AMENIA — Engaging with the task of updating the town’s comprehensive plan of development, an open session on Monday, June 9, invited residents to come to the Town Hall and share comments on present strengths of Amenia town life and to suggest ways in which town life might be enhanced in the future.
About 100 residents representing a robust variety of demographics attended the community event and stayed to visit with one another and study the displays of town maps while watching the growing display of ideas.
“Here we are again, looking at moving forward,” said town board member Rosanna Hamm, who offered a brief opening statement. “We’ve come a long way and we want to look forward to the future,” she added, reflecting on the town’s history.
The plan of development that serves as a reference base for all zoning decisions was last updated in 2009, underscoring the need to make appropriate revisions to meet the present day and a decade or two to come.
“Twenty-five years ago was the original town plan,” recalled former town supervisor Bill Flood, offering a brief comment. “Now together, we will make it better.”
“These are the next steps in the planning process,” said Nina Peek, who serves on both the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee and the Planning Board.
The town’s Comprehensive Plan Review Committee, with the guidance of Nexus facilitating consultants associated with Pace University’s Land Use Law Center, convened the event titled “Engaging Amenia,” seeking to hear from as many residents as possible to advance the work of the planning update.
Residents gathered for an “Engaging Amenia” event at the Town Hall on Monday, June 9, to share views on the town’s present and future, a step toward updating the town’s Comprehensive Plan of Development, last updated in 2009.Photo by Leila Hawken
Comment stations on Monday invited residents to begin by writing a single word on a whiteboard that would encapsulate personal views of the town. A sampling of the single words included “friendly, community, history, land, home, potential, neighborly, view, future, rural, safe and friendly, support, sidewalk hellos, family, respite and values.” To provide balance, two identical entries, “unengaged,” played off the event title.
Attendees were then invited to visit any or all of five stations, each with a review committee representative providing information and inviting written comments on post-it notes to be affixed to a whiteboard. A pink post-it signaled a town strength; a green post-it represented a town need.
The five stations invited comment on Sustainability and Recreation, Natural Resources, Housing, Business, and Infrastructure and Municipal Services. Residents lingered to see the growing collection of post-it messages, numbered in the hundreds.
“It’s a really good turnout in spite of the rain,” said Nexus consultant Jaclyn Tyler. “It shows the interest of the public that they want to be involved in the process.”
“It’s a great turnout,” assessed Tiffany Zezula, Deputy Director of the Land Use Law Center at Pace University. “I’m very happy with it.”
Residents’ comments will continue to be gathered throughout the summer months. A website has been created by the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee to allow residents to see others’ comments as they are submitted and to add their own about the subject categories. To access the website, go to www.engagingamenia.com.
Stanford locals utilize the snow covered hill below Stanford Town Hall on Route 82 on Friday, Jan. 23, before the weekend's snow storm deposited up to 18 inches across northeast Dutchess County.
Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency leading up to the storm, as did Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino.
Snowfall totals exceeded forecasts across northeast Dutchess County, with heavy, persistent bands producing more than a foot and a half of accumulation. Schools, municipal offices, churches and numerous community events were canceled or postponed through Monday as plowing operations continued and temperatures dropped into the single digits overnight.
Shawn Milton, an employee of the Stanford highway crew, assesses a plow truck on Friday, Jan. 23, in anticipation of the weekend's winter storm. He and his colleague Zach Zampko said Stanford's equipment was in good working order ahead of the storm.Photo by Nathan Miller
Road crews across the region said they felt prepared heading into the storm. While storms of this magnitude are relatively rare, crews expressed confidence that the cold temperatures would keep the snow lighter and easier to manage.
Visits to North East, Amenia, Washington, Stanford and Pine Plains found salt supplies well stocked and equipment in good working order ahead of the snowfall.
In Stanford, Highway Superintendent Jim Myers and his crew were strapping plows to trucks in the town garage on Friday morning, Jan. 23. Myers said the town was as ready as it could be — a sentiment echoed by highway departments throughout the region.
"You just got to stay on top of it," Myers said. "Keep going."
Labor shortages remain a concern during major storms, crew members said, noting that county and state resources can be stretched thin in more remote areas. In many towns, local road crews are only responsible for town-owned roads, with county and state crews often responsible for the numbered highways and routes.
Roads were covered with snow much of the day on Sunday, Jan. 25, as highway crews worked to keep up with snowfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour during the most intense parts of the storm. Photo by Nathan Miller
Some weather models are predicting that another winter storm may hit the Northeast on Sunday, Feb. 1, and Monday, Feb. 2. Predictions are still early, but they suggest more snow is coming.
Dutchess County operates a warming center assistance program through its Department of Child and Family Services. Residents in need of a safe, warm place to stay may call 845-486-3300 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or 211 after 5 p.m. for assistance in finding shelter.
Additional reporting by Christian Murray
Protesters gather during a weekly anti-Trump demonstration in Fountain Square in Amenia on Saturday, Jan. 24, holding signs opposing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Protest organizer Kimberley Travis, who began the regular demonstrations last June with signs bearing the anti-Trump slogan “No Kings,” has remained among the fluctuating number of protesters each week.
Travis said her garage is full of handmade signs – a reflection of the rapidly-changing news cycle and her need to keep up with current events. On Saturday, many of the signs focused on what protesters described as the increasingly extreme actions associated with ICE.
Large, simple signs planted in the snow read, “ICE Out for Good,” a phrase inspired, Travis said, by the recent killing of a Minneapolis mother by a federal agent.
Protesters hold a banner reading “ICE Out for Good” during a weekly demonstration in Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24.By Aly Morrissey
“We're here today – and every Saturday – because we’re tired of what's happening to our democracy,” Travis said, who believes that the Constitution is being “demolished on a daily basis.”
Gesturing toward the other protesters, Travis said, “We, the people, must stand for our democracy, our constitutional freedoms, and we need to stop the murder in the streets and the kidnapping.”
Millerton resident Greg Swinehart said he has attended the Fountain Square protests between eight and 10 times, motivated by what he described as the growing militarization of the country and the violence committed by ICE.
“We need to resist that in a peaceful, nonviolent way,” Swinehart said. “We’re trying to raise awareness in our local community by helping people see messages they might encounter in the national media through the voices of their own friends and neighbors.”
While most passing drivers either honked and waved in support – or simply drove past – a few showed disapproval. One man slowed his vehicle to hurl a string of expletives at the protesters, telling the group to go home.
Still, neither the occasional hostility nor the bitterly cold weather deterred the group, which gathers each Saturday from noon to 1 p.m. “Every car honk feels like another drop of hope,” one demonstrator said.
A small group of demonstrators at Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24.By Aly Morrissey
When asked if they were afraid to protest so publicly after reports of lethal shootings in Minnesota, the residents generally shared the same response.
“I probably should be,” Travis said. “But they will not intimidate me, and they will not stop me.”
Since beginning the protests last summer, Travis said she has experienced threats and intimidation and has, on one occasion, had to call the police. Even so, she said the encouragement she receives far outweighs the hostility.
A longtime activist, Travis said she has been protesting for causes she believes in since she was a young teenager during the Vietnam War and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Swinehart said he has not felt threatened and hopes the gatherings will continue to grow.
“I hope that more citizens join us,” he said. “I hope more people will speak out for what they think is right, and to enjoy the camaraderie of standing alongside people who care deeply about America.”
Protesters gather in Fountain Square on Saturday, Jan. 24By Aly Morrissey
