Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

This week, which culminates in Valentine's Day and the beginning of Presidents Day weekend, is filled with meetings of importance. Here is what's happening.

• On Monday, February 10, the informal meeting of the Common Council takes place at 6:00 p.m. In addition to the usual reports from department heads and the introduction of resolutions, the meeting will include the presentation of the ad hoc Truck Route Committee's final report and recommendations. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

• On Tuesday, February 11, the Planning Board meets at 6:30 p.m. The agenda for the meeting has not yet been published, but since the previous meeting, members of the Planning Board made a site visit to the Colarusso dock, so it's reasonable to expect the conditional use permit for the dock will be one of the items on the agenda. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.

• On Wednesday, February 12, the Housing Trust Fund Board meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• Also on Wednesday, February 12, the second community gathering to learn about and discuss the Citizens' Initiative for Charter Change takes place at Saint Florian, 342 Warren Street. The event takes place upstairs and is open to all interested Hudson residents. Light refreshments will be served.

• On Friday, February 14, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will include a public hearing on the proposal to construct a two-car garage with an apartment above on Partition Street behind 123 Union Street which would be a replica in miniature of the original house. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.

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Sidewalk News

Right now, the principal concern about sidewalks is getting the snow removed from them. A lingering concern about sidewalks for many property owners, however, is how the City's new Sidewalk Improvement District legislation will impact them financially.

The Public Works Board, the group tasked with overseeing the implementation of the law, plans to put information about the Sidewalk Improvement District in the water bills that will go out in April. In the meantime, here's a preview. An info sheet can now be found here on the City of Hudson website. (That info sheet is reproduced below. Click on the image to enlarge.) 

It appears the annual fee for most homeowners will be $100, but the City will not begin charging that fee until 2026. Volunteer firefighters and veterans will be exempt from the fee.

At last week's meeting of the Public Works Board, some decisions were made about the process involved in getting credit for sidewalk repair or replacement done in the past ten years. To get credit for past work, a property owner must submit the following evidence of work done:

• The contractor's invoice
• A receipt or other proof of payment
• Photographic evidence of the repaired or replaced sidewalk
• The date work was completed

This evidence can be submitted electronically to sidewalks@cityofhudson.org or in person to the Department of Public Works at City Hall. It might be wise, however, to wait until after the Public Works Board officially disseminates this information in the water bills in April to be certain that systems are in place to receive the evidence of past work.

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Of Interest

In Chronogram today, Melissa Esposito reviews Taiga, the new restaurant currently occupying 119 Warren Street, where p.m. Wine Bar, The Shaker, and Home|Made have gone before: "The Sophisticated Wild Cuisine of Taiga in Hudson."

News of the Hudson Farmers' Market

Minutes ago, the Hudson Farmers' Market shared this good news: The Hudson Farmers' Market is now officially a year-round market! The announcement continued:

We had our annual meeting with the Vendor Collective, and everyone seems to be in agreement that this one-time experiment worked. . . . So, going forward, we'll be in operation for the entire year except the Saturday after Christmas.

And, if you didn't know, we are an entirely vendor-run market. Each Vendor Collective member (we have 30 of them!) has equal voting power and say in the direction of our market.

So when we get the Collective together for our yearly meeting, we talk through a number of things:

• economics and feedback of the previous year
• new products from our Vendor Collective members
• initiatives, advertising, and community events for the current year
• new vendors we're welcoming into the Collective
• guest vendors we're giving spaces to

Why is it important to share this with you? Each farmers' market is unique in its governing structure--we have a "to each their own" attitude. This is what works for us and makes sense for us. We are truly a ground-up effort, not a top-down model. . . . We are a farmers' market for farmers.

Hudson and ADUs

Last year, RUPCO offered a grant program called "Columbia County Plus One ADU." It provided grants of up to $125,000 to help low to moderate income homeowners in Columbia County construct or rehab accessory dwelling units (ADUs). 

