Shirley Edgerton, local activist and NAACP Berkshires Board Member, leads a discussion with students from area middle schools after a screening of the film “Selma” at the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Students from W.E.B. Du Bois Regional Middle School, Mount Everett Junior High School, Berkshire Country Day School and Richmond Consolidated School attended a screening of the movie “Selma” at the Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington Jan. 20.
The screening was held in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It was sponsored in part by the Great Barrington, Monterey, Stockbridge, and New Marlborough Cultural Councils.
“Selma” was released in 2015, 50 years after the marches from Selma to Montgomery. It recounts the struggles of African Americans to exercise their right to vote in spite of resistance from registrars of voters in Selma, Alabama. It shows the brutality encountered by activists and marchers and those just wanting to vote. The participants of the first march were met with tear gas, police armed with clubs and on horseback as they marched over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Many among the marchers suffered injuries. After the first March, King called for clergy and others to join the next march.
Moderator of the question-and-answer period after the movie was Shirley Edgerton, a local activist and NAACP Berkshires board member. She asked the students, “Why do you think you were allowed to come here today?”
Answers included:
“History repeats itself.”
“To learn about the civil rights movement.”
“So, it doesn’t happen again.”
“It is a reminder of issues that are happening today.”
“What did you think about the movie?” Edgerton asked next.
“It was emotionally heavy when it got into what actually happened.”
“It was not just the story of Dr. King, but of Malcom X and John Lewis.”
“Your schools want you to understand history,” Edgerton said. She explained that she is a member of the NAACP which was founded in 1909 by a group including Great Barrington resident and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois. The NAACP is composed of “All folks who believe in addressing and disarming hate,” Edgerton said.
“All of us have biases,” Edgerton said to the crowd. The way to combat bias, she said, is to “Address issues and ensure that these issues don’t continue.”
She asked the students what issues they are facing today. “Abortion” said one, another said “Only two genders now.” “Human trafficking,” said another.
“What can you do as eighth graders about these issues?” asked Edgerton.
“We can grow up smarter and fix these issues.”
“Stop making fun of people who ID as gay, straight, non-binary.”
“Be kinder.”
“Support peers and take the knowledge of what we learned today and put it into our day-to-day base.”
In conclusion, Shirley Edgerton told the students, “You have to decide if you want to be part of change or not.”
Planning Board members granted a waiver to the proposed cannabis dispensary located in the historic weigh station on Route 82 allowing the business to operate within 300 feet of the firehouse and the Post Office in contradiction with Pine Plains's local law. Town attorney Warren Replansky explained the town's codes would likely be unenforceable following legal decisions handed down by the Office of Cannabis Management on Monday, Oct. 6.
PINE PLAINS — Members of the Planning Board voted unanimously to grant a waiver to Upstate Pines allowing the cannabis dispensary to operate within 300 feet of the firehouse and the Post Office at their regular meeting Wednesday, Oct. 8.
That vote came after Planning Board attorney Warren Replansky explained recent state guidance superceded the town’s ability to restrict the business on the grounds of its proximity to the Post Office and the firehouse.
Approval of the dispensary itself was not yet granted, and the public hearing will be continued at the Wednesday, Nov. 12, meeting of the Planning Board.
Replansky explained an advisory opinion handed down on Monday, Oct. 6, from the state government and the Office of Cannabis Management clarified that municipalities may only legally restrict a nonmedical cannabis dispensary’s distance to a “public youth facility,” defined as a publicly accessible space with the primary purpose of providing services to children.
“So that might’ve saved you a bit of time,” Planning Board Chair Michael Stabile said to the applicants following Replansky’s remarks.
Next steps for the project now require the applicants to undergo State Environmental Quality Review, a standard process that most major development projects are required to follow.
Planning Board members, Replansky and the applicants also discussed parking and traffic control plans after receiving input from Dutchess County Planners that requested more specific information about the potential future uses on the site including a grocery store and an ice cream shop.
County planners wanted to see a detailed description of the scope of all future uses to limit the possibility of segmentation, which is when a project is proposed and completed in vague phases that inhibit the full environmental review process.
Also on the agenda was a resolution to allow construction of a small house at 441 Carpenter Hill Road and the approval of a site plan for ground-mounted solar panels in the backyard of a residence at 560 Carpenter Hill Road. Board members approved the resolution for the small house and accepted the site plan for the solar panels, setting a public hearing on the matter for Wednesday, Nov. 12.
Dozens of people crowded into the courthouse at the Washington Town Hall on Reservoir Drive in Millbrook on Tuesday, Oct. 7, to watch a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC. David Blatt and Henry Hay of Centaur Properties LLC described their plan to build an 18-hole golf course with limited membership and residences on the historic 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.
"This is nothing like Silo Ridge," said Centaur Properties co-founder Henry Hay. "This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It's completely different. It's much higher quality."
MILLBROOK — Dozens of residents of the Town of Washington packed into the courtroom in Town Hall on Reservoir Drive for a standing-room-only regular meeting of the Planning Board on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
Well over three-quarters of the crowd were there to listen in to a pre-application meeting between Planning Board members and representatives of Centaur Properties LLC, a New York City-based development company that’s proposing an 18-hole golf course, equestrian facilities and luxury residential development on the 2,000-acre Hitchcock estate.
A pre-application meeting, Planning Board Chair Susan Meaney explained before beginning the discussion, allows developers or anyone with a potential project to meet with the Planning Board and ask questions about the planning and zoning process prior to submitting an application.
