PINE PLAINS — In making an offer on the property at 12 North Main St. this past February, the Pine Plains Town Board seized a rare opportunity to make headway on the town’s long-standing goal of revitalizing its downtown. While the board received several shows of support on the buy, it also contended with a recent petition for a referendum vote on the purchase during a permissive referendum period. Between the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and bringing the petition to the Dutchess County Court, the board made itself available to the community to explain the significance of this purchase and how it will pave the way for a more vibrant town.
As reflected in its Comprehensive Plan — both in the original 2004 version and the newly updated 2019 version — the town has had its heart set on enhancing its downtown area for several years. Along with improving public infrastructure, town leaders have envisioned moving Town Hall from its current location at 3284 Route 199 to the center of town to make it “more accessible to residents” and “help concentrate communal activity in the hamlet center and contribute to the vibrancy of Pine Plains,” according to the Town of Pine Plains 2019 Comprehensive Plan.
To fulfill this goal, the town purchased a parcel at 8 North Main St. back in August of 2019. The property at 12 North Main St. became available for purchase that October. As written in the board’s application to the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of Dutchess, Pine Plains town Supervisor Darrah Cloud explained that since the 12 North Main St. property is adjacent to 8 North Main St., both properties are located next to the municipal parking lot and the town’s historic Graham-Brush House and is “a mere 50 feet from the hamlet’s main intersection.”
Envisioning the property’s purchase as a multi-purpose opportunity to improve the town’s infrastructure and facilities, Cloud elaborated via the application that, after being purchased and cleaned up, the site could be used to expand public parking to support the hamlet. In an interview with The Millerton News, she said that owning the two pieces of real estate next to the municipal parking lot is key to its revitalization. Looking at the future, she said the land could be used to construct “a Town Hall large enough to accommodate town offices and meeting rooms, as well as Town Court and State Police functions.”
“I think that it will put a beautiful Town Hall in the middle of town where people will be able to see and use it more,” agreed Councilman Matthew Zick. “I just think it’s a good idea.”
Owned by Andrea Replansky, the wife of Attorney to the Town Warren Replansky, the property at 12 North Main St. had been appraised at $232,600 by its seller, Pine Ridge Properties LLC. Over the course of various sessions, the board was able to get the price down to $100,000. After negotiating the price, the town hired Gary Murphy as its lawyer for handling the contact.
The board unanimously agreed to make an offer of $100,000 for the property at its Feb. 20 meeting. Pine Ridge Properties LLC accepted the offer and sent the contract for the board to review at its April 13 workshop meeting. Immediately recognizing the rare opportunity to purchase key real estate at a reasonable price, the board voted to go forward with the contract at its April 16 meeting. Cloud was also pleased to report the town’s negotiation for a 2% interest rate through a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN).
“When 12 North Main St. quickly became available to us, we thought it was an opportunity because we’d be able to build Town Hall and enhance town parking,” said Deputy Supervisor Don Bartles. “I’ve been in favor of it, especially when the opportunity to purchase 12 North Main became available at a reasonable price.”
“Once again, we will never be in a place historically to buy something like this at a price with that interest rate again in our lifetimes,” Cloud said.
Yet the board’s excitement to move forward was soon diminished by the arrival of an email in late April that claimed to be a “petition” to call for a referendum on the purchase of 12 Main St. At that time, the board was in a permissive referendum period, which is required on a Town Board motion when bonding a purchase of property. During a permissive referendum period, the public has 30 days to ask for a referendum on an issue by submitting a petition.
However, in lieu of a traditional hand-written petition, the board instead received an online document with 190 names typed on it, of which on the face of it were a number of names of people who are not Pine Plains residents, names that were signed with only first names or names of known children, according to comments from both Zick and Cloud. Cloud added she has now spoken with a few people whose names are on the petition despite saying that “they did not sign it.” Additionally, the document did not contain any addresses or actual signatures, as required by law.
Though she assured the community in one of her recent e-newsletters that the Town Board is sensitive to any concerns the community may have, Cloud said “it would have been wholly irresponsible to accept this document as a real legal petition necessitating the instigation of a referendum, which is a very costly undertaking for a town.”