There were income caps for those applying for the grants and the requirement that ADUs be permitted by right in local zoning laws. The information provided here about the grant program suggests these possible uses for an ADU.

• Enable family members (including family caregivers) to reside on the same property while having their own living spaces.
• Provide housing for a hired caregiver.
• Provide rental income to homeowners.
• Help older residents remain independent and "age in place."
• Provide an adaptable form of housing; ADUs provide flexible solutions for changing needs.

The application deadline for this program was December 13, 2024, but at its meeting last Wednesday, the Common Council Legal Committee took up the issue of ADUs in Hudson, discussing what zoning changes would be needed to facilitate their construction in Hudson and what restrictions should be placed on their use.

It seems to me, as someone who has observed the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals for decades, that all that is needed to make it easier to create an ADU is to reduce the requirements for rear and side setbacks and increase the permitted lot coverage. RUPCO's examples of ADUs show a detached structure beside the existing structure, but Hudson's zoning law should probably require that detached ADUs be located at the back of a property, behind the existing structure.

The question was raised at the Legal Committee meeting if Hudson should prohibit using an ADU as a short-term rental (STR). It should be noted that the RUPCO grant program made no restrictions on how the ADU could be rented but only suggested that rental income—whether it was long term or short term—could help the property owner meet the ever increasing burden of homeownership—mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance.  

Councilmember Vicky Daskaloudi (Fifth Ward) expressed one concern about ADUs: "We can't afford to have people erecting ugly things around the city." For much of the city, those areas that are locally designated historic districts, review by the Historic Preservation Commission might prevent the construction of "ugly things."

For the rest of the city, requiring that ADUs be located at the back of the property, behind the principal structure, would have to be sufficient.

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Housing Supply and Demand

Yesterday, at the meeting of the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA), Adam Bosch of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress presented the findings of a study conducted by Pattern for Progress and commissioned by Columbia Economic Development Corporation (CEDC): "Housing in the City of Hudson: Supply-and-Demand Snapshot." The study was designed to answer the following questions:

• What does "affordable" mean when relating to housing for the Hudson community?
• What kind of housing is required to sustain the city's workforce?
• Will the housing units that are currently in the development pipeline meet the needs of people in Hudson?
• What gaps still exist?

According to the study's Executive Summary, the data provides these answers to the questions:

• More working residents are struggling to pay rent now than a decade ago. The number of households paying more than half of their income on housing tripled from 2011 to 2021.
• The fastest growing industries within the City of Hudson have the lowest paying jobs. People who work in these Hudson jobs cannot statistically afford Hudson housing.
• The greatest demand for housing is for residents earning less than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). This demand is not due to an influx of low-income residents. It is caused directly and primarily by an influx of higher earning residents that pushes the overall AMI higher.
• Combined with a lack of regulatory frameworks and severe housing underproduction, this significant influx of higher earning residents led to dramatic increases in housing costs between 2013 and 2023. This trend is commonly known as gentrification.
• There are fewer duplexes, triplexes, and quadraplexes now than there were a decade ago. It is likely that many of these small-scale multifamily structures in Hudson were converted to single-family between 2013 and 2023. Some might also have been lost to dilapidation.
• Fewer housing units are on the market for full-time occupancy. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of households in Hudson dropped by more than 200 despite a new increase of more than 30 housing units.
• Housing supply in the pipeline includes 239 units that would be affordable to households making 50 percent AMI or less. These units would help many cost-burdened renters to find an apartment that is affordable for their household budget. However, additional units within this price range will still be needed to support working tenants in retail, entertainment, accommodations, and food services: the fastest growing industries within the City of Hudson.

The study doesn't identify where the 239 units affordable to households with incomes of less than 50 percent of the AMI would be located, but they must all be in the Hudson Housing Authority's proposed redevelopment. Unless things have changed, the two Kearney projects--Mill Street Lofts and State Street Lofts--are both meant for households with incomes between 80 and 130 percent of the AMI. The income restrictions are the same for the two Galvan buildings--76 North Seventh Street and for 20 of the 75 units in the building proposed for 75 North Seventh Street. 

