Under the direction of Amenia Town Clerk Dawn Marie Klingner, Town of Amenia Records Management Officer, the Town is in the process of preparing an application to the New York State Archives for a Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF) Grant for digital conversion. This grant would fund the conservation and imaging of the Town’s historic minute books as part of an on-going project to improve public access. These books chronicle the operation of the Amenia precinct and early Town government between 1762 and the late 1820’s. They have never been microfilmed or imaged before, and are thus the sole surviving form of the information contained within them.
The Amenia Historic Minute Books consist of three volumes: the Amenia Precinct Minute Book of 1762, the Amenia Poor Book of 1768, and the Amenia Poor Book of 1817. The precinct minute book falls under Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1, GENERAL 1 [1] “Official minutes and hearing proceedings of governing body or board, commission, or committee thereof including all records accepted as part of minutes,” retention: permanent. The two poor books fall under Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1, Social Services/Welfare/Poor Relief 1 [577] “Overseers of the poor records, including accounts, reports, claims, indentures and records of relief granted,” retention: permanent.
