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The Thorne Building on Franklin Avenue in the village of Millbrook.
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Amenia Town Board hires part-time clerk
Jul 08, 2025
Amenia Town Hall
Photo by John Coston
AMENIA — A variety of subjects were discussed at the regular meeting of the Town Board on Thursday, July 3, including reappointments and hirings.
By unanimous vote, Donna DiPippo was reappointed to the post of Town Assessor, and Robin Schultz was hired as a part-time clerk in the Town Clerk’s office.
Responding to a request from the Ethics Board for legal expertise, the board voted unanimously to hire Ian MacDonald, Esq. of Mackey Butts and Whalen of Millbrook to advise that board as needed.
Pursuing any available grant funding opportunities to assist with the construction of a new town garage and salt shed, the board voted unanimously to ask the project’s engineers, CPL Architects, to write the grant application at an estimated cost of $4,000.
Town Supervisor Leo Blackman noted that CPL has the expertise and knowledge of the project to complete the application’s need for technical information and engineering specifics. The application is for a state Water Quality Improvement Grant administered through the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Praising the layout and content of the new town website for ease of navigation and attractive appearance, councilwoman Rosanna Hamm encouraged all residents to visit the site and to register for one of the new features, town-wide notifications. To register, go to www.ameniany.gov and complete the simple form.
Hamm also reminded residents that while they are on the town website, they should click on the Comprehensive Plan Review Committee link to find the “Engaging Amenia” links. Residents can use that site to offer comments and to follow the information being collected there throughout the summer months. Once comments have been gathered, it will assist the work of the CPRC and their consultants seeking to revise the town’s current plan that dates back to 2007.
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Biking Ancramdale to Copake
Jul 02, 2025
This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete.It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.
Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.
The ride starts and ends at The Farmer’s Wife Café in Ancramdale, a great place for lunch or refreshments after the ride.(The café is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays).Parking is usually available between the café and the Ancramdale post office.But be courteous — don’t monopolize parking needed by the café’s guests and staff!
Here are the coordinates for the ride:
Turn left out of the parking lot of the Farmer’s Wife onto County Road 8.
At .5 miles, turn left on Crest Lane
At 1.9 miles, turn left on East Ancram Road
At 6.8 miles, turn left on County Road 3
At 7.0 miles, turn right on Wiltsie Bridge Road
At 7.7 miles, turn right on Empire Road
At 10.7 miles, go straight through the village of Copake onto Main Street.
At 11.1 miles, bear left onto Farm Road
At 11.3 miles, turn left on Mountain View Road
At 12.1 miles turn right on County Road 7A
At 12.3 miles, turn left on Snyder Pond Road
At 13.0 miles turn left to stay on Snyder Pond Road
At 14.2 miles, turn right on County Road 7
At 14.8 miles turn left on County Road 27 (This is where there is short hill.)
At 15.5 miles, make a hairpin turn to the left on County Road 27A.(This can be easy to miss so be on the lookout for it).
At 17.5 miles, go straight across County Road 7 onto Four Corners Road.
At 18.7 miles, turn right on Wiltsie Bridge Road
At 19.0 miles, turn left on Snyder Road
At 20.3 miles, bear left onto Roche Drive
At 20.8 miles, turn right on County Road 3
Follow County Road 3 back to Ancramdale and the Farmer’s Wife.
Jeremy Koch is a Norfolk cyclist.
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Chris Virtuoso reorganized parcel records in the North East Town Hall basement by parcel number during the process of scanning and digitizing the documents.
Photo by Grace DeMarco
MILLERTON — Within the walls of the two-story Victorian housing the North East Town Hall lies a room-full of town records dating back to the late 19th century. Stored in labeled cardboard boxes and protected by dehumidifiers, the records are in the process of being dated, organized, and scanned into categorized online programs.
As the Town Hall works to relocate to 5603 Route 22 at the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness, the consolidation and digitalization of records, as well as the disposal of those unneeded, is a time-sensitive project. Marcy Wheatley, the Deputy Town Clerk, emphasized their current heavy focus on organizing and scanning. “Now, when we move, we can get rid of a lot,” Wheatley stated.
The digitalization process in North East began in November of 2015, when the program LaserFiche was selected due to a grant shared with the nearby towns of Amenia, Dover Plains and Beekman. The program was shared until 2024 and now each town scans documents separately to their individual clouds.
The organization and scanning process is a daunting one because the Town Hall keeps historic, business, judicial and assessors records. Town Clerk Elizabeth “Tilly” Strauss explained that it is a learning process to go through the records, organize and keep or destroy based on retention schedules of certain items.
