Carl Baden, Pine Plains Highway Superintendent, shown in a photo last year with one of the town’s trucks. A study is underway by Dutchess County Comptroller Gregg Pulver to determine whether using a brine mixture on county roads instead of rock salt for winter storms would help save both the environment and money for Dutchess County.
POUGHKEEPSIE — Dutchess County Comptroller Gregg Pulver has launched a study to consider alternatives to using road salt on county roads.
Pulver said, “We are always looking to save taxpayer’s money and launching environmentally friendly road salt is a great way to accomplish both saving your money and protecting our environment.
“The brine solution may significantly reduce costs for our highway department while removing the harmful impact traditional road salt has on our waterways, roads, and soil in Dutchess County, not to mention the excessive damage it does to vehicles by prematurely rusting.”
Pulver said he has long been aware of the effects road salt can have.
“My parents well was contaminated from road salt years ago. Since then, I’ve always advocated for less usage.”
The inspiration for the study came from Rhinebeck where highway superintenden Bob Wyant saw a video on how to make a brine mixer.
The brine mixer churns salt and water to make a mixture, which when applied to winter roads has been shown to be more effective and cheaper than the traditional rock salt used now. It is also safer for the environment.
Once it is applied, the water in the brine evaporates, leaving a coating of salt which sticks to the roads. Traditional rock salt tends to bounce and roll off the roads and into waterways where it gets into drinking water and raises salinity, which can be unhealthy, especially for people with high blood pressure.
It also affects fish, plants, gets into soil, and affects ecosystems, according to “ROAD SALT, The Problem, The Solution, and How to Get There,” a study by the Cary Institute of Ecosystems Studies in Millbrook.
Where rock salt must be applied right before or during a storm, brine can be applied up to forty-eight hours before a storm, which also can save on labor.
The Cary study recommends “a 23% salt brine solution to pre-treat roads before the onset of storms. Estimates suggest that road pre-treatment with brine can yield a 75% savings in total salt applied.”
It is noted that brine, while a good solution, is not a perfect one.
Studies note winter rains can wash brine away and into waterways. Brine may not be as effective as rock salt in certain conditions. Rock salt is more effective on ice caused by freezing rain.
In Halifax, Canada, municipality spokesperson Erin DiCarlo noted, “Conditions must be correct in order to apply this liquid chemical to a roadway and be effective. If the storm is forecast to begin with rain, the city may avoid using brine. Also, the temperature can’t be too low, and the humidity can’t be too high.”
It is also more caustic than rock salt and can cause rust on cars and trucks.
As brine sticks to roads, it will also adhere to automobiles. It is recommended to wash cars periodically.
According to ADK Action (Adirondack Mountain Club), which has studied the effects of salt on the environment, particularly in the Adirondacks, brine should be used in conjunction with other methods of reducing salt use, such as precise application (computerized release of salt/brine), listening to RWIS (Road Weather Information System) to plan ahead for storms, making a map of sensitives areas (such as near waterways), upgrading equipment, improved training of plow drivers, educating the public, good storage and clean-up of salt, including the possibility of recycling water from washing plow trucks for the brine mixture, and monitoring and evaluating salt use.
Comptroller Pulver said, “We are putting together the scope of the study now and hope to have that complete early next week. I have already reached out for preliminary information from several sources including Cornell Local Roads Program and Washington County DPW. Once we get the facts, we will be able to make evidence-based recommendations on whether or not to proceed.”
He added, “This is a brand-new study, we’re going to begin immediately, and I’m not sure I can place an exact timeline on an implementation. My office provides oversight and official recommendations. It would be on the Department of Public Works to implement.
“And to clarify, this would be for county roads. We will of course share the results of our studies with local municipalities like Pine Plains, but I have no control over their decision-making process,” he emphasized.
Residents of Silo Ridge and Amenia Fire and Ambulance volunteers posed with a big check in front of the volunteer ambulance Sunday morning, Nov. 17.
AMENIA — Jamie Vitiello presented a check for $50,000 to the Amenia Volunteer Ambulance Corps Sunday morning, Nov. 17, during the Amenia Fire Company’s pancake breakfast at the fire house.