Nevertheless, she said on a later date, “We wanted to take it seriously because we wanted to listen to the fact that people wanted to talk about it.”
Hiring a lawyer to handle its case, the board brought the document to the attention of the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of Dutchess. The document was ruled by the court as invalid, given its lack of actual signatures and authentication of signatures; its failure to articulate a purpose for the petition; and the respondent’s “little effort to oppose this motion,” even during the pandemic.
“The respondent made very little effort to conform with the formalities of a petition, and specifically failed to articulate a purpose for the petition, so that the town or anyone else would know why a referendum was wanted… ” stated Judge Hal Greenwald.
Cloud shared plans to purchase the property as soon as the pandemic is over and the property’s tenants have vacated. In the meantime, residents have been encouraged to attend virtual Town Board meetings by going onto the “Town of Pine Plains” YouTube channel. Cloud mentioned that the town is in the process of creating a page on its website to address current projects; once that page is finished, residents can go to www.pineplains-ny.gov for more information about the purchase.
“At this point, we’re going to make sure people understand what’s going on, the history of this decision and what is at stake and that the town can handle it financially,” Cloud said.
Nathan Miller
Cold Spring Early Learning Center on Homan Road in Stanford. Pine Plains school district officials proposed closing the building last year citing budget constraints and declining enrollment.
STANFORD — Community members gathered on Wednesday, March 4, for a first look at a newly-formed committee that will analyze the impact of closing an elementary school building in the Pine Plains Central School District.
Town Supervisor Julia Descoteaux arranged the Wednesday meeting at Stanford Town Hall to find volunteers to represent the town in the district-wide Building Utilization Advisory Committee. The committee's first district-wide meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 12.
Pine Plains Board of Education members voted in February to form the committee. That vote came after Stanford residents asked for more details on plans to shutter Cold Spring Early Learning Center on Homan Road in Stanford. Superintendent Brian Timm announced plans to close the building and consolidate students into Seymour Smith Intermediate School in Pine Plains last year, citing declining enrollment district-wide and potential reductions in state aid that threatened the district’s budget.
Descoteaux said the Board of Education asked each of the nine towns in the district to send three representatives, which would result in a committee with at least 27 members. Three people have shown interest in representing Stanford in the multi-town committee — Kyle Odell, Brooke Brown and Abby Knickerbocker, though Knickerbocker was not present at the Wednesday meeting.
Descoteaux said the committee will analyze the impact of closing Cold Spring Elementary and draft a full educational impact statement. Educational impact statements are recommended — but not required — under New York State education law.
The educational impact statement will analyze the closure’s effect on the community, district finances, use of other buildings, staff employment, and school and extracurricular services. The district currently operates three buildings — Cold Spring Early Learning Center in Stanford, and Seymour Smith Intermediate School and Stissing Mountain Jr./Sr. High School in Pine Plains.
Cold Spring Elementary serves roughly 150 students from pre-K to first grade. There are currently just over 750 students enrolled in the district from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Superintendent Timm said enrollment is down nearly 50% in the past twenty years.
Community members in attendance urged Descoteaux to advocate for more Stanford residents on the committee, citing Cold Spring’s location in the town, the town’s contribution to the district’s revenue, and the school’s integral role in the community.
Descoteaux echoed those sentiments. “Our town has a little bit of a different stake in the game,” she said. “I’ve heard from multiple families that — very direct — they wouldn’t have moved here if there wasn’t a school in town.”
Descoteaux said school district officials requested that representatives include a local business leader, a parent or community member and a representative of the Town Board — a request she said she disagreed with. She said Stanford parents have already taken the lead.
“The community’s been driving this process,” Descoteaux said. “The hope coming out of this is it feels like this is a community-driven process.”
Descoteaux credited Stanford parents like Brooke Brown, who she said led the early efforts to press for more information and community involvement in the school’s closure. Brown advocated strongly for her inclusion on the committee.
“I think I just bring slightly more than an average person would because I’ve already done so much research on it,” Brown said.
Kyle Odell, a Stanford parent and financial manager based out of Poughkeepsie, also volunteered for the committee. He said he wants to take a harder look at the budgetary figures that school district officials cited when Cold Spring’s closure was announced.
