The Irondale district, currently known as Highway Business District III, is comprised of just six parcels along Route 22 that are currently occupied by light industrial businesses.
MILLERTON — Though the Irondale District lies just outside of the Village of Millerton, it has become the center of a divisive conversation as the Town of North East continues to review a significant overhaul of its commercial zoning code.
Irondale, officially known as the Highway Business district under current town code, is a small stretch along Route 22 south of the village that some officials and residents believe could support additional businesses, while others argue development there could undermine efforts to boost Millerton’s existing downtown.
The issue emerged during the public hearing on the commercial zoning code overhaul, which has remained open since Jan. 8.
During the Jan. 8 public comment period, Kathy Chow, a North East resident and chair of the Millerton Climate Smart Task Force, urged the town to encourage artisan workshops and food-based businesses in the Irondale area, suggesting it could become a hub for small industry and capture Route 22 traffic.
Since then, board members from the town and the village have weighed in, discussing possible types of permitted businesses in Irondale and the potential impacts.
Irondale is currently zoned for highway-oriented commercial uses rather than village-style retail or restaurants. Permitted businesses include auto body shops, building materials sales such as lumberyards, construction equipment sales and rentals, mobile home and farm machinery sales, transportation terminals, warehouses and wholesale operations.
Councilwoman Meg Winkler has advocated expanding those uses to include restaurants, bakeries and small retail businesses, arguing the area already functions as a natural extension of the village, citing the existing Agway and Napa Auto Parts along the Route 22 corridor north of Millerton’s downtown.
Winkler said the town’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan encourages expanding commercial opportunities and believes allowing small-scale businesses there could strengthen the local economy.
“I stand firm on my decision and it’s not out of disrespect to the ZRC, and it’s not personal,” Winkler said. “It’s rooted in my belief as a businesswoman – and after talking to residents and business owners who want the flexibility in this district – that it would boost the economic vitality to the village and town.”
Others on the board, however, said expanding retail uses outside the village could weaken Main Street by diverting customers away from Main Street.
Town Supervisor Chris Kennan said the ZRC intentionally designed the district to support larger highway-oriented businesses while concentrating retail and restaurant activity in the village center.
“The goal of the ZRC was to support the village as in Main Street and not to provide shopping opportunities on Route 22 where people could just keep driving down 22 and not turn into the village,” Kennan said.
He added that protecting the village’s commercial core is part of what makes Millerton distinct from other communities.
Deputy Supervisor Chris Mayville said he has mixed feelings about the proposal and wants to better understand its long-term implications for planning and development in Irondale.
“If we’re working to expand the boulevard in the village,” Mayville asked, “why would we think mirroring development in the other direction would help that?”
Edie Greenwood, who chaired the ZRC throughout the process, said the group intentionally left the Irondale district unchanged in order to keep the process manageable.
“My approach was to simplify and not get into boundary changes,” Greenwood said, noting that broader conversations about commercial development along Route 22 will likely occur during the next phase of zoning work.
Councilwoman Rachele Grieco Cole said the debate seems like a chicken and egg dilemma.
“There’s tension between wanting the downtown to look and function a certain way and attract enough customers,” Cole said, adding that there is a risk of being too restrictive rather than drawing in as much business as possible.
Kennan ultimately attempted to pass a resolution to maintain the existing ZRC language, which would keep the current limitations in Irondale. The board did not adopt the resolution and will instead pick up the conversation during a regular meeting of the Town Board on Friday, March 20.
Village board members weigh in
Village officials also raised concerns about the proposal during a March 9 village board meeting, where Mayor Jenn Najdek warned that expanding retail and restaurant uses in the nearby Irondale district could create what she referred to as a “fly-by” scenario, diverting traffic and customers away from Main Street.
Trustees agreed the change could undermine long-standing efforts to concentrate commercial activity in the village center, particularly as plans move forward for the expensive wastewater infrastructure project intended to support future development in the Boulevard District.
The board said it plans to collectively draft a formal letter to the Town of North East board outlining their concerns.
Nathan Miller
Construction crews from Scape Tech Landscape Technology removed existing stone pavers to prepare for upgrades to Veterans Park on Tuesday, April 21, in Millerton. Planned upgrades to the park include new stone pavers, improved lighting, asphalt work and the replacement of damaged furniture.
