PINE PLAINS — The Town Board, the Foundation for the Pine Plains Library and Community Center, the Bank of Millbrook (which holds two-thirds of the foundation’s debt) and Salisbury Bank & Trust (which holds the remaining one-third), have been hard at work for many months — trying to problem solve the foundation’s growing debt and inability to pay for the library building. While much of the struggle has been aired in public, with the foreclosure sale date of Jan. 9 now passed, the parties involved still wanted to further explain what they’ve been grappling with regarding the matter. (To learn about the outcome of the Jan. 9 foreclosure sale, log on to www.tricornernews.com.)The numbers“It would be nice,” said George Whalen III, president of the Bank of Millbrook, of the possibility of selling the building before it foreclosed. “But right now I’m not holding my breath.”That’s because, according to Whalen, the bank well knows the foundation does not have the funds to make good on the $1.53 million owed on the building; nor does the library, which is the prime tenant of the building, which opened its doors to the public in June of 2009. The same goes for the Heart of Pine Plains (HoPP) community center, located on the building’s second floor, in the Sweeney Community Room.The likely potential buyer for the library building is actually the town. It’s an option that has been bandied about at Town Board meetings, library gatherings and just about on every street corner in Pine Plains. The Bank of Millbrook president said he’s approached the town about the possibility — suggesting opening a dialogue about a sale, which Whalen said could forestall foreclosure actions — but he said doing so has been for naught.“We laid it out for the town multiple times, that we could agree upon a price in order to avoid a foreclosure sale ... and that would allow them to go to their constituents with a public referendum and let the voters decide,” Whalen said, adding the offer remained open as of press time. “I don’t understand their reluctance. All I’m suggesting is, let’s talk about price and timing and details, and see if we can stall the foreclosure. If we’re miles apart then there’s no sense in delaying [the foreclosure]. It seems very straight forward and I don’t understand why the town wouldn’t call.”In fact, Whalen said, while town Supervisor Brian Coons said publicly that he would call the bank to talk things over, he never did. Coons said that’s not true, and that the town spoke with the bank on numerous occasions, though he did say he refused to speak with Whalen without an attorney, as was apparently suggested to him.“We met occasionally with them,” Coons said of the bank, adding the town also initiated a fundraising campaign with the library to help purchase the building, but not at the bank’s price. If a sale is ultimately agreed upon, it would have to go before voters in a public referendum. The annual cost to service the $1.5 million debt would be $100,000, on top of the $50,000 a year it costs to maintain the building, resulting in a $150,000, or 15 percent, budget increase. That amounts to a $150 hike in taxes per $100,000 per assessed value of property.Lines of communicationAttorney to the Town Warren Replansky confirmed that there’s been communication between the bank and the town, though he said it might not have been to the bank’s liking.“I have been in contact with bank attorneys; Brian [Coons] has had conversations with Mr. Whalen ... so I’m not sure why Mr. Whalen has been saying things like that,” Replansky said before surmising why there might be a disconnect between the town’s and the bank’s intentions. “I think they’re talking about sitting down and negotiating [a viable] price and that we haven’t done yet, but we haven’t been prepared to do that until now.”“The town has not been dragging its feet,” Replansky continued, adding the town has long since retained the services of an appraiser, as well as had the building inspected by the town engineer, who developed feasibility plans and an estimate of costs to retrofit the library into a municipal building — which the attorney said the town would be forced to do if it purchased the library building. The town also retained the services of bond counsel, to assist the town in maintaining the necessary bonding to put out a bid. “We are now probably in the position to sit down and talk with the bank about the possible purchase of the building,” Replansky said. “I don’t know why Mr. Whalen feels this decision should have been rushed into by the Town Board, but we have to act responsibly to the town and citizen as taxpayers in approaching this very difficult problem. It’s nothing we created or wanted placed in our laps.”The situationReplansky went on to encapsulate exactly what the present situation entailed.“This is a situation where the town was going to be gifted a building, free-of-charge, that was to be constructed by the foundation, which would pay off the mortgage, deed the building to the town, and that was all wonderful,” he said. “The town could then use the building as a library, or for other municipal purposes. We never anticipated that we would have to buy this building ... and this is a huge undertaking for a town of this size.”For rent?That’s why, he said, the town is hoping the bank will allow the library to remain in the building while the issue is sorted out among all interested parties. Whalen, however, said he is not willing to consider a lease.“To lease it to the town for two years is not acceptable,” he said. “We need to sell the building. To tie up an asset for two years not knowing the intentions of the town is not acceptable and not prudent.”Coons, however, said it was a save-all so payments on the principle could be kept current and “the bank would not be hurting.” Again, the complaint of little cooperation between the bank and the town was raised.Cooperation is the name of the game“We’ve gone out of our way to work with the bank,” Coons said, adding that once the town discovered the foundation was struggling the Town Board immediately sought solutions. “We definitely were trying to resolve an issue that wasn’t the town’s problem.”According to Coons, the town went so far as to make an offer on the library, close to its appraisal (which is being kept confidential), but the offer was rejected by the bank.“They always pushed have to get a certain price,” Coons said. “The town felt it was a little too much money to want to purchase the building and wanted to work with them, but we didn’t want to pay an exorbitant amount of money, so here we are, waiting to see if they’re going to evict the library.”The finality of foreclosureIf the foreclosure was not forestalled on Wednesday, Jan. 9, then Whalen said that is exactly what’s going to happen.“Yes, most likely we will serve an eviction notice quickly to the building’s tenant, however we don’t want to make a statement as to the date or how many days we would give them,” he said. “It would be an appropriate time. It wouldn’t be months, it would be reasonable, though that’s subjective.”Replansky, meanwhile, was more optimistic.“This is no simple problem, and we have not been sitting on it,” he said. “We have been working very, very hard to try to do all of our homework, and I think that’s what the taxpayers would expect. We will be reaching out to the bank and start opening the lines of negotiation and hopefully we will come to terms.”
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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