Town Board awards construction contracts for new town garage

AMENIA — Construction plans for a new town garage complex, including a salt shed, moved ahead as the Town Board awarded construction contracts to a number of companies at their regular meeting on Thursday, August 6. The vote was unanimous.

Construction Manager for the project Palumbo Group recommended that contracts totaling $8 million be awarded to three companies. Mid-Hudson Construction Management is contracted for $6,353,470. Successful bidders for specialty contracts were S&O Construction Services for both HVAC installation and plumbing at a total of $1,077,207 and LBS 2020 for electrical work at a cost of $750,000.

The entire project for the 5-acre site involves construction of a 12,620 square foot building housing 6 double-bays and an office/breakroom, mechanical bay with lift and washing bay. Also to be constructed will be a 60 by 80-foot salt shed and attached storage building of four closed bays and two open bays, and a fueling station for diesel and gasoline.

Westerly Ridge property

Discussion continued about a proposed gift to the town of property at 108 Westerly Ridge. The question posed by Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm was whether the Town Board was willing to entertain the idea of the gift and all councilmembers indicated that willingness.

Two questions that had been raised were whether the homeowners’ association at Westerly Ridge had approved the idea and whether the Dutchess County Land Conservancy had ruled on it.

Town Board attorney Ian Lindars said that he had recently received the conservation easement paperwork and planned to review it and report to the board at its next meeting.

During the Town Board meeting of July 23 Sharon resident Carol Flaton had introduced her planned donation of a 27-acre parcel that would be designated for conservation. Flaton has owned the parcel for more than a month and she seeks to complete the property transfer before the end of the year.

The property is the final piece of the ridgeline. Accepting the gift would ensure that the entire ridge would forever be protected from development.

“That piece of property is close to my heart,” Town Supervisor Rosanna Hamm had commented at the July 23 meeting, recalling that her grandfather had farmed it and her father had been raised on the farm.

The property faced controversy in recent years over proposed construction. In 2023, Amenia’s Planning Board approved plans for a home on the property that were then challenged in Dutchess County Supreme Court and embroiled in years of litigation.

Carol Flaton purchased the property in July from Cameron and Liza Smith, according to public deeds available on the Dutchess County Clerk’s website. The Smiths intended to build a house on the property but plans stalled after neighboring property owner Barbara Meili sued to halt construction in 2023.

The court rejected Meili’s complaint in 2025, triggering an appeal from Meili. That appeal was rescinded in April.

New billing system for Water District

In response to a need for an automated meter reading, billing and payment system for Water District customers, the Town Board voted unanimously to enter into a contract with Muni-Link for those services.

The new system will allow for on-line payment of water bills, a convenience that has frequently been requested.

To implement the new system, Muni-Link will charge a one-time fee of $12,000, including three years of historical customer usage data and all training. Going forward, the town water district will pay a $650 monthly fee for up to 300 customer accounts, although the number of users will be unlimited under the fee schedule.