MILLERTON – The reopening of Eddie Collins Memorial Park on Saturday, Oct. 1, drew hundreds of people from the community at-large to mark the completion of the first phase of the revitalization of the park that has served as the recreational center for the region for decades.
The party came to life starting around noon as the 100-car parking lot filled to capacity, forcing an overflow across Route 22. Families arrived with strollers and excited children who ran into the wide-open spaces. Basketball games started immediately on the new basketball courts. Soccer players — young and old — took to the new regulation-sized soccer field. Mothers and fathers streamed into the expanded, repaired and resurfaced handicap-accessible playground.
The party atmosphere was fueled by rock music that filled the air, and food booths that served tacos and other traditional fare. The hot dog booth ran out of buns, but hamburger buns became an option.
Parker Plouffe, a toddler from Sharon, enjoyed a hot dog without a bun. His mother said this is their preferred playground. There was face-painting, small horses for petting and the basketball got serious with a tournament and a referee. Free doughnuts!
A handicap-accessible walkway extends from a renovated pavilion to the Little League field.
The park is named after Eddie Collins, who played major league baseball from 1906 to 1930 for the Philadelphia Athletics and the Chicago White Sox. Born in Millerton in 1887, Collins was not only a big leaguer, he was Ivy League, having graduated from Columbia College. He also was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Stephen Waite, chair of the project committee for the park, recalled that he used to play baseball at the park as a youngster.
“When my nephews started playing here,” he said Saturday, “I saw that it had really deteriorated, and I thought we should get the community and its volunteers to make it a project.”
Waite, a quadraplegic from an accident 35 years ago, is proud of all the volunteer efforts and also of the fact that the park is handicap-accessible, which also includes extending the sidewalk along Route 22 to the entrance.
On Saturday, the air of success was punctuated with news of a state and municipal grant of $125,000 toward making the Little League field accessible to those in wheelchairs (the walkway and a set of bleachers to be installed in the spring). New York Rep. Didi Barrett (D-106) made the announcement, and she also gave Millerton Mayor Jennifer Najdek a New York State Assembly citation congratulating the village and its residents and partners for successfully completing this phase of the revitalization of the Park. More than 30 community partners teamed up to help with the day’s festivities. Fundraising has raised $2 million for the park.
Political leaders who attended, besides the mayor and Rep. Barrett, were Sen. Susan Serino (R-41), Gregg Pulver, (R), chair of the Dutchess County Legislature and Chris Kennan, North East town supervisor.
The Millerton Police Department’s Mike Veeder, officer in charge, was giving out bike helmets to children, carefully adjusting them for the right fit. The helmets were donated by the Stop DWI program.
The next phase of the work will include a pool and pool house and a recreational center with a community room, commercial kitchen, locker rooms and showers. The new swimming pool with a handicap-accessible entrance will also include a water slide and kiddie pool.
“The pool was the No. 1 interest,” Waite said, “when we asked people what they wanted.”
Photo by Olivia Valentine
From left, North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan, State Rep. Didi Barrett, Stephen Waite, Chair of the Park Project Committee, Millerton Mayor Jennifer Najdek and State Sen. Sue Serino.
Photo by Olivia Valentine
Watching the big boys.
Photo by Olivia Valentine
From left, North East Town Supervisor Chris Kennan, State Rep. Didi Barrett, Stephen Waite, Chair of the Park Project Committee, Millerton Mayor Jennifer Najdek and State Sen. Sue Serino.
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Webutuck senior Evan Bremmer, center left, fights through Ellenville defenders to catch a pass during a home game on Friday, Feb. 13.
He and varsity starters Evan Bremmer, James Singleton and Zach Hood credited the team’s success this season to long relationships on the court.
Webutuck’s varsity boys basketball team fights hard against Ellenville on Friday, Feb. 13, at Webutuck High School.Photo by Nathan Miller
“Most of the seniors this year, I started coaching them when they were in JV,” Howard said. “They’re used to my system and they put it together this year.”
Singleton, Bremmer and Hood have all played together since middle school when they competed on Webutuck’s modified league team. They said they can communicate with each other without talking.
“You don’t even have to tell each other, you can just see on each other’s faces,” Bremmer said. “And it makes the game so much easier, when you know how teammates play and what they want to do.”
Howard said that cohesion steadily improved over the years and ultimately carried the team into sectionals.
The team maintained a 5-3 record within the Mid-Hudson Athletic League, with a 5-8 record overall for the season after a hard-fought game ended in a 60-48 loss to Ellenville High School on Friday, Feb. 13. Teams have to win at least half of their league games to qualify for the sectional tournaments at the end of the season.
“The biggest thing is playing as a team,” Howard said.
Photo by Nathan Miller
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Public debate on North East’s zoning rewrite to continue March 20
Nathan Miller
MILLERTON — Town Board members voted last week to continue the public hearing on the town’s proposed zoning overhaul, setting a new date of Friday, March 20, at 7 p.m.
The North East Town Board also scheduled a special workshop for Tuesday, March 3, at 5 p.m. to review public comments and concerns raised during February hearings, including calls for clearer explanations of the new code’s intent and requests to expand permitted uses in commercial districts. Board members set those dates at their regular meeting Thursday, Feb. 12, which included a public hearing on the zoning rewrite along with routine department reports.
North East’s 181-page draft zoning code would update much of the town’s existing regulations, with a particular focus on revising standards and approval processes in commercial districts to encourage development and expand housing opportunities. Public comment on the new zoning code during the hearing was brief. Just two people — North East residents Rob Cooper and Kathy Chow — offered comments at the third public hearing on the zoning overhaul since the Town Board opened debate on the draft on Jan. 8.
Cooper requested more permitted uses in the west Boulevard District, but he didn’t specify what additional uses should be included. The Boulevard Districts comprise parcels along Route 44 between the eastern border of the Village of Millerton and the Connecticut state line, and was a central focus of the current re-zoning effort.
Cooper said his property — the historic Mobil gas station on Route 44 across from CVS — is divided by the village border. “It divides the building in half,” Cooper said, explaining that Millerton land use regulations are more permissive than the Town of North East.
“Part of the property is in the village, and I’m allowed to do a tremendous amount of things over there,” Cooper said. “It wouldn’t look too uniform if I did everything on the left side of the property and we couldn’t do anything on the right side.”
Chow suggested the Town Board include purpose statements for each of the altered sections of the code. “Especially the Irondale district,” Chow said. “It’s a very different character than the boulevard and I’d like to see that explained.” She said some narratives explaining the changes and the purpose of the new code would be helpful for residents and developers seeking a deeper understanding of the process and how it benefits the community, echoing North East resident Ed Downey’s comments at a prior hearing.
In other business, Town Clerk Tilly Strauss read a complaint about gunfire noise at the Millerton Gun Club. Millerton resident David Decker submitted the complaint and asked to have it read into the public record, Strauss said.
The newly-formed Communications Committee provided an update following its first-ever meeting.
Councilwomen Rachele Grieco-Cole and Meg Winkler said the committee has set its sights on improving the town’s website, laying out short- and longer-term goals including basic readability and organization on the site’s homepage, revitalizing the town’s FaceBook page, and starting a regular digital newsletter to aid in proactive communication efforts.