MILLERTON — The Millerton Village Board is hoping for the highest bidder as it drafts an RFP (Request for Proposals) to place the 19th Century Old Village Hall on the auction block, so to speak. The building sits in Millerton’s Main Street Historic District, which was approved in 2010. The building also has state and federal historic designations.
According to Mayor Jenn Najdek, the board decided at its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 22 (held a day late due to the Presidents Day holiday), to finally sell the currently-closed Village Hall at 21 Dutchess Ave. in Millerton.
The building has not been in use since 2020, when the board said the cost to make necessary repairs didn’t make sense considering its annual $800,000 or so budget. The heating system needed work, for one, but the building also needed to be brought up to Americans with Disability Act (ADA) compliance, which would have added significantly to the price tag.
The entire village staff had to vacate Village Hall two years ago as it could no longer be heated during the cold Northeast winters. The municipal offices have been relocated to both 1 John St. and 50 Main St., until finally moving to its current digs at 5933-59 North Elm Ave. (Route 22). Village Hall has been there since March of 2020 and according to Village Clerk Kelly Kilmer, who said the space is great, the lease to was just signed to remain there for at least a couple of more years.
Back in 2020, the Village Board also wanted to relocate the Millerton Police Department from the second floor to the ground floor of the Old Village Hall on Dutchess Avenue, where the Nutrition Center was formerly located.
“There were concerns from board’s perspective, if we start laying it out, upon inspection, it would come out that this is wrong and needs to be repaired, etc.,” said Najdek. “It was originally that we received that Community Development Block Grant for both the town and the village to make a joint municipal office, and make it ADA compliant. We did have an engineer look at it and a designer do so, but there were some structural issues in the basement…”
The mayor added what began as a $300,000 project soon grew into a $350,000 project. The board was concerned those costs would continue to grow, with no signs of stopping.
“The costs of really bringing the building back to life were pretty high,” she said. “And in years’ past and in conversations with the town we thought down road it would be great for the two of us to have a joint municipal facility. But this building certainly would not have served that purpose…”
Of course, the Village Board considered other options to save the one-time firehouse, library and residence in the historic district.
“Our thought was to try to get grant funding to repair the building to its historic nature,” said the mayor. “It served its purpose of a municipal building. But the cost of that, in my opinion, we discussed at the August board meeting, is overly burdensome. And then you could take out a state historic park preservation grant, but they have matching pieces. And then you think of what the village has going on now, and to spread ourselves thinner and do a construction project, doesn’t make sense.”
The last appraisal for Village Hall, which is a two-story fading gray shingled house with a third-story tower built in 1904 was in April of 2020 for $165,000. Of course, since then, property values in the area have risen.
Its historic name, for the record, is the E.H. Thompson Hose Co. House/Millerton Public Library/Millerton Village Hall.
Victor Cornelius of Endeavor Municipal Development helped the Village Board assess its options for the building, and what different funding sources might look like for both the village and potential buyers.
Because of the building’s historic landmark status, Cornelius explained the buyer has choices in terms of funding, including Preservation Tax Credits, which would allow the owner/developer to apply for 30% tax credits from both the state and the federal government for all construction costs related to the historic structure through the Department of the Interior’s National Trust for Historic Preservation. (Each area of construction must cost in excess of $5,000 to be eligible.)
There is also the possibility of tax deductions on easements, in which the owner/developer would agree to a preservation easement on the building’s envelope before closing on the property.
Doing so would “restrict façade changes to a pre-defined ‘restoration’ concept, keeping it aesthetically within the Main Street Historic District’s preservation targets,” according to Cornelius.
There are other options for both the buyer and seller.
Bottom line, said the mayor, Village Hall is a great building for the right use. Perhaps, she said, it could be bought and converted to help with the local housing crisis.
“It could be great,” she said, adding she’d like the facade to remain the same and the board may add a stipulation to the RFP requiring that condition. “It needs some love… I’d love to see the exterior look as great as it should and have some real valuable use… I just want to create a little buzz.”
