Town Board talks highway garage, budget, housing

Town Board talks highway garage, budget, housing
The Town of North East’s new six-bay highway garage and offices with interior to be completed on Route 22. Behind is another four-bay building and salt shed. Photo by Christine Bates

MILLERTON —  The North East Town Board discussed affordable housing, the town’s new highway garage, and the preliminary 2024 budget at its meeting on Thursday, Oct. 12.

Mark Long of CPL Architecture, Engineering and Planning gave the board an update on the building progress of the new highway garage. The dimensions of the building are “about 80 by 30” and 32 feet high inside. The building has room to store the Highway Department’s equipment as well as offices for staff. A wash bay will clean off equipment, and there will be a kitchen, restrooms, a shower, and a lift for equipment.

A mason will be installing the wash bay “very soon,” according to Long, along with finishing framing the walls, plumbing and HVAC. Once the building is complete, paving will happen and the entrance driveway will be reconfigured. Long said completion of the building is expected by late November.

Councilwoman Meg Winkler reported that the board’s Housing Committee is working with the North East Community Center (NECC) and the town Zoning Review Committee to determine definitions of affordable housing and appropriate income levels, as well as a study of area median income tools. 

Winkler mentioned a discussion that took place during a Salisbury Forum presentation on Sept. 22 about using land holdings of area land trusts that are “not acceptable for conservation” to build affordable housing and that the committee will be “following up” on the idea. The Village of Millerton is one of the places in Dutchess County identified by Hudson Valley Affordable Housing Conservation and Strategy as being able to benefit from that possibility.

The preliminary budget for 2024 has been presented to Town Clerk Elizabeth “Tilly” Strauss. “This is the single most significant act of town government,” said Town Supervisor Chris Kennan.

Kennan noted that the preliminary budget includes increases in earnings revenues; an 11% estimated increase in insurance costs; a slight increase in accountant fees; a 2% increase in the ambulance contract; and increased cost for town attorney, mostly due to work on the wastewater district. 

Expense lines were added for the renovations and contractual expenses for the new Town Hall. A 7% increase in health insurance costs is expected, as is a 4% increase in salaries and wages, and an increase in interest on the town’s bond anticipation notes.

A public hearing on the preliminary budget has been set to take place during the board’s next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 9, at 7:20 p.m. at Town Hall. The budget is available for viewing by the public in the town clerk’s office.

The town’s five-year contract with Northern Dutchess Paramedics—which it entered into along with the towns of Dover and Amenia—will expire at the end of 2024. Yearly increases have been around 2% and the town is considering putting the contract out to bid. “It’s such a significant cost item for the town that we need to be thinking about every way that we can to control that cost,” said Kennan.

Latest News

Amenia board honors employees for service

Long-term town employees were recognized at the Town Board meeting on Thursday, June 12. Honorees pictured with Town Supervisor Leo Blackman, were Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the Town Garage, center, for her 35 years of service to the town and Megan Chamberlin, current Highway Superintendent, for 20 years.

Leila Hawken

AMENIA — Acknowledging the many years of service accumulated by town employees, the Town Board paused to honor that service at its meeting on Thursday, June 12.

“Thank you for making a difference,” said Town Supervisor Leo Blackman in recognizing Judy Carlson, Office Manager at the town garage, for her 35 years of service.

Keep ReadingShow less
Historic marker dedicated at Amenia Union Cemetery

In anticipation of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution in 2026, new historic markers are appearing at each of the local cemeteries where Revolutionary War veterans are buried. Unveiling the new marker at Amenia Union Cemetery on Saturday, June 21, were left to right, Town Historian Betsy Strauss, Jim Middlebrook representing the regional chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, and Gail Seymour, President of the Union Cemetery Association.

Photo by Leila Hawken

AMENIA — One by one, new historic markers are appearing at local cemeteries where Revolutionary War dead are buried. On Saturday, June 21, community members gathered to see a new marker unveiled at Amenia Union Cemetery on Leedsville Road.

A tent provided welcome shade for the attendees and refreshments as about 30 residents gathered for the unveiling and to share stories of local history with one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millerton Street Fair celebration June 28

Bee Bee the clown, face painters and a community wide scavenger hunt are among the activities planned for the Millerton Street Fair in Downtown Millerton on Saturday, June 28.

Photo by Aly Morrissey

MILLERTON — The Millerton News, in partnership with the North East Community Center (NECC) and the Millerton Business Alliance, is hosting its first Street Fair on Saturday in a celebration of the town.

Rain or shine from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, the fair will bring together local nonprofits and businesses, with live music, entertainment, kids’ activities, local eats, and family fun in Veterans Park, in front of the Millerton Inn, and beyond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Millbrook Historical Society announces summer Quaker lecture series

The Nine Partners Road Quaker Meetinghouse, built in 1780, will be the site of two summer lectures sponsored by the Millbrook Historical Society.

Photo by Leila Hawken

MILLBROOK — Long in the planning, the Millbrook Historical Society has announced that it is sponsoring two lectures in observance of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Both lectures relating to Quaker history are to be held in the historic Quaker Meeting House on Nine Partners Road.

For the first talk, scheduled for Sunday, June 29, at 2 p.m., the historical society has invited Sarah Gronningsater, Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, to talk on “Quakers, Anti-slavery, and the American Revolution.” The topic will explore the role that New York’s Quakers, especially in the Hudson Valley, played in the rise of the anti-slavery movement that followed the American Revolution.

Keep ReadingShow less