Village Hall set to become ADA compliant

MILLERTON — The Village Board utilized the first part of its meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, to discuss the next steps in updating Village Hall and making it Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant.

For its Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application in 2018, the village agreed to seek funding in a joint application with the town of North East to update Village Hall and North East Town Hall to make them both ADA compliant.

At their recent meeting on Monday, village trustees included Ray Jurkowski, an engineer from the firm, CPL: Architecture-Engineering-Planning, in their ongoing discussion about the Village Hall updates. Jurkowski explained that the majority of funding from the CDBG grant “has to do with improvements at the Village Hall to improve ADA accessibility”, including installing new doorways that will accommodate federal requirements for handicapped accessibility; creating new bathrooms; and improving the access counter for the village clerk to fit the required accessible height. Other updates include creating a new office for the village treasurer; installing a kitchenette in Village Hall to replace the older kitchen; creating a doorway between the Nutrition Center and the Village Hall; and structural repair of the first floor of Village Hall.

Jurkowski said Dutchess County has indicated that the village can request an extension to complete the work at Village Hall within the 2020 calendar year. When Mayor Debbie Middlebrook asked if they needed an updated budget, Jurkowski replied that he would like to get all updates submitted as soon as possible.

During the course of construction, Jurkowski said the first item of business would be to create an entrance on the right of the building’s meeting room next to the main entrance, cutting a hole and creating a doorway space between Village Hall and the Nutrition Center.

“I think we’ll be seeing you a lot in the next few weeks,” Middlebrook said to Jurkowski, “so we can get this going and stay on target.”

The board unanimously accepted the floor plan to make the building ADA-compliant.

With regard to the proposed village sidewalk improvements, Jurkowski said the village must go back to the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) to get a new permit. He said the county would normally like the work to be completed by next fall, though village trustees expressed an interest in getting the work done by next spring.

“I think that would be very good for the village as well to show they’re not sitting on projects,” Jurkowski said.