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MILLBROOK — The proposed town budget for 2024-25 was approved by unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees at its regular meeting on Wednesday, April 10, following public hearing.
No comments on the budget were offered by residents at the hearing, although a letter was read into the record urging continued attention to wages paid to town employees.
The budget has been the subject of numerous meetings. As approved, expenditures will total $2,238,291, an increase of $118,813 over the current year. For the coming year, the water and sewer budgets are separated from the overall budget as they rely upon their own revenues to balance expenditures.
Village Mayor Tom Collopy had distributed a newsletter summarizing and clarifying the budget for residents in advance of the hearing. The budget and the newsletter are posted on the town website.
The budget will require a 2% increase in the tax levy ($23,901) to total $1.1 million, just under the tax cap. Millbrook Village received $1.1 million from property owners in the form of taxes paid, and the remaining $1.1 million comes from other sources.
Residents can expect a 1.4% increase in the current mill rate of $5.03 to create a new mill rate of $5.10 for each $1,000 of assessed property value.
Salaries will see a general increase of 3%, excepting any employees who received an increase during the past year.
Two major street resurfacing projects are anticipated during the summer. Washington Avenue will be repaved and Maple Avenue will receive a treatment of oil and stone.
Following the budget approval vote, the Village Board voted in favor of increasing the sewer use rate from $9 to $9.90 per 1,000 gallons. The rate increase anticipated critically-needed repairs to the processing systems in upcoming years.
The next regular meeting of the Village Board is scheduled for Wednesday, May 8, at the firehouse, beginning at 6 p.m.
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Seniors’ next step?
Apr 17, 2024
Leila Hawken
Looking toward future possibilities, Webutuck High School students took advantage of an opportunity to speak with admissions representatives from 45 colleges, universities and the military, at a College Fair event held at the school on Tuesday, April 9. Above, students talk to University of Connecticut representatives.
NorthEast-Millerton Library houses copies of The Millerton News and its predecessors only on microfilm and in bound volumes.
Rhiannon Leo-Jameson
MILLERTON — As the town gets set to honor its 150th anniversary, the NorthEast-Millerton Library is fusing an old project with a state-of-the art idea to be certain its history as chronicled by The Millerton News and its predecessors will be available for years to come.
A vehicle for the project is the annual Millerton Community Calendar, a town mainstay since the Lion’s Club began the tradition 65 years ago. It is now being readied for publication by the Library, which inherited the program when the club disbanded locally in 2021.
Funds raised by the calendar have been used in the past primarily to cover cost of the publication, according to head librarian Rhiannon Leo-Jameson. But on Wednesday, April 10, the Library Board of Trustees approved a measure that will allow any funds beyond those needed for that purpose to be applied to a new program to digitize the Library’s collection of copies of The Millerton News and its predecessors which are now available at the library only on microfilm and in bound volumes.
While Leo-Jameson says final plans for the project are not yet in place, it is likely that the process will allow those papers to be accessed online.
Leo-Jameson, in consultation with Ed Downey, president of the North East Historical Society, said the project will be a joint undertaking with that group which has been sponsoring digitization efforts for a number of years, partly through the Dine Out for History sessions at local restaurants which was revived this year after having been shut down due to COVID 19.
This year’s version of the calendar, in addition to noting birthdays and anniversaries of local residents and families, will honor of the town’s 150th year by inviting merchants and others to mark the founding and other notable dates of local businesses and organizations.
The cost of printing and distributing the black and white calendar is supported with payment of $6 for the calendar and $.75 each for listing. Further funding comes from small ads for local business which cost $55.
To donate, purchase ads, or place significant dates in the calendar call 518-789-3340 or visit the Library at 75 Main St. Submissions are due by July 31. Distribution, which will take place at the library, is set for October.
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MILLERTON — The Millerton Village board voted unanimously to adopt the proposed 2024-2025 budget of $780,152 on Monday, April 15, at a regular session.
The budget increased by $60,420, or 8.4%, over last year. This was due largely to payments for the bonds bought for the project of replacing Millerton’s streetlights with LED lights, and the change of the village treasurer position from part time to full time, said Village clerk Lisa Cope.
Nevertheless, noted Trustee Dave Sherman and Village Mayor Jenn Najdek in a brief discussion, tax rates will go down, because the village’s property assessment rule went up.
The only items discussed in detail were in regards to the latest developments taking place at Eddie Collins Park: namely, the design and initial engineering for the bathhouse, and a question of night-lighting for the Little League field.
Jeanne Vanecko, Eddie Collins Park project manager, presented an agreement with LaBella Associates for the design and the initial engineering of the bathhouse, part of the second phase of the Eddie Collins Park Revitalization Project.
She noted that an estimated budget of $116,000 had been raised in its entirety by the Eddie Collins Memorial Park Revitalization Committee.
The board approved of the agreement unanimously, enabling the Committee to put a package out for bids.
The lighting of the Little League field will be donated by a group of private citizens. It is a turn-key gift, noted Vanecko, meaning that said citizens will handle the installation of the lights from start to finish, then donate them to the Village.
The labor will be donated by Berlinghoff Electric of Pine Plains.
According to the current plan, the lights will be LED lights and very inexpensive to run — more or less $200 per season, Vanecko said.
In response to questions from the board, she noted that the lights would not be on not every night, but only when in use. The lights will create less ambient light than traditional models, she said, “as close to dark sky as you can get,” though the field itself will reflect the light upwards, so “100% dark sky isn’t possible.”
Stephen Waite, chairman of the Eddie Collins Memorial Park Revitalization Committee, noted that the lights could easily be put on timers.
“It’s a nice piece to add to the park because it adds versatility,” he said.
The motion to approve the lighting plan passed unanimously.
At about 6:30 p.m., Najdek said, “I’m 99% sure we’ve concluded our business for the month. Motion to cancel our scheduled meeting on the 22nd?”
The motion was proposed, seconded and passed unanimously.
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