Odell said he doubted district officials’ claims about budget constraints, citing figures on rising health care and other costs from district presentations that he said added up to less significant losses than administrators claimed.
“They’re looking at it as the price increase for those things but not as to what it is for the overall budget,” Odell said. “I want to be on this committee to actually see the numbers, especially digging in, so we’re actually making an informed decision.”
Patrick L. Sullivan
Publisher James Clark, left, and Executive Editor Christian Murray speak at Scoville Memorial Library March 7.
SALISBURY — What makes or breaks a local newspaper is its reputation, Lakeville Journal Executive Editor Christian Murray said at the Scoville Memorial Library Saturday, March 7.
Murray and publisher James Clark led a discussion at the library that was originally scheduled for January, but the weather intervened.
Karen Vrotsos, the head of adult programming for the library, introduced Clark and Murray, and noted that thousands of American newspapers have closed in recent decades, creating regional “news deserts.”
Clark said the news business is under “tremendous pressure even as local news remains the most trusted source.”
Clark said there are many ideas being discussed for the future of newspapers, including the possibility of going fully digital and eliminating print. He was quick to add that going all digital is not the plan for the Journal and The Millerton News.
“We all enjoy a print product,” Clark said. “But we’re also strongly focused on reaching readers on whatever platform they prefer — particularly online.”
He also noted that while the Connecticut and New York legislatures have introduced bills designed to support news organizations, including funding journalism jobs, they have also considered bills to remove requirements that legal notices be published in local newspapers.
While legal notices are a source of revenue, Clark said they also provide a valuable public service. “All the recent Wake Robin decisions were in our legals section,” which complemented the paper’s reporting.
Clark said long-term success in local news comes down to three essentials: adequate funding, enough reporters and, as he put it, “simply doing the reporting.”
“It’s challenging,” he continued. He said LJMN Media, the organization that publishes the two papers, is in its fifth year as a non-profit.
He thanked the community for the financial support, which has allowed for the hiring of new reporters and editors and expanded coverage.
One of those hires was Murray.
The native New Zealander used to be based in Queens, N.Y. and worked for outlets such as amNewYork, Newsday and Reuters.
When Clark was looking for a new executive editor and sorting through resumes, Murray’s experience with the Queens Post — a local news service he founded that reported on neighborhoods in that borough — caught his attention.
In Queens, Murray had a large urban readership. Here in northwest Connecticut and eastern Dutchess County, the population is markedly different.
“But the nuts and bolts of reporting are the same,” Murray said. “Communities of any size want to know about affordable housing, healthcare, new businesses and public safety.”
In Queens, “the scale is bigger, but it’s the same board meetings. The machinations are pretty much the same.”
Murray, who moved to northwest Connecticut five years ago, said local news is often more meaningful than national news for readers. “I want to know about the restaurant down the street, or the property up the road.”
He said bigger publications are often content rewriting press releases. “Quality journalism is at the local level. Our reporters are out there talking to people.”
Murray said he chatted recently with a friend who works for Fox Digital.
“He’s covering Iran from his apartment in Long Island City!”
Asked about how the two local papers cover national issues, Clark said “We cover how they affect our communities and what they’re doing about it.”
“We’ll continue providing news as we see it and keeping it balanced,” Murray added.
Asked about using Facebook and other social media, Clark said “we see Facebook as one platform of many. We want to get our news to people where they are.”
The questioner followed up, asking how Facebook comments are moderated.
Clark said that “in general we use as light a touch as possible” for comments.
“We’ll delete or hide comments that are simply inflammatory or profane.”
Clark mentioned “HVRHS Today,” the student publication from Housatonic Valley Regional High School that is a collaboration between The Lakeville Journal and the high school.
“That’s their newspaper. They’re not writing for The Lakeville Journal.”
Clark said there are three high schools in The Millerton News’ coverage area, and he hopes to expand the program.
Both Clark and Murray kept reiterating the importance of local newspapers being accurate and fair.
“Reputation matters so much in local news,” Murray said. “We’re much more accountable to our communities” than larger newspapers.