"They had this in mind from last year," girls varsity head coach Les Funk of Pine Plains said. Funk said the young team wanted the sectional title and "never gave up," until they won it Wednesday, March 5, at Mount Saint Mary College.Photo by Nathan Miller
Naveah Rennie, no 34 of Pine Plains, was the Bombers' dominant scorer, racking up 20 points by the end of the matchup against S.S. Seward Institute during the Section IX Class C finals at Mount Saint Mary College on Wednesday, March 5.Photo by Nathan Miller
Lent: Time to consider social gospel movement
We are entering the annual Christian season of Lent this week.With its 40 days of contemplation and “little Easter” Sundays, it is a time to remember the healing ministry and the sacrifice of Jesus.During this season, we are invited to think deeply about our role as agents of grace and love in our hurting world.
There is a long history of making sacrifices and commitments for Lent, modeling our discipleship and hopes for a more heavenly world. It is through this lens that I invite you to join us in considering what gifts and services the community needs that we can commit to bringing forth in the weeks leading up to Easter.While many lean into solitary introspection during Lent, it may be particularly advantageous to use our meditations and sacrifices for the greater good this year.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, advised his followers centuries ago that “The gospel of Christ knows of no religion, but social; no holiness but social holiness. Faith working by love is the length and depth and breadth and height of Christian perfection.”These words are connected to the firm belief of Wesley that a Methodist was fundamentally one who loved God with all their heart, mind, strength, and soul, along with loving one’s neighbor as oneself.He believed that being in love with God naturally also required loving other people, as every person was a beloved soul coming from the same source of life that we are.
Consequently, Wesley stood against slavery long before it was a popular view, prioritized caring for those who were poor and imprisoned, and made a point to do good to as many as he could for as long as he was physically able.
Indeed, the Methodists are not the only Christians who believe such things.These thoughts are primary messages of the Christian faith.In more recent history, we can note that during the time of the Golden Age, at the end of the late 19th century, the Christians mobilized to counteract the abject poverty, child labor, dangerous working conditions, and lack of education of the time.Famous theologians such as Washington Gladden, Walter Rauschenbusch, and W.E.B. DuBois began the Social Gospel movement, enacting with new verve the passion of Christ that empowers the community toward building the Kingdom of God.As Christians, they believed in uplifting the downtrodden and creating a community where all had a chance to thrive.Child labor laws were enacted, better working conditions were secured, Sunday School helped provide education, settlement houses were created, and the Salvation Army was born.
The social gospel movement continued in another wave of reforms and empowerment through the Civil Rights era.Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his intellect, energy, and life to help secure the reforms that enabled persons of color to vote, go to non-segregated schools, and have the right to share public spaces without discrimination.Like Christ, he paid the ultimate price for his prophetic vision.However, his impact on our society was formidable, lasting far beyond his short lifetime.
As Christians, it is very clear what to do in times of hardship, crisis, or challenge.Throughout the centuries, our call has been to help heal the world, doing whatever we can to uplift and transform loneliness into community, reminding each one how precious they are and how important it is to unite for the sake of the whole.Individually, the challenges can be overwhelming, even too much to bear.Collectively, we can do all things through the One who strengthens us.As they say, “We have the receipts!” We can do it again.
This Lent, let us give up our pessimism and fear, replacing it with a commitment to community and hope.Yes, things can seem dreadful, but our souls are not served by allowing ourselves to descend into the dark.We are keepers of the light.Let us do all within our power to create brightness so that its warmth may strengthen all as we live into the Social Gospel movement for our time.Chin up, friends, we can do this.We simply must be willing to get serious about doing it together.
Rev. Dr. Anna Crews Camphouse is pastor of Canaan, Lakeville, Millerton, and Sharon United Methodist Churches
Lead Pastor of the Northwestern Hills Cooperative
Parish UMC