Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Meetings of Interest This Week

Today, Tuesday, September 6, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. The principal item on the agenda for the meeting is developing a comprehensive strategy for planting and maintaining street trees. 
On Thursday, September 8, the Planning Board meets at 6:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. Although the agendas for Planning Board meetings haven't been published in advance since May 2015, when Don Tillson stepped down as chair, there is a very good chance that Colarusso's proposed haul road, from Newman Road to the Hudson waterfront, will be a topic of discussion. At the August meeting, it was revealed that, although Planning Board chair Tom DePietro initially suggested that the Greenport Planning Board should be the lead agency for the SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) process, the two planning boards were now vying for the status of lead agency, since Greenport was unwilling to accept the status of "co-lead agency" with Hudson. It was also clarified by Pat Prendergast, the engineer employed by Colarusso for this project, that, contrary to an assertion made by Carmine Pierro, member and former chair of the Planning Board, the proposed haul road had never received previous approval from the Hudson Planning Board.
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4 comments:

  1. unheimlichSeptember 6, 2016 at 11:51 AM

    Good grief, does local government actually require the project sponsor to confirm that its plan was not previously approved? Shouldn't the City be instructing the private sponsor?

    The lack of an institutional memory in Hudson makes us sitting ducks to special interests.

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  2. Steve DunnSeptember 7, 2016 at 12:40 PM

    If Greenport wants to be the lead agency, and Hudson does not want Greenport to take the lead, how is this disagreement resolved?

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    Replies
    1. Carole OsterinkSeptember 7, 2016 at 1:00 PM

      The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) decides or takes the role of lead agency itself.

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    2. unheimlichSeptember 7, 2016 at 1:44 PM

      NY State explains the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in two convenient, online formats.

      The second address below is the entire SEQR Handbook in a single, searchable PDF. It's the best format to begin any inquiry, and is updated regularly (despite the misleading "2010 Edition").

      Both formats have final sections on case law, which are invaluable. What's not in the Handbook can usually be answered by a SEQR Analyst at the NYSDEC.

      http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/47636.html

      http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/seqrhandbook.pdf

      Delete