“When we ship the papers, we know we’re going to see the people we’re writing about in the checkout line at LaBonne’s,” said Clark.
“It gives us that little extra ‘oomph’ to get it right.”
Nathan Miller
The Millerton fire crew watches a pump hose carry water from the NorthEast-Millerton Library’s basement on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
MILLERTON — Library officials expect the NorthEast-Millerton Library to be fully open the weekend of March 14-15, a full month after a burst pipe forced librarians to move operations to the annex building on Century Boulevard.
Executive Director Rhiannon Leo-Jameson said the temporary relocation has been stressful, but library patrons have been understanding and using the library to the fullest extent possible.
A pipe in the wall of a private apartment above the library burst on the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 10, sending water into the walls and flooding the basement.
Leo-Jameson reported that at its height, the water settled about five inches above the basement floor. Though the furnace was at risk, the water did not rise high enough to cause damage.
The basement did not contain any stored materials, and damage was contained to the walls surrounding the fireplace in the building’s rear.The leak required the building’s water to be shut off, forcing the library to close until service could be restored.
Leo-Jameson said the plumber is expected to fix the broken pipe on Wednesday, March 11. She said the plumber’s arrival was delayed because the building’s walls, floors and carpet had to be assessed for damage, mold and asbestos.
“Much to the surprise of everybody, it was the original flooring to the building,” Leo-Jameson said. She said current reports indicate the damage was limited to the single burst pipe and the sheetrock adjacent to the burst.
“The force of the water burst through the sheetrock,” Leo-Jameson said.
The library continues to operate during its normal hours of operation from a temporary station in the annex. Patrons can check out requested books and make returns, and daytime programming is ongoing. Leo-Jameson said she was thankful to have the annex after the pipe burst.
“If you’re ever going to have a burst pipe in the library, this was pretty ideal,” Leo-Jameson said.
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Millerton News
SALISBURY — Alfred Lyon Ivry, a long-time resident of Salisbury, and son of Belle (Malamud) and Morris Ivry, died in Bergen County, New Jersey, on Feb. 12 at the age of 91, surrounded by family members. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he was a graduate ofAbraham Lincoln High School and Brooklyn College, where he earned a B.A. in English literature and Philosophy and served as drama critic for the school paper.
Alfred earned a PhD in Medieval Jewish Philosophy from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts in 1963 and in 1971 was awarded a D. Phil in Medieval Islamic Philosophy from Oxford University, Linacre College.
He enjoyed a long career as a professor of Jewish and Islamic philosophy, with appointments at Cornell, Ohio State, Brandeis, and New York University. Alfred wrote more than one hundred scholarly articles and book reviews, and was the author or editor of nine books, including Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed: A Philosophical Guide, published in 2016.
Alfred and Joann, his wife of 67 years, moved to the Berkshire area in the early 1990s, splitting their time between the Twin Lakes and New York City until their respective retirements. After that, they lived in Salisbury full time, availing themselves of the region’s many cultural offerings. They relocated in late 2020 to Noble Horizons for two years before moving to New Jersey to be closer to their children.
In their many years together, Alfred and Joann traveled regularly, frequenting museums, national parks, and other destinations. Alfred was an avid reader of the newspaper, fiction, and poetry, and possessed both a sharp wit and an estimable sense of humor. Throughout his life, he enjoyed outdoor activities including swimming, camping, hiking, ice skating on Twin Lakes, and tennis. Like many Brooklyn boys of his era, he followed the Dodgers, but happily took his children to Red Sox games at Fenway Park and later his grandchildren to see the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
In Salisbury, Alfred became a successful gentleman farmer, and embarked on canoe trips and fishing expeditions on Twin Lakes and beyond.He took up birding, among other hobbies, and with Joann developed and enjoyed the friendships he made in Salisbury and environs, and especially amongst members of the Great Barrington-based Berkshire Minyan, of which they were founding members.
Above all, Alfred was committed to the Jewish tradition and people, and to his family. He is survived by his wife, Joann (nee Saltzman);children, Rebecca and husband Clifford Stein, Jonathan, Sara, and Jessica, grandchildren; Molly and husband Josh Mark, Noah and wife Noa Shapiro, Ben Stein, Talia, Max, Isaiah, and Esther Ivry; great-grandchild, Aaron Mark; and colleagues and friends made throughout his life. He was predeceased by his sister, Grace.
