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The Dutchess County Transportation Council (DCTC) is developing a Safety Action Plan that will identify priority locations and strategies to improve transportation safety in Dutchess County. To ensure that the Safety Action Plan reflects the needs of the community, the DCTC has created an online Transportation Safety Survey and an Interactive Safety Map. These resources are available in both English and Spanish on the Plan webpage (Dutchessny.gov/SafetyActionPlan). They will be used to gather feedback from the community to help inform the Safety Action Plan.

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On December 19,  2024 when dark came to the Village of Millerton and the streetlights automatically illuminated, the light that came on was different. Instead of the eerie orange glow from the former high pressure sodium vapor lamps, this light came from LED diodes.  The project to convert all 138 light fixtures began a number of years ago and will result in lower electric bills for the Village, a higher quality of light for those in the Village and contribute to a significant drop in energy use. According to Mayor Jenn Najdek, “The Village is now paying Central Hudson about $600 per month for the streetlights instead of $2900.  That’s a savings of $27,000 for us per year.”

Volunteers Christine Bates, Laurie Kerr and Jennifer Dowley did extensive research on the viability of this project consulting government resources and several towns to find the most effective processes and vendors.  The Village of Millerton eventually contracted with Real Term Energy that finished the work in December. The new LED lights have an average lifespan of 25 years compared to  5 ½ years for the former high pressure sodium vapor ones.   Also, the quality of light from the new fixtures is significantly better – colors are bright and true.   They are also dark sky compliant because the lenses direct the light beam down where it’s needed rather than dispersing it into neighboring windows and the surrounding landscape. Controls on each fixture allow the lights to be monitored remotely for maintenance.

This project is a high impact Climate Smart action that will mean an estimated saving of 22,300 kWh of energy per year.  This is comparable to approximately 40,000 miles driven by a gas-powered car. Kathy Chow, Millerton’s Climate Smart Coordinator, stated: “This project is an important step in our community’s journey of reducing carbon emissions and building climate resiliency… beautifully.”

Millerton/North East Climate Smart Task Force
Contact:  Kathy Chow
845.233.1355

January 18, 2025

The NY SWIMS capital grant program awarded $6.385 million to the village to build a community pool, a bathhouse, community room and septic system at Eddie Collins Memorial Park.