The visuals for Bosch's presentation to the IDA can be found here.

CLC Weighs In on Shepherd's Run

People in Hudson are worried about the solar installation proposed for Craryville primarily because of concerns about the City of Hudson's water supply. The site is in the Taghkanic Creek Watershed, the source of Hudson's drinking water. In October 2024, the Common Council passed a resolution asking that the Hecate application be deemed incomplete "unless and until Hecate can provide evidence that the construction of Shepherd's Run and, once constructed, the presence of Shepherd's Run will not negatively impact the Taghkanic Creek Watershed or the water quality in the City of Hudson."

Last night, Troy Weldy, executive director of the Columbia Land Conservancy, appeared at the Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) to address concerns about the proposed solar project and water quality. He noted that the Common Council resolution references the Columbia Land Conservancy (CLC), yet before the resolution was passed no one from the Council or the CAC contacted the CLC for guidance or an opinion. He said that maintaining water quality was a core mission of the CLC.

Weldy told that CAC that the Columbia Land Conservancy has looked closely at the possible impact of the solar project on water quality and has no concerns. He explained that currently monoculture, nonorganic corn is being grown on two-thirds of the site, which gets sprayed with liquid manure every spring and fall and is treated with pesticides and herbicides. He noted that on the opposite side of the road, there are cows actually standing in the stream. Weldy said he welcomed the debate, as regards water quality, between what's happening there now versus what would happen were the solar project to be built on the property. He said with solar projects there were often concerns about lead and cadmium but reported that the solar panels proposed for this project do not contain those elements.

Weldy acknowledged there were reasons to oppose the project and said the big one for him was loss of agricultural land. He said he has been pushing to change the project so that active agriculture is not lost. This would require the solar panels to be higher off the ground than is typical.

Photo: Joe DelNero | National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Weldy's entire presentation to the CAC can be heard here, beginning at 36:08.

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Another Try for the Tree Ordinance

In December 2023, the Conservation Advisory Council submitted a draft tree ordinance to the Common Council Legal Committee. That effort went nowhere. Since then, it seems the member of the CAC tasked with the tree ordinance initiative has been working at "dumbing down" the ordinance to make it more palatable to the Common Council. At last night's CAC meeting, it was decided that Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward), who chairs the Legal Committee, would be invited to the next CAC meeting, which takes place on March 4, to discuss the tree ordinance. 

While the CAC continues to agonize and dither, Hudson continues to lose trees. Yesterday, a beautiful, old, healthy cedar was cut down in front of 339 Union Street.

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Ear to the Ground

At its January meeting, the Common Council tabled for more investigation and discussion a budget amendment to pay $10,801 to the Galvan Foundation for four years of the senior center's share of the utilities at the Galvan Armory. The story was reported last week in the Register-Star: "Hudson to pay back $10k in utility expenses for senior center." In the article, Dominic Merante, councilmember for the Fifth Ward, expressed concern about lack of oversight at the senior center, noting that Nea McKinney, Commissioner of Senior Services, did not regularly report to the Common Council. Mayor Kamal Johnson explained that the utilities had not been paid since 2021 because the invoices had been sent to the personal email address of a former senior center employee. The identity of that employee was not revealed. He defended McKinney's failure to report to the Common Council by saying that commissioner was a volunteer position and McKinney had a full-time job.

Yesterday, McKinney resigned her position as Commissioner of Senior Services, maintaining that she was unaware when she accepted the position that it involved anything more than programming and publicity.    

The powers and duties of the Commissioner of Senior Services are defined in § C27A of the City Charter. Commissioners are appointed by the mayor and receive an annual stipend of $1,000.