There are two forms of scanning and storing documents that the town has utilized. The Town Clerk’s office uses the system BAS for scanning vital records, minutes, invoices and resolutions. This system is updated constantly as new information comes in, but Wheatley, along with other offices in the Town Hall, has been working backwards to digitize all of the old files as well. Wheatley scans documents for about an hour every afternoon. “That’s what it takes to keep up to date,” she said. There are currently 3324 files in the system.
The other mode of scanning and storing documents is through the IPS system, which gets records from planning, zoning, building and assessors. Chris Virtuoso, who started as a tax collector in 2021, stepped up to lead this half of the process beginning in 2022.
“He had a big task. He had boxes all over the place. He was spread out, he was intense and focused,” Wheatley said of Virtuoso. According to Wheatley and Strauss, the project did not only include scanning and reordering, but a complete reorganization.
“What happened was, a lot of files were under the names of farmers, but they then either got sold or were subdivided,” said Strauss. “Chris has been scanning and organizing into and by parcel number instead of name.”
Virtuoso first began this project by finding parcel locations on the assessors map and looking through files of names and addresses. He then sorted through boxes to find the parcel numbers, organizing them into new boxes based on zone and ordered by parcel number.
“If somebody buys a parcel now and they want to know the history, they can go down there with the number for the parcel and those folders are in there,” stated Virtuoso. “That was the end goal, to get everything from alphabetical order into parcel number order.”
Virtuoso had also found a log tracking all cases by number, which went back until 2005, and added blank pages for all of the newly-scanned files dating back to 1968. This book is now up to date, and current cases and pages are added every year.
“You become like Sherlock Holmes,” said Virtuoso. “What I always kept in mind was, when I’m not here anymore, will someone be able to figure this out?”
From his start in 2022 to March 2023 when both planning and zoning were completely up to date, Virtuoso would come to the Town Hall every morning to scan for two or three hours, five days a week, while still maintaining his career as a realtor.
As of March 2023, when Virtuoso wrote a report on his progress, 361 case files were scanned for the Zoning Board of Appeals. He had also deleted and destroyed any duplicates, removed any metal that may damage the documents, resecured the folders, and organized everything by parcel number with room for additional files.
“He went above and beyond,” Wheatley stated.
Virtuoso — and the Town Clerks — are eager to move to the new Town Hall property. “Look, this is an old home, it’s charming, but we need room for all those files, we need more space and offices,” said Virtuoso.
“I can’t wait,” Strauss stated. “We’re going to have new shelves and everything organized by departments. It’s going to be beautiful.” After condensing, destroying duplicates and scanning, all records will be brought to the new location, however, the digitized copies will serve as backup and for convenience.
Although the process is viewed as an overall success, there are still a few remaining hopes for the future. Virtuoso hopes for collaboration with other towns to buy or lease a large-format scanner for large-scale maps, blueprints, and other important documents that have yet to be scanned.
Virtuoso also hopes to make the Historical Society aware of the rich and unique history that he found within the basement boxes, opening the possibility for deeper understanding of the local area. “The files are important because they do have a certain chunk of history.”
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Cellists to perform at Smithfield Church
Jul 02, 2025
The Smithfield Valley Church on Smithfield Road in Amenia.
Photo by Leila Hawken
AMENIA — As an alternative to three tenors, The Smithfield Church invites music fans to a concert that will feature three cellists in a program called “Three Cello Fellows” to be held on Sunday, July 13, at 3 p.m.
Part of the Bang Family Concert series, three acclaimed New York City orchestral/chamber musicians will play a varied program of all-cello works by Luigi Boccherini, David Popper’s Requiem for three cellos, Bela Bartok duos and selections from the cello suites by J.S. Bach.
Arthur Fiacco, Robert Burkhart and Alberto Parrini have been individually in demand for years, playing in New York City’s most illustrious venues, and with distinguished regional orchestras and ensembles. Their personal career experiences include performances with the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York City Ballet, and Orchestra of St. Lukes, as well as appearances with Sting, Barbara Streisand, Metallica and others.
Arthur Fiacco is well known to Smithfield audiences as occasionally performing over the past 14 years with noted conductor and organist Kent Tritle at the popular annual Tritle organ recitals.
A meet-the-artists reception will follow the concert. All are welcome. A donation of $20 per attendee is suggested; children are admitted free.
The Bang Family Concert Series presents performances by gifted musicians from the region to Tri-Corner area residents, inviting a warm community of music lovers to gather at the Smithfield Church’s landmark Greek Revival building.
The Smithfield Church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road (Route 83), Amenia, New York. The church is air conditioned and fully accessible. For more information: thesmithfieldchurch.org or thesmithfieldchurch@gmail.com.
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