Thursday, August 11, 2011

Walmart on Hold


Last night at the Columbia County Board of Supervisors meeting, three resolutions having to do with the acquisition of the old Walmart building in Greenport were put on hold. The reason for the postponement, revealed in W. T. Eckert's article in today's Register-Star, is to give the supervisors time to consider a proposal made by Mayor Richard Scalera about 25 Railroad Avenue, the current location of the Department of Social Services.

The county's 20-year lease on the building expired in June, and now the county, according to Eckert's article, is having to pay $30,000 a month for DSS remain there. The rush to buy and rehab Walmart is driven by the desire to get DSS out of their current building as soon as possible. Scalera is proposing that the City of Hudson buy 25 Railroad Avenue, which it's been contemplating doing for two years now as the new location for the Hudson Police Department and City Court, and rent it to the county for half what the county is now paying. The rental agreement between the city and the county would be on a month-to-month basis, giving the county a little breathing room while the City of Hudson works with the New York State Unified Court System to plan for the relocation.

BOS Chair Roy Brown said they would be "holding off for a couple of weeks" and will then schedule a special meeting to take up the Walmart issue. Before the meeting was adjourned, Bill Hallenbeck, Third Ward supervisor and Hudson mayoral candidate, presented, on behalf of Linda Mussmann, a petition signed by 73 DSS clients who reportedly live below Third Street in Hudson, requesting at the Department of Social Services not be moved outside the City of Hudson. 

Also at last night's Board of Supervisors meeting, a resolution introduced by First Ward supervisor John Musall, "authorizing the Chairman of the Board to request assistance from our representatives in the legislature with regard to the report of the Ferry Street Bridge," passed unanimously by voice vote.
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4 comments:

  1. BarbAugust 11, 2011 at 9:16 AM

    Why would the City of Hudson want another tax exempt building? Aren,t the Hudson residents' property taxes high enough? Did the paper state the plan, as we would rent it to the County for $15,000.00 per month? 7 Willard Place is paying $1260.11/month for City and School taxes, so 15,000.00 is 12 private homes in our City and probably less if we go to the small businesses on Warren Street. Where is the fairness in this? Why don't we sell 25 RR to a private industry and take it off the long tax exempt list.

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  2. Carole OsterinkAugust 11, 2011 at 9:53 AM

    Barb--I think this is actually not a bad idea, so there may be some information missing. The City of Hudson has been under pressure from the NYS Unified Court System for years to improve the conditions at City Court. There are also the problems of there being no holding cell at police headquarters and no proper facilities for female officers. The City has been talking about solving these problems for at least a decade, probably more, without resolving them.

    Spending $1 million to buy 25 Railroad Avenue for that purpose seems to me a reasonable solution. It would put the City's first responders--police and fire--in close proximity to each other and correct all the deficiencies of our police and court facilities plus it would put some very valuable property on Warren Street (the current location of the police department) back in the private sector (and on the tax rolls) and save us from having a badly designed new municipal building (which would cost a whole lot more than $1 million) on the corner of Fourth and Columbia.

    Planning for the move--mostly working with the Unified Court System to design a retrofit that meets their requirements--will take a while, so why shouldn't the City collect $15,000 a month from the County while all that is going on?

    I sounds like a good plan to me--unless I'm missing something.

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  3. BarbAugust 11, 2011 at 10:26 AM

    OK. But do you really think the property on Warren Street is that valuable? And, even though the police and fire departments would be very close at 25 RR, the police would be many more blocks away from their most responded to area, the High Rise. I believe we do need to update the police department's facilty, I just don't believe this is the answer.

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  4. JFirstAugust 15, 2011 at 10:30 AM

    Hi Barb,
    I am afraid I am going to have to enlighten you to an issue that you seem to have some mis-information about. The High Rise is NOT the most responded to address that HPD has.

    Although the information is two years old, as I have had no cause to crunch the figures over the past two years, here are the facts as they were in 2009.

    The population of this project (270 in 132 units) represents less than 5% of the population of this City. (6782) In 2009 there were 8,803 incidents where police were called Citywide. 362 of these calls were near or at the HiRise. (Second Ward) This represents only 4.5% of the total calls for service. I do have an extensive accounting of the incidents in question and it varies from neighborhood trouble to drug reports.

    Now I apologize for not having figures for the past two years, but considering the downward trend of incidents here since 2004, I am sure that the calls for service have continued their downward trend.

    Oh and by the way, these figures were provided to me by the excellent administration of the Hudson Police Department.

    I will gladly provide you with the full report and breakdown of those calls if necessary.

    Don't mean to sound defensive,(well, maybe I do) but nothing effects the integrity of any operation greater than those who irresponsibly make statements without having the facts to back them up. Perception breeds mistrust and discontent. Come see me.

    Yours truly,

    Jeffrey K. First
    Executive Director
    Hudson Housing Authority

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