“This is not a public hearing,” Meaney said. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t let your voices be heard. If you have opinions about what gets said here tonight or what the potential proposal might be you can certainly write letters to the Planning Board.”
Henry Hay and David Blatt are the men behind Centaur Properties’ proposal for the Hitchcock estate. Blatt began the discussion by expressing his and Hay’s desire to have an open dialogue with the community.
“It goes without saying this is an incredible piece of property — an incredibly large piece of property,” Blatt said. “It deserves a responsible and thoughtful steward and our hope is that we can bring that level of stewardship that the property deserves and the level of attention to detail and care that this property needs.”
Following was a description of the project centered around an 18-hole golf course that Blatt and Hay said was essential to the development.
“Our ideas on our project are to create a world class golf course, clubhouse — limited membership,” Blatt said.
Additionally, the developers expressed a desire to construct a spa, equestrian facilities, trails, housing and to conserve a portion of the estate.
Planning Board members then began a back-and-forth with the developers, asking the two men for more specific details about their proposal. One of Meaney’s first questions centered around private membership.
“We’re going to have a very, very small membership,” Hay said. “Maybe 300 people.”
That response prompted board member Nicole Drury to clarify if the proposal is more akin to a private golf club or a gated luxury housing development of the likes of the Discovery Land Company’s Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia — a gated luxury subdivision in Amenia with an 18-hole golf course and other amenities.
“This is nothing like Silo Ridge,” Hay said in response. “This is Buckingham Palace to a craphouse. It’s completely different. It’s much higher quality.”
Later on in the meeting, Planning Board member Eric Alexander again drew comparisons between Centaur’s proposal and the nearby Silo Ridge Field Club in Amenia, which he called a “bad situation for that community.” He cited a perception of exclusivity within the luxury housing development that has put off the surrounding Amenia community.
But Hay wouldn’t elaborate on the distinctions between the Hitchcock estate proposal and Silo Ridge Field Club. "This is nothing like Silo Ridge," Hay maintained. "We don't want that."
Environmental conservation was central to the board members’ concerns, prompting conflicting responses from Blatt and Hay about the amount of open space that will be left after development.
“At least 50%,” Hay said before Blatt cut him off.
“I think 25 to 50% is kind of a good estimate,” Blatt said, correcting his colleague. “We would love to put aside as much as possible.”
The pre-application meeting ended shortly after input from the Planning Board’s attorney, Hannah Atkinson of Van DeWater & Van DeWater out of Poughkeepsie, and Meaney that not much more could be said about the proposal until something concrete has been submitted to the board.
“There’s a code so you can be working within the framework of what’s expected in these different zones,” Atkinson said of the town’s zoning code, and urged the developers to read the code and use it and the town’s comprehensive plan to guide them in designing the project. “You’re not going to be 180 degrees off what the board is expecting if you follow the provisions of the code.”
As of press time, the sale of the Hitchcock estate has not been finalized. The property was listed for sale in Summer 2024 for $75 million.
Built in 1820, 1168 Bangall Amenia Road sold for $875,000 on July 31 with the transfer recorded in August. It has a Millbrook post office and is located in the Webutuck school district.
STANFORD — The Town of Stanford with nine transfers in two months reached a median price in August of $573,000 for single family homes, still below Stanford’s all-time median high in August 2024 of $640,000.
At the beginning of October there is a large inventory of single-family homes listed for sale with only six of the 18 homes listed for below the median price of $573,000 and seven above $1 million.
July transfers
79 Ernest Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 6.87 acres in 2 parcels sold to Matthew C. Marinetti for $1,225,000.
29 Drake Road — 3 bedroom/3.5 bath home on 2 acres sold to Harper Montgomery for $850,000.
6042 Route 82 — 4 bedroom/2 bath home on 1.09 acres sold to Spencer Thompson for $795,000.
125 Tick Tock Way — 3 bedroom/2.5 bath ranch on 1.9 acres sold to Fleur Touchard for $475,000.
August transfers
102 Prospect Hill Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 6.35 acres sold to Karl Creighton Pfister for $565,000.
252 Ernest Road — 2 bedroom/1 bath cottage on .85 acres sold to Meg Bumie for $465,000.
1196 Bangall Amenia Road — 4 bedroom/2.5 bath home on 2.16 acres sold to Roderick Alleyne for $875,000.
Hunns Lake Road (#759929) — 59.1 acres of residential land sold to Argos Farm LLC for $3,325,000.
* Town of Stanford recorded real estate transfers from July 1 to August 31 provided by Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly transfer reports. Details on each property from Dutchess Parcel Access - properties with an # indicate location on Dutchess Parcel Access. Market data from One Key MLS and Infosparks .Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Harlem Valley area activity reportSept. 18 to Sept. 30.
Sept. 23 — Deputies responded to 1542 State Route 292 in the Town of Pawling for the report of a suspicious vehicle at that location. Investigation resulted in the arrest of Sebastian Quiroga, age 26, for aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the third degree. Quiroga to appear in the Town of Pawling court at a later date.
Sept. 30 — Deputies responded to Woodside Street in the Town of Pine Plains for a past-occurred verbal domestic dispute between a stepfather and stepson.Matter resolved without further police intervention.
PLEASE NOTE:All subjects arrested and charged are alleged to have committed the crime and are presumed innocent until proven guilty and are to appear in local courts later.
If you have any information relative to the aforementioned criminal cases, or any other suspected criminal activity please contact the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office tip line at 845-605-CLUE (2583) or Emaildcsotips@gmail.com.All information will be kept confidential.