Vitiello said he heard about the ambulance corps’ need for a life-saving device called the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System device, or LUCAS device for short. The LUCAS device assists emergency responders in applying chest compressions. The mechanical device can be situated around a person’s chest in the case of cardiac arrest and used to provide compressions that are more consistent and generally safer than a human providing CPR.
“I sent out a text in the morning and then went to Town Hall,” Vitiello said. “By the time I had gotten to Town Hall we had raised $25,000. By the end of the day we had raised the whole $50,000.”
The LUCAS device cost just over $20,000 to purchase. Vitiello said the remainder of the $50,000 donation will go to the Ambulance Corps fund to support regular costs like ambulance maintenance.
The donation was made in the name of Silo Ridge residents in association with the Amenia-Wassaic Community Organization.
MILLERTON — In what Mayor Jennifer Najdek has described as “a huge bump for us,” New York State has awarded Millerton an Intermunicipal Water Infrastructure Grant (IMG) to fund various projects which continuously monitor and improve local water quality. The size of the grant is a generous $5,082,099, an amount which cannot be exceeded.
The official acceptance of the grant, which is application-based, came together fairly quickly as officials had only one week to decide. With the knowledge looming that grant requests may be bypassed or allocated to other communities without a decision being reached, Millerton leadership aligned after careful consideration at a special meeting held last week, signing off on Nov. 8. With the grant now secured, Najdek is optimistic Millerton can now move forward on pending wastewater concerns like water treatment and stormwater projects, saying “This project has great potential to happen now.”
One downside regarding the grant, however, is the impact the award will have on additional grants. As the mayor explains it, this grant differs from others in that it must be combined with other grants and the amount may eventually be reduced, contingent on the awarding of additional grants or projects running under budget.
Najdek also pointed out the downsides of future wastewater projects, citing potential impacts on the implementation of new businesses on Main Street, but it’s a hurdle to leap when — and if — the time comes. Her focus is firm on the benefits of the grant and the projects which may result from the award. She was quick to quell concerns of residents outside the district who have voiced taxation concerns connected to wastewater projects, pointing out they will not be impacted. “This is important,” said Najdek. “It’s about slow, sustainable growth … and it’ll maintain the character of the village.”
Dan Aymar-Blair
MILLERTON — Democrat Dan Aymar-Blair defeated Republican A. Gregg Pulver in the race for County Comptroller, according to unofficial results of the Dutchess County Board of Elections after a count of affidavit and absentee ballots.
As of Friday, Nov. 15, Aymar-Blair was ahead of Gregg Pulver by 850 votes. Aymar-Blair declared victory on Friday.
“I am humbled and honored by the trust Dutchess County residents have placed in me. This victory affirms that taxpayers want a watchdog who will make sure the county’s budget is working for them,” he said in a statement published on the Dutchess County Democratic Committee’s website.
Aymar-Blair, who has experience in municipal finance, currently oversees business operations at New York City’s public school’s special education program, and is serving a third term on the Beacon City Council. He is expected to assume his new post in January, completing the term of former Comptroller Robin Lois. Aymar-Blair would run for reelection in 2025.
Pulver was appointed Comptroller in November 2023 by then County Executive William F.X. O’Neill following the resignation of Lois. Prior to his appointment by O’Neill, Pulver was Chairman of the Dutchess County Legislature. Pulver, a third-generation farmer from Pine Plains, had served several two-year terms as a County legislator and also had served as a local school board member and town supervisor.
“I want to thank all those who supported our campaign over the last 10 months,” Pulver said in a statement on Monday, Nov. 18. “This was an absurdly close race and it’s clear that the work our office has done bringing true fiscal stewardship to the County was a strong message.”
The Board of Elections is scheduled to certify the 2024 elections on Nov. 30.
MILLERTON — The Town of North East discussed the next steps for the Zoning Review Committee during its board meeting on Thursday, Nov. 14.
Edith Greenwood, committee chair and vice chair of the North East Zoning Board of Appeals, joined the Town Board meeting to share what the committee has completed in the last four years.
“The review is a result of the Comprehensive Plan … which was adopted in 2019, and the logical planning progression is a visioning document of where you want your town to go,” Greenwood said. “And the next step is to incorporate those concepts, those goals in your code.”
