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Main Street sidewalks to get $150,000 facelift thanks to block grant

MILLERTON — The village of Millerton was recently named one of four Dutchess County municipalities to receive funding from this year’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

Totaling $334,599, the first round of municipal project awards from the program focused on improving sidewalk accessibility throughout the county. According to a recent Dutchess County press release, the awards are a part of almost $1.5 million in funding awarded this year though the CDBG and HOME Investment Partnership programs “to improve accessibility, expand affordable housing options and address critical public service needs.” 

Additional awards will be announced over the coming weeks as well as awards to improve handicapped accessibility at local parks, affordable housing projects and other various public service projects.

Out of $334,599 in total funding, Millerton received $150,000 for a sidewalk replacement project on Main Street. Included in the project, the village intends to replace 1,000 linear feet of deteriorated sidewalks on the south side of Main Street, just east of the entrance to the Harlem Valley Rail Trail.

“I’m so excited,” said Mayor Debbie Middlebrook in a previous interview with The Millerton News. “We’ll see what we can do in two more years. I’m so thrilled we got money for sidewalks. We really needed that for a while. I’m really excited about it.”

At the beginning of the Village Board meeting on Monday, March 25, Middlebrook extended her thanks to village Trustee Alicia Sartori for her work in writing and submitting the CDBG grant.

As a member of the Village Grant Committee, Sartori said the village previously applied for a grant to repair the sidewalks on the south side of Main Street a few years ago, but did not receive funding at the time. Regarding her decision to submit another grant application for the sidewalks, she said, “Sidewalks have always been a priority in the village. It was just time to reapply for that and spice up the grant a bit and talk about all the great things going on in Millerton so we can have safe sidewalks, because it is a walking village.

“It just seemed like the perfect time to apply,” Sartori said, adding that they were pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

In addition to the village of Millerton, the village of Tivoli, the town of Amenia and the village and town of Pawling also received CDBG funding during this first round of grant awards.

Lakeville Journal

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