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Another Public Meeting about Charter Change

The Citizens' Initiative for Charter Change will hold a second community gathering on Wednesday, February 12, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will take place at Saint Florian, 342 Warren Street.

Those who missed the previous meeting and those who have more questions or comments are encouraged to attend. The petition will be available for signing that evening. Anyone who wishes to sign the petition but cannot make the meeting on February 12 can request "home delivery" at hudsoncharterchange.com, and a volunteer will contact you.

How It Was Meant to Look

Today, Mikey Williams posted this historic picture on the Facebook page "Hudson NY Historical Society." It shows 617-619 Warren Street as it was originally intended to be, back when it was a F. W. Woolworth's.

Compare its original symmetrical design, with two entrances, to the building we have today.

Fortunately, the Art Deco wall above the ground floor survived the alterations made to the storefront.

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The City's Final DRI Project

In the spring, it is expected that Hudson Connects, the City's biggest, most expensive DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) project will be completed. 

Attention is now turned to the final DRI project, the one that has been neglected thus far because no one thought enough money had been allocated to accomplish it: Repurpose Historic Fishing Village as a City Park. 

In 2024, Starr Whitehouse, the landscape architecture firm tasked with the design of the new park, made two presentations to the Common Council about what's being proposed for the area known alternatively as the Furgary Boat Club, Shantytown, and the Shacks. (Starr Whitehouse is the same firm that designed the new entrance to Promenade Hill and is working on the restoration of Seventh Street Park.) 

Today, the "Furgary-Shantytown Park Vision Plan" was made available on the City of Hudson website. Click here to access the document.

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Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

Here we are in the second month of 2025. Elon Musk has access to the Treasury Department's payment system, and the country is in a trade war with Canada. Meanwhile, here is what's happening in Hudson.

• On Tuesday, February 4, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
• On Wednesday, February 5, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 9:30 a.m. No agenda for the meeting is available, but two possible topics of discussion are the Galvan building proposed for 75 North Seventh Street and the adaptive reuse of the Crescent Garage at Warren and Eighth streets. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at 1 City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.  

• If you're free in the middle of the day on Wednesday, February 5--2.5.25--and can get to Albany, you can join the march at our state capitol. More information about the march can be found here.

• At 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5, the Common Council Legal Committee has a meeting. At the last meeting of the Council, it was decided that, rather than vote to enact the proposed law regarding harassment of City officers and employees, it would be tabled. The law is likely to be a topic of discussion at the Legal Committee meeting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 
• On Thursday, February 6, at 4:00 p.m., Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a public hearing on the law raising the lodging tax in Hudson from 4 percent to 5 percent. The hearing takes place in person only at City Hall.
• Also on Thursday, February 6, the Columbia County Housing Task Force meets at 4:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at 1 City Centre, Suite 301, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
• At 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, the Public Works Board holds its monthly meeting. At its last meeting, the board discussed how property owners will get credit for repair or replacement work already done on their sidewalks. No decisions were made, so it is expected the discussion will continue at this meeting. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. 

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Who You Gonna Trust?

Yesterday, Punxsutawney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter. Meanwhile, in Michigan, Woody the Woodchuck made the opposite prediction: "Bye-bye, winter blues. Michigan's official groundhog predicts an early spring."

Photo: Santino Mattioli | MLive 

Unlike Punxsutawney Phil, who had to be plucked from his burrow by his handler, Woody emerged from her den voluntarily. Woody, who has been forecasting the weather on Groundhog Day since 1999, has an accuracy rate of 65 percent. By comparison, in the past ten years, Phil has been right only 30 percent of the time. 

I'm goin' with Woody.

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Whatever Can Go Wrong . . .

It's 5 degrees out. About an hour ago, Punxsutawney Phil, reluctant to leave his burrow but doing so anyway, saw his shadow, thus dashing our hope for an early spring.

That's the least of the bad news we've heard so far this year. And we're only on the thirty-third day.