MILLERTON — Veterans Park's long-awaited facelift began this week.
Construction crews from Scape Tech Landscape technology were at the park on Tuesday morning, April 21, completing demolition work as part of preparations for upgrades that will include new landscaping and other repairs.
Construction crew members on scene said the work should be completed within two to three weeks. Village officials indicated they expect the project to be complete by Memorial Day in May.
Trustees finalized the years-long process for Veterans Park improvements in February. The board agreed to include repairs to the park’s existing stone walls as part of the job, while dropping other add-ons such as a stone veneer planter.
Construction crews work at preparing Veterans Park in downtown Millerton on Tuesday, April 21. Scape Tech Landscape Technology won the bid for proposed upgrades to the park, with a projected total cost of $240,548 to be paid in part with grant funding and unappropriated village funds.Photo by Nathan Miller
The renovations will include replacing the existing brick pavers, restoration to asphalt paving, additional lighting at the park and hardwood mulching. The project also includes a sidewalk extension along Route 44 in front of the NorthEast-Millerton Library and NBT Bank.
Trees and vegetation will remain in place, as will the stone wall. The park's asphalt paving, brick pavers and any broken furniture will be removed and replaced.
Board members said repairing the walls — which Trustee David Sherman said were built in the 1950s — would help prevent more costly repairs later. With the project supported by a $150,000 Dutchess County Community Development Block Grant, the village will cover the remaining roughly $98,500 from unappropriated fund balance rather than take on additional debt. Mayor Jenn Najdek said the village has more than $400,000 in the fund balance and would still have close to $350,000 remaining after the expenditure.
Additional reporting contributed by Aly Morrissey.
Nathan Miller
Little leaguers run across Eddie Collins Memorial Park in Millerton for lunch, popcorn and ice cream at the pavilion during the Webutuck Little League season opening party on Sunday, April 12. The league has signed up 80 players for the 2026 season comprising six teams, including one tee-ball team, three baseball teams and two softball teams.
MILLERTON — The Webutuck Little League held its season opening party on Sunday, April 12, at Eddie Collins Memorial Park on Route 22.
Players enjoyed free food, popcorn and ice cream and a day of playing in inflatable castles and an obstacle course.
The league has signed up 80 players across six teams — one tee-ball team, three baseball teams and two softball teams.
Aly Morrissey
Gas is priced at $4.09 per gallon at the 17 Gay Street Shell station in Sharon, Conn., April 12, sitting just below the national average of $4.12, according to AAA.
New York drivers are paying sharply more at the pump than they were a year ago, with gas prices up more than $1 per gallon — a surge that is hitting wallets across Dutchess County even as prices steadied briefly last week.
The spike comes as global tensions continue to cause oil prices to rise. Prices briefly stabilized following news of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, but uncertainty returned after talks ended without an agreement, leaving drivers bracing for continued volatility.
Residents of the Northwest Corner and Eastern Dutchess County continue to pay hefty prices at the pump, according to data collected by AAA. Despite high prices, demand for fuel continues to climb.
Just a month ago, Sharon resident and local blacksmith William Trowbridge said a fill-up typically cost around $75. Now, for the first time, he paid more than $100 to fill his truck — a jump that left him concerned when the total climbed into triple digits.
“It makes me angry,” Trowbridge said at the Shell station located at 17 Gay St. in Sharon. “Now, I’m starting to think about combining errands when I go out.”
Trowbridge, like many others, attributes the spike in gas prices to “a war that shouldn’t even be happening.”
At the Gay Street station, employee Jacob Enquest said customer reactions have shifted in recent weeks.
“Whether it was about politics and the war or the prices themselves, everyone had something to say,” Enquest said. “Now people just want to know if prices are going to come down, and I have to tell them their guess is as good as mine.”
Local and national prices
According to data compiled by AAA, the average price for a gallon of regular gas in Connecticut held steady last week at $4.08, unchanged from the prior week but significantly higher than earlier this year.
In neighboring New York, prices are slightly higher, averaging $4.12 per gallon as of April 13, according to AAA.
Prices in both states have climbed sharply in recent weeks. In Connecticut, gas is up 56 cents from a month ago and more than $1 higher than this time last year. Nationally, the average price rose to $4.12 per gallon, up 49 cents from a month ago.
