North East Board lauds Sharon Hospital merger

MILLERTON — Town Supervisor Christopher Kennan began the Thursday, April 10, Town Board meeting with the “good news” of the approved merger of Nuvance Health, owner of Sharon Hospital, with Northwell Health, the largest health system in New York.

“This is great, great news for our community,” Kennan said. “More than half of the patients at Sharon Hospital come from New York.”

The financial struggles faced by the hospital have dragged out for years, leading to a proposed effort to end labor and delivery services that encountered strong opposition from the community and political leaders.

Last spring, Nuvance Health announced its intent to combine with Northwell.

Kennan also reported to the board that Board Member Lana Morrison, who was absent from the meeting due to an accident, had communicated that her treatment experience at Sharon Hospital was positive.

Town Hall renovation

Kennan also informed the board that the town is moving forward on the renovation at the new Town Hall location on Route 22.
The current Town Hall on North Maple Avenue dates to the early 20th century and no longer meets needs. The town purchased the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses south of Millerton.

Town Attorney Warren Replansky has been working with Suburban Propane to complete the purchase of an existing propane tank so that the HVAC units can be turned on allowing renovation work to move forward.

Wastewater grant

Kennan also said the Town and the Village of Millerton have been encouraged to reapply for $3.2 million in federal wastewater grants that last month congressmen dropped — along with other earmarked funding provisions — from a continuing resolution.
Kennan said he received a call from Sen. Chuck Schumer’s, D-NY, office indicating that the grant was “very likely to be approved” if resubmitted. Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, both supported the original application.

The Village and the Town have continued to work on the design for the $13.9 million project.

“This is a key building block for us in terms of more retail and housing, and we have been working on it for years,” he said.
Board members also received news that the Town Planning Board had given site approval for a food market to be opened at Millerton Square Plaza by the owners of the Sharon Farm Market, and that a new restaurant would be opening at the site of the former McDonalds on Route 44.

Agri-business proposal

An attorney for owners of 36 acres of vacant land located at Route 44/Route 22 and Smithfield Road presented a petition to the Board seeking a zoning amendment to permit hospitality uses in an agricultural district.

John and Kristen King envision an “agri-immersive” experience by including a winery with up to 24 rooms for overnight guests. Weddings and other events would take place at the property and it would feature a restaurant and workforce housing.

Attorney Joshua Mackey, of Mackey Butts & Whalen, in describing his client’s petition, noted that a zoning amendment would apply to all properties within the Town’s Agricultural District, and would support farmers both farming and hospitality operations.

Mackey said he would attend an April 15 Town Board meeting when the petition could be accepted for consideration.

EMS meeting

Kennan reported that he recently met with Town Supervisors from Amenia and Dover along with fire chiefs from those towns and North East and County Executive Sue Serino and A. Gregg Pulver, assistant county executive, to discuss what can be done to address the current Emergency Medical Services cost crisis.

Kennan said the county recently purchased two ambulances to supplement services, especially in high demand areas, which typically are the ones with denser populations and those along the Route 9 corridor. North East experiences less than one call per day. Last year the budgets of the three towns — Amenia, Dover and North East — were impacted by sharply rising EMS costs.

The Board approved the rollover of a Bond Anticipation Note in the amount of $3,568,274 at an interest rate of 3.25% offered by the Bank of Millbrook, which offered the lowest rate of four banks.

The funds are for the new highway garage, which opened last year.

Cell tower discussion

Sandra Oberhollenzer, of White House Crossing Road in North East, spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting about a planned 150-foot cellphone tower to be located on the east side of Route 22 just north of the intersection with Cattalino Road in Ancram.

Oberhollenzer, who had attended a March 27 Planning Board meeting to raise awareness of the project, noted that the tower, in Ancram’s Scenic Corridor Overlay Zone, is expected to be visible by North East residents.

Oberhollenzer was critical of the plan, commenting on what she described as a lack of needs assessment, issues related to the coverage map and a lack of a technology assessment.

Homeland Towers LLC’s balloon test has been postponed due to windy conditions since it was first planned on Feb. 22.
To a question about whether North East would have any standing in the matter before another town, Town Attorney Replansky noted that adjoining municipalities have standing in certain circumstances under New York state law.

According to the Ancram Planning Board, the balloon shall be flown from approximately 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.