MILLERTON — The Harlem Valley Rail Trail arrived in Millerton from Amenia in the fall of 2000, about 20 years after the last freight train pulled away. Since then the trail has expanded by 5.5 miles at the Taconic State Park in Copake Falls and 1.5 miles coming south from Hillsdale.
Currently a project is underway to construct nearly 9 miles of trail connecting Millerton with Copake Falls. In mid-July, trail work reached Main Street in Millerton and the route through Railroad Plaza has become clear. Along Route 22, just north of Millerton, the work is quite evident. It is not possible to see the work being done through the incredible wetlands the trail will traverse where the rail bed bends into the middle of the valley between Route 22 and the Taconic/Berkshire Mountains. Here several short concrete bridges are being put in place to allow water to flow beneath to keep the wetlands habitat healthy on both sides of the trail. In about 1850, the New York and Harlem Railroad moved tons of earth to create the raised rail bed that the trail is now being built upon.
Construction has been ongoing despite the COVID-19 pandemic. It is outdoor work, obviously, and the contractor, A. Colarusso & Son of Hudson, working on behalf of Dutchess County, has been careful about the health of their workers. The new part of the trail is expected to be completed in September and it will become a Dutchess County Park along with the rest of the trail the county has built south of Millerton. The new section of trail is not open to the public during construction.
The Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association (HVRTA) was formed in the mid-1980s, with a mission to work to complete a trail between the Metro-North Railroad Station in Wassaic and Chatham in central Columbia County. HVRTA has recently completed design work on a link between Copake Falls and Hillsdale that will include a new pedestrian bridge over Route 22. HVRTA assisted New York State Parks in receiving a grant to fund construction of this trail link and the organization has begun a campaign to raise the local matching funds to activate the $1.9 million grant.
HVRTA is also working on converting half of a double wide railroad bridge in the village of Millerton to a “Bridge to Nature,” which will help folks explore the natural wonders along the trail and appreciate the forces and processes that formed today’s landscape. Find more about all this at www.hvrt.org.
One other section of the trail deserves notice. A short link between the Metro-North Station and the hamlet of Wassaic is nearly complete. This piece, being built by the town of Amenia, will be a fine addition and a benefit to businesses in the small hamlet of Wassaic.
During the virus pandemic, completed sections of the Rail Trail are good places for residents and visitors alike to get outside and stretch their legs. The rock cuts and shady areas offer a comfortable break on hot days. Exercise enthusiasts can take advantage of nature’s wonders to lift their spirits, breath the wild wind and escape for a while from the concerns that challenge everyone these days.
Dick Hermans is the chairman of the HVRTA and co-owner of Oblong Books & Music in Millerton and Rhinebeck.
AMENIA — The first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School went smoothly, with teachers enthusiastically greeting the eager young students disembarking from buses. Excitement was measurable, with only a few tears from parents, but school began anyway.
Ready for her first day of school on Thursday, Sept. 4, at Webutuck Elementary School, Liliana Cawley, 7, would soon join her second grade class, but first she posed for a photo to mark the occasion.Photo by Leila Hawken
Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik shows off the new gear. Brand new police cruisers arrived last week.
MILLERTON — The Millerton Police Department has received two new patrol cars to replace vehicles destroyed in the February 2025 fire at the Village Water and Highway Department.
The new Ford Interceptors are custom-built for law enforcement. “They’re more rugged than a Ford Explorer,” said Millerton Police Chief Joseph Olenik, noting the all-wheel drive, heavy-duty suspension and larger tires and engine. “They call it the ‘Police Package.’”
Olenik worked with The Cruiser’s Division in Mamaroneck, New York, to design the vehicles.
“We really want to thank the Pine Plains Police Department for their tremendous support,” Olenik said. After the fire, “they were the first ones to come forward and offer help.”