Connecticut currently ranks 16th in the nation for highest gas prices, while New York prices are largely in line with the national average. The lowest prices are found in Oklahoma and Kansas, where drivers are paying around $3.44 to $3.49 per gallon, while California and Hawaii are paying nearly $6 per gallon.
Legislation
Rising gas prices are impacting more than just individual drivers, with local businesses, schools and municipalities also feeling the strain as they adjust budgets and daily operations to absorb higher costs.
Local legislators in Connecticut and New York have called for relief for individuals at the pump, receiving mixed results. While Gov. Ned Lamont recently dropped hopes of a gas tax holiday in Connecticut, Dutchess County, New York, legislators advanced a resolution to cap the county’s sales tax on gasoline and diesel at $3 per gallon beginning June 1.
“It will be a modest saving, but any amount helps,” said Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago D-19, who supported the resolution initiated by the Democratic Caucus.
Drago described the price increase as “one of many unfortunate results from this needless war in the Middle East,” adding that Dutchess County should not get a “windfall of taxes” from the war.
“As we know, it’s more and more expensive to live where we live, and it’s hitting families hard,” Drago said. “Anything we can do to alleviate any financial strain at this time is important.”
In Connecticut, lawmakers have explored similar relief measures, though no gas tax holiday has been approved.
Though there is precedent for a gas holiday in Connecticut, like when the Ukraine war first broke out, it has yet to happen since the Iran conflict began.
State Sen. Stephen Harding, R-30, who is an advocate for the tax holiday, said that the concept could be revisited if prices remain high.“I’m still hopeful,” Harding said. “If prices remain high, I think there’s a chance it could still happen. People in this state need this type of relief right now.”
The state levies a 25-cent-per-gallon tax on regular gasoline.
For some families, pump prices reflect tipping point
For some local residents, rising gas prices are compounding an already difficult cost of living — forcing tough decisions about where to live and how to get to work.
Guy Gnerre and his wife, Kim, are now facing exactly that reality. The couple, both longtime educators, have lived in the Salisbury area for about 25 years. Gnerre has worked as a special education teacher at Salisbury Central School for the past seven years, while his wife has spent 25 years at Hotchkiss. Now, they are preparing to make a significant change to adapt to the rising cost of living in the region.
Gnerre said home ownership in the area has been a dream for his family, but it has remained just out of reach. The couple has rented locally for more than two decades and is now being forced to move nearly 30 miles away to Torrington after receiving notice that their landlord plans to return and renovate the property.
With a daughter in college and the cost of living at an all-time high, the couple worry about what’s ahead, including fears of dipping into retirement savings to purchase a home that Gnerre said needs lots of work and is in an unfamiliar city.
“Yes, we are going to get obliterated in terms of gas,” Gnerre said, noting that he and his wife plan to carpool after their move. But it’s not just fuel prices that are affecting his family. “Gas is part of the checklist,” he said, adding, “I wish it was just the fuel.”
Schools that rely on diesel say ‘Business as usual – for now’
With diesel prices outpacing regular fuel prices, schools throughout the region are keeping a close eye on costs for buses, but say they’re not ready to make significant changes.
In districts that outsource bus contracts to independent companies, schools typically agree on a diesel rate per gallon at the start of the year. Salisbury Central School, for example, has a contract with All-Star Transportation and prepays for gallons of diesel based on a negotiated price.
“We’re set for the year,” said Sue Bucceri, administrative assistant to the principal. “We’re locked into the price we agreed upon last summer,” before diesel prices surged.
The average price for a gallon of diesel currently costs $5.92 a gallon in Connecticut, up from $3.79 a year ago, according to AAA.
Bucceri works on the budgeting process in partnership with Region One’s business office, and said SCS is not making significant changes for the 2026-2027 budget based on gas prices.
“We didn’t do anything out of the ordinary,” Bucceri said. “We made a nominal increase on price-per-gallon,” she added. At this time, she said the school is fortunate that it’s not being significantly impacted from a budget perspective.
Just across the border in New York, the Webutuck Central School District owns its own fleet of buses and isn’t benefiting from a locked-in price model.
“Gas prices do impact us,” said Robert Farrier, business administrator for the Webutuck Central School District. However, Farrier said he and his colleagues are not worried about the budget at this time, though they plan to keep an eye on prices.
Farrier said the business office padded the transportation section of their budget during the COVID-19 pandemic, and, to date, they are prepared for unexpected events such as rising fuel costs.
