Vicki Doyle reflects on a legacy of community service

Doyle discusses her years of service and considers her own and the town’s future.

AMENIA — When Vicki Doyle steps down from her position as councilwoman on the Amenia Town Board, following her narrow defeat by Republican Paul Winters in November’s election, she will have held the position for 20 years.  

“Serving the town is in my DNA,” Doyle observed during an interview Saturday, Dec. 2, adding to statements made a few days earlier.

Doyle won her seat for the first time in November 2003, and began serving on the Town Board on Jan. 1, 2004. She has seen numerous changes over the years, she said:

“The town’s budget has roughly doubled since I began. It was about $1 million in appropriations when I started. Last year it was $2.4 million and for 2024, it is $2.8 million. And we still haven’t built a new highway garage.”

“We also had little debt,” Doyle said, “but for the closure of the landfill. We’re still paying our share, and the Town of Sharon is keeping it mowed.”

Moving the Town Hall in 2010 — from 2,500 square feet of rented space at the Amenia Fire Company costing $30,000 annually, to 25,000 square feet of space at its present site — Doyle identified as another milestone. By virtue of the move, she said, the town gained a gym, auditorium, courtroom and spacious offices.

The move did, however, incur expenses, including a new boiler system, which cost more than $1 million, insulation, asbestos abatement, roof repairs and replacement windows on the first floor.

“But we have a beautiful facility for residents to gather, play basketball and enjoy performances. And the town has gained adequate office and storage space,” Doyle said.

Her work with residents to create the rail trail extension between the Wassaic train station and the village center of Wassaic, completed in 2020, was an achievement of which Doyle is particularly proud.

“This was a heavy lift,” she said, praising the leadership of Town Supervisor Victoria Perotti, who was elected in 2008.

“Her leadership made all the difference; it would never have gotten off the ground without her support,” Doyle said, recalling that she had obtained a $100,000 state grant for the project with the assistance of state Sen. Greg Ball. 

Doyle celebrates seeing visitors and residents bringing more activity to the hamlet.

The Amenia Free Theater Arts Program is also a point of pride, Doyle said. The theater program had been initiated by the Luther family around 1980, some 20 years before Doyle moved to Amenia in 2001. Having enrolled her daughter in the program and seen the benefits to young participants first hand, Doyle sought and received grants to support the program’s continuation when the Luther family moved away.

Firmly rooted in the values of service to the community, Doyle said that she will continue her volunteer work on the Enhancement and Comprehensive Plan Review committees, as well as the Conservation Advisory Council’s Climate Smart Task Force. She will also continue to write grant requests to support that work. 

Electric Vehicle charging stations are being made possible by an $82,000 grant, now in final stages of processing, Doyle noted.

“The Climate Smart Task Force just needs to dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” Doyle said. “When installed, the charging stations will provide free charging to residents and visitors for years to come.”

In addition to continuing her full time job at Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, she said, she plans to spend the time that she once devoted to the Town Board to volunteer for the projects that she believes have the greatest potential for future impact.

“The biggest hurdle [for the town] continues to be the addition of a sewer system in downtown Amenia,” Doyle said. “That is key for meaningful economic revitalization, affordable housing, preservation of open space and quality of life in our town centers.

“It has eluded the town for 60 years. We need to ‘seize the day’ with new leadership while there is serious assistance available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Doyle said, referring to a program of federal grants for clean water projects. Doyle said she will do what she can to continue supporting the initiative.

“And of course, the town highway garage simply must be built, as soon as possible,” Doyle said. “With Supervisor-elect Leo Blackman’s architectural expertise, I know this will be done expeditiously; on time and on budget, in partnership with the highway superintendent.”