordinator of the Repair Cafe Hudson Valley network, said the events serve two purposes: keeping usable items out of landfills, and helping people rediscover the value of what they already own.
“On the one hand, yes we want to save things from the landfill and remind people that they can fix things instead of just tossing them,” Fromer said. “But at this point, people are also really understanding the value of things and the importance of saving money instead of buying something new.”
Just as central to the mission, Fromer said, is building community. Rather than the event being a drop-off service, repair cafes are a social space where attendees sit alongside volunteers and neighbors as they learn to tinker with their broken items.
Volunteer repair coaches at the event are equipped to provide services on a range of items, such as fixing small broken appliances, sewing clothing and textile repairs, sharpening dull tools and rewiring lamps.
For Riva Weinstein, a volunteer who repairs jewelry at the cafes, fixing something doesn’t necessarily mean restoring it to its original form.
“What does fixing something mean? It doesn’t necessarily mean making it what it was,” Weinstein said. “It sometimes means opening yourself to the idea of creating something else out of it.”
That openness, Fromer said, is where the real reward lies. She recalled repairing jewelry for people who no longer had the fine motor skills or close vision to do it themselves, including one woman with arthritis whose bracelet had sat broken on a table for two or three years.
After Fromer had fit the bracelet’s clasp with a magnet, so the woman could fasten it herself, the woman cried.
“What we all do is easy for us,” Fromer said. “But, when I look around the room, what everyone else is doing isn’t easy for me. It’s an amazing talent pool.”
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Leila Hawken
AMENIA — The town Recreation Department will host a Senior picnic luncheon on Saturday, July 18, at the Wassaic Firehouse, beginning at noon.
All seniors are welcome, ages 55 and up, for the free buffet luncheon. It is a good chance to catch up with neighbors while enjoying a tasty meal. A take-out option is also available.
To register, email recreation@ameniany.gov or phone 845-373-8860, ext. 124.
Christine Bates
This four-bedroom, three-bath ranch on Midway Avenue, built in 1958 and renovated in 1970, sold in June for $350,000, after 297 days on the market, below its original list price of $395,000.
AMENIA — The 12-month trailing median price for a single-family home in Amenia, excluding sales at Silo Ridge Field Club, increased to $389,000 for the period ending June 30, 2026. That was up 21.5% from $320,000 a year earlier and 1% above the $385,000 median for the same 12-month period in 2024.
Over the past five years, median prices — excluding Silo Ridge — have generally fluctuated between $325,000 and $425,000. The all-time high 12-month median of $430,000 was reached for the period ending Dec. 31, 2022.
On a 12-month trailing basis, single-family home sales in Amenia, excluding Silo Ridge Club, remained within the historic range of two to three homes sold per month. A total of 27 single-family homes sold during the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, unchanged from the previous 12-month period and down slightly from 30 sales during the 12 months ending June 30, 2024.
In early July, 15 single-family homes were publicly listed for sale. Only two were priced below the current median of $389,000, while seven were listed for more than $1 million, including a $16.5 million property on Tower Hill Road with 138 acres and views.
Properties Sold in May and June
108 Westerly Ridge Drive — 27 acres with sweeping views sold for $700,000 on June 24.
4865 South St. — 2 bedroom/1 bath home sold for $295,000 on June 15.
9 Morton Place — 4 bedroom/2 bath home sold for $161,000 on May 7.
Additional Properties Transferred in June
75 Midway Ave. — 4 bedroom/3 bath ranch transferred to Jamie Bushee for $350,000.
Kent Road (DPA 879307) — 9.2 acres of vacant land transferred to Veronica Tyson-Strait for $200,000.
95 Tinker Town Road — 2 bedroom/2 bath home on .82 acres transferred to Jaroslav Vik for $420,000.
4865 Route 22 — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .29 acres transferred to Tyler Eckert for $295,000.
* Town of Amenia real estate sales between May 1, 2026, and June 30, 2026 and current market listings from First Key MLS. Market data on single family home sales from Info Sparks. Transfers during June from Dutchess County Office of Real Property. Private transfers from March, April and May, including not publicly listed units at Silo Ridge, are not included and will be added when available. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Salesperson with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Graham Corrigan
As student enrollment declines across the region, local school districts are falling short of using the full amount of state Pre-K funding available to them. But local superintendents say the shortfall reflects fewer children enrolling — not money being left on the table.
A recent NY Focus analysis of State Education Department data compared New York districts’ Pre-K enrollment with the amount of Pre-K funding provided by the state. It found that most districts did not meet their maximum allotment.
During the 2024-25 school year, $1.2 billion was set aside for public pre-K statewide. By the end of the school year, roughly $170 million remained unspent. For the 2025-26 school year, the state estimates another $87 million will go unused.
Deficits exist across the state. In Northern Dutchess, Millbrook Central School District fell $156,600 short of its maximum state allocation, while Pine Plains was $64,801 below its cap.
Data for Webutuck Central School District was not immediately available. Earlier this year, Webutuck announced it would expand its Pre-K offerings to include 3 year olds in addition to 4 year olds.
Superintendents from Millbrook and Pine Plains say the disparity comes from a question of enrollment, rather than the funds allocation. “The state provides a per-pupil allocation of money,” said Millbrook Superintendent Caroline Hernandez-Pidala. “If you do not have enough students enrolled to encumber the total amount available to your school district, it is forfeited. You are not able to use it for other programming.”
Superintendent Dr. Brian Timm of Pine Plains ran into the same problem. “When the initial amount for Pine Plains was given to us, it was based on a projected enrollment of 47 students,” he said. “But when our students actually enrolled, we had 35 students. So what the state is saying is, ‘Here’s the amount if all your students were to enroll, but we’re only going to pay you for the amount that actually shows up.’”
Changes are on the horizon. The state budget passed last month raised the per-pupil reimbursement for pre-K from $5,400 to $10,000.
While that won’t affect enrollment, it will free up local school dollars previously used to support Pre-K. Millbrook and Pine Plains spent $181,989 and $221,739, respectively, from local funds to fund Pre-K.
Pre-K and child care have been a central component of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s 2026-27 budget. The state has earmarked $4.5 billion for the programs, a $1.7 billion increase in funding. Hochul has set a goal of achieving universal Pre-K by the 2028-29 school year.
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