“We’re not canceling field trips or anything like that,” he said.
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Leila Hawken
Celebrating the significant history of embroidery and its place within the fabric of the community, an exhibit opening was held on Thursday, April 9, at the Millbrook Library. Millbrook Historical Society secretary Alison Meyer, co-organizer of the event, provided welcoming remarks. The exhibit will continue until Saturday, May 2.
MILLBROOK — A new exhibit at the Millbrook Library tells the story of the Millbrook Needlework Guild, a storied group that has threaded its way through the past century of life in the village.
The exhibit opening was held on Thursday, April 9, attracting residents and visitors to view exquisite historic pieces of needlework art, all linked to today’s Millbrook due to their continuing importance as local works of art.
Assembled by the Millbrook Historical Society in a project that spanned two years, Society Secretary Alison Meyer, co-organizer of the event, welcomed a substantial turnout of residents and visitors. Meyer noted the contributions of her co-coordinator, Society board member Denise Bauer in bringing the event to life.
“It all began with the Millbrook Needlework Guild organized in 1954. The legacy has been preserved in churches, homes and the library,” Meyer said, noting that exhibit pieces have been loaned from throughout the village community.
“It’s gone from a local endeavor to the national scene and now back to local,” Meyer added. Also participating in the exhibit is the area’s Skyllkill Chapter of the Embroiderers’ Guild of America that was formed in 1974, continuing the tradition to the present day.
A highlight of the opening was the presentation of a certificate of appreciation on behalf of the Millbrook Historical Society to resident Anne Collins who had first suggested the idea for the exhibit.
When it was formed in 1954, the Millbrook Needlework Guild, whose members were local women devoted to the art, was gifted with a house donated by Margaret Thorne Parshall. The house still stands at the corner of Franklin and Maple Avenues. The imposing home also served as an academy for instruction in embroidery, under the tutelage of then Millbrook resident Erica Wilson who came to be known by many as “the first lady of stitchery.” Wilson’s shops still operate in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
In 1958, Parshall helped establish the American branch of the British Embroidery Guild, having traveled to England to meet with needleworkers. That organization became the Embroiderers’ Guild of America in 1958.
The exhibit will continue at the Millbrook Library until Saturday, May 2.
Leila Hawken
MILLBROOK — Among the many activities planned for the Millbrook Community-wide Yard Sale on Saturday, April 25, will be a repair café offered at the Millbrook Library between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The rain date will be Sunday, April 26.
Residents can bring up to two small items in need of attention to the library and find local experts willing to provide free repairs. The event is intended to keep such items from being discarded into landfills, when all that may be needed is a small fix.
Eligible for repair are broken lamps and small appliances, jewelry, wooden furniture, mending, and darning among sewing services. Local repair coaches will either fix the item or provide advice on where to take it next. The community is also invited to bring knives in need of sharpening.
Demonstrations of bicycle maintenance will be a feature. Bring plastic bags and batteries to the library for recycling during the event.
The Community-wide Yard Sale provides an opportunity for Millbrook neighbors to get together and share in finding treasures at yard sales throughout the village, enjoy music, get things repaired at the library, or simply socialize.
Leila Hawken
Sophia Zhou
AMENIA — The Bang Family Concert Series will feature New York-based pianist Sophia Zhou in performance at The Smithfield Church on Saturday, April 18, beginning at 3 p.m.
Zhou’s program “Into the Light” will include a rare treat — Beethoven’s grandest and most technically challenging piano sonata, “Waldstein,” along with works by Mozart, Chopin, and Debussy.
The concert is open to the public. A suggested donation of $20, payable at the door, will contribute toward funding more concerts. A reception with refreshments will follow the concert.
The Bang Family Concert Series has a tradition of hosting eclectic performances by gifted musicians from the Tri-Corner area. Known to area residents, Zhou has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in New York, Washington, D.C., Amsterdam and Shanghai. She has played with chamber musicians in New York, Hong Kong and with faculty from The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute and Manhattan School of Music.
Currently, Zhou serves as Founder and Artistic Director of the Millbrook Music Salon.
The Smithfield Church is located at 656 Smithfield Valley Road in Amenia. The church is accessible for people with disabilities.
For more information, go to thesmithfieldchurch.org/concerts.
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