Selling Off the Assets

A special meeting of the Common Council was held last night to discuss a proposal by the three-member Board of Estimate and Apportionment (made up of the mayor, the city treasurer, and the Common Council president) to close a gap in the 2013 city budget by selling two city-owned properties: the former Dunn warehouse building across Water Street from Henry Hudson Riverfront Park and the vacant lot at Fourth and State streets, where the Fourth Street School once stood. The anticipated revenue from the sale of both properties to be written into the budget is $300,000, but Council president Don Moore said he expected the properties would sell for more than that. (The same amount--$300,000--was anticipated revenue in the 2011 budget for the sale of the Dunn warehouse alone, but the sale never happened.)

Alderman David Marston (First Ward) was first to comment on the proposal. He pointed out that the Dunn warehouse building has "incalculable value to the waterfront" because it was "one of the last remaining historic structures on the waterfront." He expressed the opinion that pressure to sell the building to close a budget gap might result in an unwise sale of the building--a sale that would not bring the greatest benefit to the city in the long term.

Responding to Marston's concern, Moore said that "the purchaser for the Dunn's property should [be one who would] improve the chances of development for the rest of the three acres [owned by the City of Hudson]." He also suggested that the Dunn warehouse be sold with the stipulation that, if the property is not developed within a defined period of time, the City could refund the purchase price and take back ownership of the building. To which Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward) commented, "We can't be putting all kinds of stipulations on the property." 

Supervisor Ellen Thurston (Third Ward) warned that "building the sale of property into the budget is a very dangerous thing." Obviously recalling the bitter struggle over the sale of Washington Hose in 2008, Thurston went on to say, "You may feel compelled to sell it to someone you shouldn't sell it to. If a buyer comes along, the City has a tendency to grab at it, even if the buyer is inappropriate." 

Alderman Wanda Pertilla (Second Ward) said she shared Thurston's concerns.

Later in the meeting, Moore responded to Thurston by saying that she seemed to be making the assumption that "we can't do it right." He objected to what he called "the notion that we are throwing things away and won't be diligent in making sure that the public interest is defended." 

At one point, Register-Star reporter Tom Casey asked if the City already had buyers for the properties. Interestingly, instead of simply saying no, Moore said he could not reveal any information about potential buyers.

In another exchange worthy of note, Supervisor Sarah Sterling (First Ward), questioned the strategy of balancing the budget by selling off assets. "What will we sell next year?" she asked. She went on to ask why the BEA was not considering selling the Hoysradt firehouse. Hallenbeck objected to Sterling's suggestion that the Hoysradt firehouse might be sold, declaring that it "goes against the grain of historic preservation." Hallenbeck went on to say, "If we're not willing to protect the one remaining firehouse, all other historic preservation efforts go by the wayside."

Toward the end of the discussion, Linda Mussmann mentioned that Eric Galloway had in the past been a potential buyer for both properties in question. His interest in the Dunn warehouse has been well documented by Gossips. His interest, if any, in the vacant lot at Fourth and State streets seems not to have been public knowledge. 

Gossips Note: Yikes! Galloway's interest in the lot at Fourth and State streets was public knowledge, and Gossips reported on it. Thank you, Prison Alley, for jolting my memory.

At the end of the meeting, Moore asked the aldermen if they had reservations about the proposal to write $300,000 into the 2013 budget as anticipated revenue from the sale of the Dunn warehouse and the vacant lot at Fourth and State streets. None did. It should be noted, however, that aldermen Chris Wagoner (Third Ward) and Nick Haddad (First Ward) were not present at the meeting.