The Zoning Review committee has spent a large portion of its time redoing the zoning for the Town of North East’s commercial district. This part of the town stretches from Route 44 to the Connecticut border and mostly consists of commercial buildings.
“We retained a consultant who has been the town planner for probably ten years and is very knowledgeable about our situation,” Greenwood said. “We grappled with where to start, and we decided that it made sense to start with commercial.”
According to Greenwood, the most significant change to the code is moving the special permitting process from the Zoning Board of Appeals to the Planning Board. This will prevent applicants from having to go back and forth between different boards.
“There are two other sections which we have had to address because of the complexity of codes and the way it overlaps,” said Greenwood, “but we have not taken a substantive view of the residential, or what we call Land Conservancy, our wetlands issue … We have not made any changes to the outer boundaries of any of the three sections we looked at. We’ve reconfigured the Boulevard District. It currently has six sections. It’s gone down to three sections.”
The committee’s plans show that an applicant requires a special permit and site plan approval, which will allow a municipality an extra level of protection.
“What we are handing over to you today does include some aspects of the residential and the land conservation, but they’re far from flush and where we needed to just pull this together and make sense of the zoning document,” Greenwood said, “There should be a part B to this process, we’re definitely more than halfway through, maybe we are even 60%, but there is more work to be done to complete this code, especially on the housing.”
“What I would really like to point out to people is that this is a committee of volunteers who have met on 90 occasions to go through the zoning of the Boulevard District,” Town Supervisor Chris Kennan said. “That’s a lot of hours of people’s personal time spent trying to make this town better.”
The board reviewed the Town of North East’s budget and announced a new negotiation with Northern Dutchess Paramedics.
Previously, the town had a five-year contract with NDP for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) alongside the towns of Dover and Amenia. The Town of North East paid NDP 2% more each year during the contract.
NDP has recently pitched a new contract with North East that would cost $646,300, increasing its budget by 71%. According to Kennan, with that budget, town residents outside of the Village of Millerton would see an increase in their tax rate by 1.16%.
“That contract ends at the end of December, so we have been negotiating with Northern Dutchess Paramedics over their proposed increase,” said Kennan, “The increase that they had proposed, we’ve written about, we’ve talked about at previous meetings, was really overwhelmingly intolerable for the town. It was a huge, huge increase.”
North East also looked into a different contractor, Empress, who services the western and southwestern parts of the county. However, their proposal was “wildly” more expensive than NDP’s first offer. Now, the town has met with NDP and reached a new contract price of $511,558, a reduction of $134,742.
“The reasons for their increase are that they were locked into a contract for five years, which each year had a 2% increase and going through the period of COVID,” Kennan said. “Everyone knows we have seen inflation in all kinds of different items, in labor costs, particularly in materials, especially medical costs, the cost of an ambulance itself has gone up dramatically, so they were basically struggling to deliver the service to the town for these past few years.”
The town board will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m. to finalize and adopt the revised budget.
Pro-housing pledge
The Town Board members signed a pro-housing pledge, stating that they were aware of the lack of housing for New York state residents and that income levels negatively affected future economic viability.
“The housing crisis has negative effects at regional and local levels, and whereas we believe that every community must do their parts to contribute to housing growth and benefit from positive impacts a healthy housing market brings to the community,” Town Clerk Tilly Strauss said, reading from the pledge.
Supervisor Kennan said he has met with the management of the Millerton Gun Club to discuss the town’s concerns and to limit the club’s shooting hours.
“I have met with the management of the gun club on multiple occasions and expressed our desire to have them think about not having shooting on Sunday and not having shooting permitted after five o’clock or sundown during the day to give people the opportunity to enjoy their evenings without gunfire,” Kennan said.
The town has received a speed reduction request on Route 22 from Chuck Road to the Village of Millerton line. The request asks the town to reduce the speed limit from 55 to 45 miles per hour.
“Chuck Road to the Village of Millerton has seen increased traffic and dangerous intersections,” Strauss said. “The highway superintendent and the town board have determined that the current speed limit of 55 miles per hour on this portion of Route 22 is too high, resulting in hazardous and dangerous conditions.”
