Wassaic couple donates town garden

The Amenia Town Board at its March 27 meeting approved a resolution to accept a donation for a Town Hall garden. A presentation by Wassaic residents Leo Blackman and Ken Monteiro preceded the resolution.Blackman explained that when he and Monteiro married in 2012, the 12-year residents asked their guests to contribute funds toward an Amenia garden in lieu of house gifts. The two set aside some more money and recruited friend and neighbor Marsha Kaufman to volunteer her professional garden design services. Choosing Town Hall as a setting, the team devised a plan that would require minimum long-term maintenance and excavation.“We would pay for everything,” Blackman said. “The excavation and improving the soil on the plants, and the planting. And we’d take care of maintenance for the first five years.”“So we are getting prices for all those things now but I wanted to come before the Town Board and just make sure that it was something people felt comfortable having,” he added.Blackman and Monteiro then displayed two boards containing the layout plans.“Marsha tried to chose plants that were all hearty and required very little maintenance,” Blackman said.The board for the front of Town Hall showed a wide bed of hydrangeas and other shrubs, dogwood and crab apple trees, grass, benches and seating on the paved area and climbing hydrangea on the building face.The second board indicated more shrubs, crab apple trees, climbing hydrangea and columnar evergreen plants, all for the south side of the building.Blackman said planting would require minimal concrete removal — that most work would be done “within the existing bedding of the Town Hall.”“So if people are amenable to that, we would try to get it planted this spring,” he said.“It’s lovely and it’s overwhelmingly beautiful,” town Supervisor Victoria Perotti said in response. “It’s a beautiful plan.”“We’re very thankful that you guys decided to do this,” added Councilman Stephen Perotti. “This is really truly becoming a community center for our town and this just adds to it and enhances it immensely.” Supervisor Perotti made a motion to “accept this wonderfully generous gift that includes the planting and the five-year maintenance for the Amenia Town Hall.”Seconded by Councilman Perotti, the vote came to unanimous approval (Councilwoman Gretchen Hitselberger was absent).