Saturday, June 30, 2012
Inside the Furgary
The Furgary Boat Club welcomed visitors this afternoon, and Gossips went down to take some pictures of the shacks that Hudson city government seems bent on destroying. The Furgarians are planning another open house next weekend, and they encourage people to come and see this historic community of fishing shacks for themselves. The open house is from 1 to 4 on Saturday, July 7. In the meantime, these pictures let you preview the boat club and may inspire you to sign the online petition urging the city government to stay the demolition.
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Thanks for taking the time to visit the Furgary today and to document with so many great photos!
ReplyDeleteA really great mix of people today. To honor the rivermen forebears, some newcomers arrived beneath the trestle to the delight of the Furgarians.
ReplyDeleteBefore any municipality can undertake any action (of almost any kind), a key state law requires a "Lead Agency" be assigned to consider the potential adverse environmental impacts of that action. That law is SEQRA.
It's worth citing SEQRA's definition of "environmental" in total:
§ 617.2 (l): "Environment means the physical conditions that will be affected by a proposed action, including land, air, water, minerals, flora, fauna, noise, resources of agricultural, archeological, historic or aesthetic significance, existing patterns of population concentration, distribution or growth, existing community or neighborhood character, and human health."
One law rests on another, and the State Historical Preservation Act comes into play, especially for non-designated historic sites. SEQRA sees to this.
Both state acts, SEQRA and SHPA, aim to correct, in part, the thoughtless punishment of unprotected sites of historic value. They recommend that Lead Agencies (invariably the Common Council in this case) fully understand the consequences of any action being planned. This is usually achieved by ordering an ecological survey or a cultural resource survey. (SEQRA required that Hudson's LWRP contain an ecological survey.)
Generations of New Yorkers have crafted some pretty amazing laws on behalf of their descendants - us - and at great expense. The laws don't require lawyers, but they also don't mean a thing if people don't know how to use their republic.
The Mayor of the City of Hudson, the executive, is a reasonable enough fellow, but the above laws are primarily designed for legislators. Legislatures become the "Lead Agencies."
So demand of your city alderman a "cultural resource survey" even before a Lead Agency is declared.
And if you're from out of town, that's okay by SEQRA. If you envision any adverse "environmental" impacts (see definition) of any actions the city is planning, please communicate with any alderman or with the Common Council President. Tell them how Furgary's history effects you.
Who knows, there might already be support for this on the council. Even though state law recommends it, the Lead Agency may still need to hear many voices of concern to be able to justify ordering a cultural resource survey.
And by the way, nice pictures Gossips!