$6.385 million granted for Millerton’s swimming pool project

An artist’s rendering of the what a swimming pool and poolhouse in Eddie Collins Park in Millerton could look like.
Photo provided
An artist’s rendering of the what a swimming pool and poolhouse in Eddie Collins Park in Millerton could look like.
MILLERTON — The NY SWIMS capital grant program awarded $6.385 million to the village to build a community pool, a bathhouse, community room and septic system at Eddie Collins Memorial Park.
The announcement came from Gov. Kathy’s Hochul’s office on the eve of Labor Day, along with $38 million in grants to Dutchess County and towns and cities in the Mid-Hudson region.
“It’s incredible for us to receive this,” Mayor Jenn Najdek said. “To be in the right place at the right time, and to be in good standing with grants.”
The mayor said she hopes that there may be a groundbreaking in the fall of 2025.
“It wouldn’t be possible without the incredible group of volunteers,” Najdek said.
The Eddie Collins Memorial Park Revitalization Committee includes: Stephen Waite, chair, Jeanne Vanecko, vice chair, Edith Greenwood, treasurer, Jennifer Dowley and Greg Swinehart. Mayor Najdek is the village liaison to the committee.
Najdek also thanked Anna Clune, who wrote the grant for the village.
“The grant award is exciting news for Millerton and its residents. Anna did a fabulous job writing the application.
“I spent a lot of time at the old Denney Pool as a kid and made many friends there, some I still keep in contact with.
“The pool served the community well for 50 years until closing in 2016. It’s taken eight long years, but I’m pleased that people will once again be swimming in Millerton in the not-too-distant future.
“I’m grateful for the support from our leaders and donors and extremely proud of the work done by the Committee,” Waite said.
The NY SWIMS grant program was included in the 2025 New York state budget. In May, Village trustees voted to apply for a $6.385 million grant. The first round of applications for municipal swimming facilities were due in July.
The Village also has applied for a $675,000 grant through New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and has yet to hear news about that application.
The latest news follows a Millerton visit in late July by Carl Heastie, Speaker of the New York State Assembly, and State Rep. Didi Barrett (D-106) to announce that the Phase 2 renovation of the park will have its funding ensured.
The pool will be ADA-compliant like the rest of the park.
“This will make the entirety of park accessible,” said Mayor Najdek.
Under the NY SWIMS program, grants are offered to “to acquire, design, construct or reconstruct facilities, provide major renovations, improvements, and modernization or rehabilitation of swimming facilities.”
Municipalities are expected to cover 20% of the project cost.
The park’s first swimming pool was installed in 1966 in the rear southwestern corner of the park. Over time, the high water table lifted and cracked the pool. Groundwater infiltration prevented the pool’s water from heating up even on hot summer days. Repairs were attempted but fewer and fewer people came to swim, and Millerton’s summer camp was moved to Rudd Pond in 2015.
Last summer the park’s revitalization committee presented the Phase 2 plans. Construction on Phase 1 — regrading of the park, a new entrance and paved parking areas, a soccer field, accessible playground upgrades, new basketball courts and pavilion improvements—was completed in 2022.
Other big NY SWIMS grants among the 11 announced over Labor Day for the Mid-Huston region include:
Dutchess County — ($10 million) Youth Opportunity Union Aquatic Center: Dutchess County will construct the Youth Opportunity Union Aquatic Center, comprised of an eight-lane lap pool, a two-lane family and therapy pool, and locker rooms.
City of Kingston — ($3,343,345) Kingston Point Beach Swimming Facilities: The City of Kingston will implement a design of multi-tiered raised terraces to connect upland areas on either side of the existing beach to provide flood mitigation and protect the interior of Kingston Point against sea level rise.
City of Newburgh — ($8 million) Delano Hitch Aquatics Center: The City of Newburgh will construct a new aquatic center to replace the pool complex originally constructed in 1920, featuring a fully ADA accessible competition sized pool, new changing rooms and restrooms, new parking area, new concessions stand and a splash pad.
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.
Hunt club members and friends gathered near Pugsley Hill at the historic Wethersfield Estate and Gardens in Amenia for the opening meet of the 2025-2026 Millbrook Hunt Club season on Saturday, Oct. 4. Foxhunters took off from Wethersfield’s hilltop gardens just after 8 a.m. for a hunting jaunt around Amenia’s countryside.
Joining in the fun at the dedication of the new pollinator pathway garden at The Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4, local expert gardener Maryanne Snow Pitts provides information about a planting to Lorraine Mirabella of Poughkeepsie.
MILLBROOK — Participating in a patchwork of libraries that have planted pollinator pathway gardens to attract insects and birds to their native plantings was one of the accomplishments being celebrated at the dedication of a new pollinator garden at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Oct. 4.
“A lot of work went into it,” said Emma Sweeney, past President of the Millbrook Garden Club, who started the local library’s initiative two years ago.
The Pollinator Pathway program is a national effort to plant native plants that native insects depend upon for sustenance and preferred plants for their own seasonal reproduction.
Jana Hogan of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway program, was on hand to present a plaque to the library for its successful participation.
“A garden is not just a garden,” said garden designer Andy Durbridge of Wassaic, designer of the library’s garden. “It may serve as a model for other gardens along the line.”
Speaking to the 50 visitors at the dedication, Durbridge said that the library’s garden has a mission, that it is a working garden, planned to serve insects and birds over their seasons. The earliest plants support pollinators, while the full range of plants continues to serve the needs of those they attract, offering habitat, shelter and food.
A pollinator garden is akin to a prairie, rather than a formalized European garden, Durbridge noted.
The garden project was supported by the library’s Friends group using funds raised during the Holiday Silent Auction and ongoing book sale. A grant from the Millbrook Garden Club also provided support.