The new police cruisers are outfitted with lights with automatically adjusting brightness to best perform in ambient conditions.Photo by Aly Morrissey
Since February, Millerton officers have been borrowing a patrol car from Pine Plains. With the new vehicles now in service, Olenik said he plans to thank Pine Plains officers by treating them to dinner at Four Brothers in Amenia and having their car detailed
The main entrance to Kent Hollow Mine at 341 South Amenia Road in Amenia.
AMENIA — Amenia residents and a Wassaic business have filed suit against the Town Board and Kent Hollow Inc., alleging a settlement between the town and the mine amounts to illegal contract zoning that allows the circumvention of environmental review.
Petitioners Laurence Levin, Theodore Schiffman and Clark Hill LLC filed the suit on Aug. 22. Town officials were served with documents for the case last week and took first steps in organizing a response to the suit at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, Sept. 4.
The lawsuit is the latest in a multi-year long legal battle surrounding the mine on South Amenia Road. After Kent Hollow Inc. — a subsidiary of Bethel, Connecticut, based homebuilder Steiner Inc. — applied for a state mining permit in 2017, the Amenia code enforcement officer issued the business a notice of violation.
At the time, Kent Hollow Inc. did not possess a special permit to conduct mining operations as required by Amenia zoning code, and the property did not reside in the Special Mining Overlay district established as part of rezoning efforts coinciding with the 2007 adoption of the town’s comprehensive plan.
Kent Hollow Inc. appealed the violation, claiming the use of the property as a mine predates amendments to town and state regulations. The Zoning Board of Appeals denied the appeal citing insufficient evidence in 2019. That spurred Kent Hollow to file two lawsuits — one in the New York State Supreme Court and a federal civil rights lawsuit — challenging the town’s order.
In July 2025, those lawsuits were brought to a close when the Town Board voted at a special meeting to accept a settlement agreement allowing Kent Hollow to continue mining operations under limited hours and quantities.
The most recent suit alleges the 2025 settlement amounts to contract zoning that allows Kent Hollow Inc. to skirt environmental review and the scrutiny of the permitting and rezoning process. Court documents allege Kent Hollow did not adequately prove a continuous, legal nonconforming use.
Supporting the argument, petitioners have submitted the court documents and decision from the 2019 New York Supreme Court case against the town Zoning Board of Appeals, and the documents from the preceding ZBA appeals process including receipts and tax returns from Kent Hollow Inc. purporting to establish the nonconforming use.
Kent Hollow Inc. formed as a subsidiary of housing developer Steiner Inc. and purchased the property in 1971, according to state and county real estate records.
Millerton News reporting from 1971 Amenia planning board meetings detail Kent Hollow’s pursuit of a four-section, 40-unit apartment complex on the property.
The News reported Kent Hollow was granted tentative approval on July 6, 1971, to build eight units on the site with the expectation that more would be built later.
The additional units never came to fruition and Kent Hollow apparently abandoned the housing project, opting to use the property as a gravel mine.
Attorneys for the Town of Amenia or Kent Hollow Inc. have not filed responses to the lawsuit as of press time.
AMENIA — While the courage and perseverance of Revolutionary era patriots is well understood and celebrated, the stories of the fate of British loyalists in New York are not as clear.
Seen as the initial event in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Amenia Historical Society will present a talk titled, “The Plight of a Loyalist in Revolutionary New York,” examining the journal of Cadwallader Colden, Jr., spanning the period of 1777-1779. The speaker will be noted author, genealogist and historian Jay Campbell.
The talk is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Smithfield Presbyterian Church in Amenia. The handicapped-accessible church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road. Refreshments will be served.
Colden was the son of a New York Lieutenant Governor. He was a surveyor, farmer and mercantilist, serving as a judge in Ulster County. His fortunes changed dramatically with the dawn of the Revolutionary War when he remained loyal to the British Crown. His arrest came in 1776, just before the start of his journal.
Campbell is a historian specializing in Hudson Valley history, and the regional stories of Revolutionary era families.
