The Town Board held a special workshop on the town’s financial future on Thursday, April 3, at its aging highway garage — a tangible visual aid for one of the night’s topics. Key issuesAs town Supervisor John Merwin told those at the lightly attended meeting, “this is a workshop on the major financial issues on our plate for the next few years.”What followed was a PowerPoint presentation on the critical issue of ambulance coverage for the town come Jan. 1, 2015 — which is when the North East Fire District says its Emergency Medical Service (EMS) will no longer be able to provide daytime coverage due to a lack of volunteers.The other issue addressed at the meeting was the highway garage, built in the 1920s and clearly on its last legs. The board spoke of the need for the town to relocate, rebuild and revive its highway facilities.EMS needs and numbersMerwin began his presentation with the ambulance situation. The prospect of no ambulance squad was something he said the board was “not even willing to consider.” That’s why it has held meetings previously with fire district personnel and volunteers to brainstorm solutions. The inevitable, it seems, is to hire a commercial provider for the daytime shift.According to the town supervisor, “the ball park costs for this coverage have been estimated by Dutchess County Emergency Response officials to be somewhere between $200,000 to $400,000 a year for 12-hour-a-day coverage.”The tax implications of that are as follows:Inside the village, for a home valued at $150,000, $176.73 currently goes toward emergency services. Outside the village that charge rises to $452.07 for a home of the same value.If the town winds up paying $200,000 for EMS coverage, inside the village a home valued at $150,000 would end up paying $231.99 for emergency services. That’s $55.26 more than what it now pays. Outside the village a home valued at $150,000 would be charged $507.23 for EMS, $55.16 more than it currently does.If EMS commercial coverage costs the town $400,000, a $150,000 home inside the village would pay $287.15 for coverage, an increase of $110.42 from its current charge. A home of the same value outside the village would pay $562.50 for EMS coverage, which is $110.43 more than the current fee.“When we look at the $400,000 figure, if it was that high, hopefully it’s not going to be anything near that,” said Merwin. Highway garageThe conversation then segued into the state of the highway garage, located on South Center Street right off the Webatuck Creek. As the supervisor said, years ago there were “two things placed far away and near the water — highway garages and landfills.”That doesn’t happen today, and for good reason. Environmental concerns plague the garage site, not the least of which is the fact that the salt and sand piles are located only feet from the creek. Those materials seep into the water causing harm to the creek and its inhabitants.Additionally, there is no oil/water separator at the garage. The floor drains have been sealed as directed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Employees must work in mud and water when doing repair work. The DEC does not permit water to be pumped outside, yet there are no adequate facilities to wash highway equipment inside.As far as space constraints, three large pieces of equipment and six attachments are currently stored outside. Plows need to be removed when trucks go inside the garage. There is also insufficient room to perform proper equipment maintenance, according to Merwin, who added outside storage of equipment takes its toll on the machinery as well, sometimes leading to early replacement of equipment that could cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.The supervisor also reported that the garage does not have a proper ventilation system. He said the windows are in poor condition and do not open, and that the overhead insulation is saturated with diesel soot.As far as structural issues, aside from being in overall poor condition, the garage roof leaks during heavy rains. The electric service to the building is inadequate and must be updated. There is a lack of shower facilities and eye-wash stations for emergencies. There is inadequate sand and salt storage; what’s there does not meet with DEC standards and employees reportedly have to “climb through snow and ice to remove the tarp from the sand and salt pile.” Also, the fuel storage is not sufficient, as well as being too close to the trout stream.Future facilities?The town wants to buy a new piece of property (the existing garage sits on a too-small one-acre site) and build anew. According to town engineer Ray Jurkowski of Morris Associates, the estimated construction costs of a new garage (including engineering, inspections and contract administration) amount to $1,895,969. That does not include the purchase of the property itself, which Jurkowski said would likely be in the area of $300,000, bringing the total project cost to roughly $2.2 million.What could make such a large project feasible for the town is that one of its larger debts is nearly paid off. The landfill remediation project bond has $195,000 left to be paid; $95,000 is due in October 2014, with another $95,000 due in October 2015. Once that’s paid the town will be free and clear of that financial obligation. It could then take on the financial commitment of a new highway facility more comfortably, according to the Town Board.“We know we’ve got the EMS issue, but as we said, the issue of the highway garage is not going to get any easier with construction costs and highway costs,” said Merwin. “Now is the time to get it done, but we want to know what people think about the possibility of doing something.”“I don’t think you’ll meet with a whole lot of problems with the public,” said former Millerton Mayor John Scutieri from the audience. “We’ve been talking about it for 20 years.”Problem solvingMillerton Mayor Marty Markonic asked about the Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), and whether “anybody has approached the larger businesses to ask if their employees would like to join?”Merwin replied he had, but that “the interest wasn’t there.” The supervisor added, “You’re looking at a group that is just plain worn out.”It takes 260 hours worth of training to become an EMT, and another 60 hours of training every year to maintain that certification.“What about the village and town incentivizing their employees [to volunteer]?” asked Markonic.The issue of how difficult it is for volunteers to get out of work during the day was raised, as employers have no obligation to release them from their duties. Additionally, those who would be willing to release their employees can’t always do so due to circumstance; workers also might be unable to reach an emergency in time due to how far away they work. EMTs who work for the town’s Highway Department were given as an example.“They’re going to be out working on other things,” said town Councilman George Kaye, adding by the time they reach an emergency it could be over and done with. “They can try to supplement and the guys go when they can,” said Merwin.Fire Commissioner George Lind said it’s improved “100 percent in the last six to eight months with fire [calls], but not EMS calls, that are made to highway employees.”“It’s about an hour round trip to answer a call, do vitals, get to the hospital, get back, and that’s assuming you don’t get another call,” said Fire Chief Keith Roger.“Marty, your point is good,” said Merwin, “but it’s a lot more difficult and there’s a lot of experience sitting over there and they’re tired out … But this board is committed to Jan. 1 that something will be in place.”“We should be working on some kind of incentive for our emergency services — EMTS and firefighters alike — some kind of tax break on their homes. It’s just as important,” said Scutieri.Everyone at the meeting seemed to agree.And, actionMerwin said the board was going to continue to address the issue, but that at the end of the day it must take action.“We can talk about this ‘til the cows come home,” he said, “but we’ve got to do something.”NASCAR Dave MacMillan, the only civilian present other than Scutieri, encouraged the board to move forward.“Why don’t you guys just come up with something for the taxpayers?” he asked. “Tell them you have to do this to be responsible. Make it a two-tier thing, don’t push the highway garage off.”MacMillan also noted the lack of public participation and said while people don’t make an effort to attend such meetings, that never seems to keep them from complaining.“I don’t understand why taxpayers don’t come out and get involved,” he said. “They’ll certainly complain when taxes go up because you have to build a new garage. This is the first step right here … take it to the public. If … you want my vote, let’s do both, and let’s do it right.”
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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