John Coston
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North East Town Hall on Maple Avenue in the Village of Millerton.
Archive photo
MILLERTON — As the year winds down, it’s out with the old and in with the new for Millerton officials. Town Supervisor Chris Kennan and Mayor Jenn Najdek have both been working on their wish lists for 2025 while wrapping up year-end responsibilities.
For Kennan, the end of 2024 means one of his goals for this year has been met with the completion of the new garage in town. He’s going into 2025 with optimism for the creation of a new Town Hall. “For our next capital project we purchased a building on Route 22 — a Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall — and we’re converting it,” Kennan said.
One of the reasons for the conversion is due to the current Town Hall not being ADA-accessible. Kennan feels strongly about making this change as his office is one of the most-visited in the building, explaining, “There’s no elevators and the stairs are steep. It’s a problem.” While Kennan is uncertain exactly when work will commence on the new Town Hall, the start of the project is one of his core ambitions for the New Year, saying, “It’s really our number one priority for the next year.”
Another project to be further developed for Kennan is the rezoning of the boulevard, which is the stretch of Route 44 from CVS to the Connecticut border. He wants to prioritize retail shops which enhance the character of the township. “We want to make the best possible use of retail,“ Kennan said, adding that food markets and clothing stores which fill Millerton’s needs are his priorities for 2025, along with further development of town wastewater projects.
Mayor Jenn Najdek, whose 2024 projects include obtaining grant monies, ensuring the installation of new fire hydrants in the village and swapping out streetlights, is also working on multiple goals for the year ahead. Her main concern is reaching the finish line in a timely fashion.
“I’d just like to make sure projects are completed,” said Najdek, who cited several 2025 ambitions she’s currently working towards.
“Wastewater, phase two construction of the park, the swimming pool and the bathhouse.” Additionally, Najdek hopes to wrap up the installation of all LED streetlights, which she acknowledges is a work in progress.
While their upcoming hopes for the village and the town are important to Najdek and Kennan, they’re also focusing at on wishing Millerton residents all the best in December. “It’s a very special time for a lot of people, a great time to get together with family to celebrate the holiday and think about the year ahead,” said Kennan. “We have a wonderful, inclusive and supportive community where we think of each other, especially at this time of year.”
Najdek echoed Kennan’s sentiments, saying, “I want to wish everyone a healthy, happy and safe holiday season. I hope everyone gets to spend time with the friends and loved ones.” Najdek was also quick to convey her gratitude to Townscape, whom she credited with making the season brighter for their work in putting up the village lights. “A big thank you to them for all their efforts in making Millerton look pretty for the holidays.”
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A Millerton Fire Company truck pulling Santa and his helpers turning on Traver Place to bring gifts to residents on Saturday, Dec. 14.
Photo by Colleen Flynn
MILLERTON — On Saturday, Dec. 14, the Millerton Fire Company spread holiday cheer with its fourth annual Santa Run.
The run, which included Highland Drive, Sharon Road, Route 22 and more featured the Fire Department who escorted Santa to help drop off gifts to about 80 children living in the Village of Millerton or the Town of North East.
“The goal of the Santa Run now is to keep the holiday spirit within our town and village [and] with all of the children that live within the town and village. We like to reach out as the fire department to our townspeople and village taxpayers, to give something back,” Kelly Rogers, a fire department member, said, “They donate to us all year long, so we like to give back to the community as well. So giving the kids a gift from Santa is just magical.”
The concept of the Santa Run began as a result of the pandemic. “We started it because of COVID,” said Rogers. “We used to gather back after the Parade of Lights on Black Friday night. We would gather back at the firehouse, all of the restaurants in town would donate food to us, and then we would all have food with Santa, and the kids could wait in line and see Santa,” Rogers said, “But due to COVID, we had to discontinue that.”
While the Santa Run is made in mid-December, it actually begins at the end of October. On Halloween night, young people who live in the community who trick or treat at the firehouse are given a letter to fill out and return to the Santa Mailbox. The mailbox sits outside the fire department’s building starting Nov. 1, waiting to receive as many letters from children as possible. In the letter, each child is supposed to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.
“All the volunteers come together and drive all of the fire trucks in a parade, and we bring Santa to all the addresses that we have of the kids that wrote letters,” said Rogers, “We bring Santa to all their houses. They get to get a picture with Santa, and Santa gives them a gift.”
The Santa Run began at 10:00 in the morning and ran until 3:30 p.m., ensuring each child who turned in a letter received their gift from Santa.
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Krista A. Briggs
Photo provided
MILLERTON — Krista A. Briggs has joined The News as Managing Editor.
Briggs, who lives in Cold Spring, is a journalist with a broad background that ranges from news and feature writing to managing transcription and translation projects for legal and municipal clients.
Briggs graduated from Long Island University — Post with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, and holds a Master of Science in Special Education from Dowling College.
The News is pleased to welcome Briggs, which has been focused on building newsroom strength since Covid days.
“I’m very pleased to have joined the creative and dedicated staff at the Millerton News,” said Briggs. “I’m really looking forward to partnering with the Millerton community and its surrounding areas to produce a newspaper we can all be proud to call our own.”
James H. Clark, chief executive officer and publisher of LJMN Media, the nonprofit that publishes The Millerton News and The Lakeville Journal, said, “Krista is a welcome addition to our growing newsroom, particularly at this point where we seek to broaden and deepen coverage of our communities.”
The Millerton News, which last year reopened its office at 16 Century Boulevard in Millerton, is available by mail, at newstands throughout the region, and online at www.millertonnews.com.
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MILLBROOK — Heavy rain fall flooded the Millbrook Middle School, underscoring a need across the Central School District for leaky roof repairs and delaying school operations by several hours Thursday, Dec. 12.
“Our primary focus is always to maintain a safe and secure environment for students and staff,” said District Superintendent Caroline Hernandez Pidala.
Supintendent Hernandez Pidala reported that on Wednesday evening, there was rain falling inside the middle school building and somewhat less severe infiltration in two other school buildings.
“With hours of rain ahead and the potential for conditions to worsen, we called a two-hour delay. This allowed the storm to pass and provided needed time to reassess the situation in drier conditions during daylight hours. We had crews on campus until 11 p.m. and they returned at 4 a.m. to optimize containment and remediation efforts. With this additional time, we were able to salvage the school day for all students,” Hernandez Pidala said.
The Middle School had been the hardest hit. There were 27 affected areas throughout all levels of the Middle School including classrooms, the gymnasium, fitness lab, auditorium, corridors and bathrooms, Hernandez Pidala said.
The Dutchess BOCES Safety & Risk Coordinator was called in to inspect current conditions and advise school officials of any necessary additional precautions. Testing will determine damaged building materials for the presence of asbestos and any other hazardous materials that may have been disturbed as a result of the history of leaks. Samples will be taken to monitor indoor air quality.
Due to the potential presence of asbestos-containing materials in the auditorium ceiling, that area will remain closed until school officials have a full assessment of the structural integrity of that roof and the related ceiling system beneath, Hernandez Pidala said.
The issue of roof remediation was expected to be included on the agenda of the next meeting of the Central School District Board.
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