Letters to the Editor - The Millerton News - 7-21-22

Save 10% on electricity, help Amenia earn $5K

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has given Amenia the green light to launch a Community Solar Campaign. 

The initiative is designed to help Amenia residents who get an electric bill from New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) save an average 10% on their monthly electric bill.

If you pay a NYSEG bill, you’re eligible to receive part of your electricity from a clean, renewable resource and save money in the process.  

There is no cost to subscribe or cancel and no solar panels to install.  

Once 10 residents sign up, Amenia will be on its way to qualify for a $5,000 grant from the New York State Department of Energy Conservation. This grant can be used to support future climate smart projects that Amenia can pursue. 

We hope more than 10 residents will take advantage of this opportunity. Spots will fill quickly.  

For more information on Community Solar, how it works and to sign up, go too Community Solar for Your Home — NYSERDA,https://www.nyserda.ny.gov/all-programs/ny-sun/solar-for-your-home/commu....

Please contact me at smantel@ameniany.gov to assist with this process. 

And please help Amenia qualify for the grant by letting us know once you’ve successfully signed up for a community solar program. One company is offering a gift card as an incentive.

Stacy Mantel

Conservation Advisory
Council member

Amenia

Ten Trees

A stand of ten trees mingle casually together

Congregating in a western corner overlook

Where a vast valley view unfolds and the Webutuck Creek

Winds its way south, then east, then south again.

Long summer sun filtrates into their peaceful domain

Splashing shadows and shimmerings of light

That pirouette on a pallet of charcoal grey, taupe, and teal brown barks.  

Bright green stalks hosting  orange  striped day lilies contrast those conservative hues,

As they frolic in the breeze near  the  top of the descending hillside.

A troubled locust, partially fallen and bent,

Propped up by another strong solid sibling,

Rubs branches with a slender maple,

Flanked by a twisty cherry that slightly mimics her curvy locust cousins.

She sunbathes her etched black and charcoal skin in generous patches of warm sunshine.

A rare, healthy ash, shoots up through this menagerie,

Complimenting a delicious deciduous bouquet of boughs and branches.

This roosting paradise is occasionally visited

By a dozen or so large black turkey vultures

Who swoop in  to rest and observe the  glorious Oblong Valley

From this sacred corner of the Berkshire Mountains.

— David Capellaro

July 2022 

Tender hearted beware

The latest email scam circulating in the area involves a supposedly internet-challenged friend asking tender-hearted people for help to send a $250 Amazon birthday gift card in the friend’s name to a young woman who is dying of cancer.  

They, of course, say they will reimburse you. 

It’s a great sob story — but please don’t fall for it! 

Instead, make sure to alert your real friend that they’ve been hacked.  

Carol Kneeland

Millerton

The NYSERDA link in the Stacy Mantel's letter above has been updated with the correct website address, as this newspaper mistakenly published the wrong address in the original version. We regret the error.