Donations in Alfred’s memory may be made to the Berkshire Minyan and to the Yaakov Goboff Fund at the Yaakov Herzog Institute for Jewish Studies.
Millerton News
LAKEVILLE — Larry Power passed away peacefully at home on March 9, 2026.
Larry was born at St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City in 1939.
He had a successful public relations firm for over 35 years in NYC.
After retiring, he chaired the Sharon Land Trust board for many years. He always said one of the most important things he ever did was saving the Twin Oaks Field from development.
He is survived by his husband Lea Davies of 44 years.
Donations in his memory can be sent to East Mountain House in Lakeville in honor of Keavy Bedell or the Sharon Hospital Primary Care Project in honor of Doctor Jonathan Joseph.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
Millerton News
KENT — Carol L. Hoffman Matzke passed away peacefully with family by her side on Feb. 22, 2026.
She was a beloved mother and stepmother, daughter, sister, grandmother, great-grandmother, community member, and friend.Her presence will be deeply missed. She had a beautiful way of loving, accepting, and supporting all the many members of her vast family, and of welcoming others into her family circle. She was intelligent and well-informed about history and current events, and she took a genuine interest in knowing and understanding everyone she met, from friends and family right down to the stranger who stood next to her in line at the grocery store. Kind and generous, her family and friends knew that she would do anything in her power to help and support them.
Carol was the oldest of five children, born on June 21, 1939 in Springfield, Vermont to Janet (Beal) Lawrence and John Lawrence. She graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1957. She attended Colby College, graduating with a history degree in 1961. She was married and widowed twice, first to John Hardie Hoffman (1935-1984) and second to William A Matzke, Jr. (1924-2001).
In 1976 she and her husband, John, moved to Kent, to realize their dream of opening a small retail bookstore which they named The House of Books. Carol and John blended seamlessly into the community, and The House of Books quickly became part of the fabric of Kent where it has continued to welcome and serve the readers and writers of the area.
Carol was an active member of St. Andrews Episcopal church, where she served in various roles throughout the years. She was also an avid tennis player throughout her life and could often be found in the midst of a competitive match on the Kent School courts.
In 1993, Carol shifted her full-time residence to Seattle, Washington where her eldest daughter, Cathy resided with her family.It was in Seattle that she met and married her second husband, William A Matzke, Jr. Carol and Bill had a vibrant life in the Seattle area where she supported her children and step-children in raising their families, volunteered for The Fisk Genealogical Library, the USO at Sea-Tac Airport, and was an active member of two church communities: Evergreen Covenant Church in Mercer Island, Washington and St Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, where she served as senior warden.
In 2017, after many years splitting her time between Seattle and Kent, Carol settled full-time in Kent. Carol was frequently spotted walking her dog along Kent’s roadways, sometimes in the pre-dawn darkness. She was a regular at the soccer games, plays, concerts, and other activities of her many New England grandchildren.
In 2024, Carol found a loving home with her daughter Barb’s family in Upton, Massachusetts, eventually transitioning to memory care at Keystone Place in Torrington, where she passed peacefully with loving family and caregivers by her side.
Carol is survived by her daughters, Cathy Miller, Barbara (and David) Lundbom and Tracy (and Rich) Horosky; stepson Scott Hoffman; stepdaughters Lori (and Dick) Ehrig, Andrea Matzke, Cynthia Matzke, and Lisa Matzke as well as 15 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. She is also survived by her siblings, Johanne LaGrange, Rod (and Fayne) Lawrence and Ann Wessel. She was pre-deceased by husband John Hardie Hoffman (1984), husband William A. Matzke, Jr. (2001), stepson John Morris “Jay” Hoffman (2023) and sister Gale Lawrence (2024).
Memorial services are planned in both Kent and Seattle later in the spring.Remembrances honoring Carol’s life can be made to the Kent Library Association (P.O. Box 127, Kent, CT 06757) or the Northwest USO (17801 International Blvd, PMB #313, Seattle, WA 98158).
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