Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

The most challenging thing in the meeting schedule this week may be knowing where the meetings will take place.

• Today, Monday, September 24, the Common Council Fire Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. and the Common Council Police Committee meets at 6:00 p.m. No agenda is available for either meeting, but both meetings are to take place at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street.
• Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 25, the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) Board holds its regular monthly meeting. Despite a petition, which now has 116 signatures, asking the board to hold its meetings in the early evening, the meeting will take place at noon at 1 North Front Street.
• At 5:30 p.m. tomorrow, the Tourism Board meets at the FASNY Museum of Firefighting, 117 Harry Howard Avenue. 
• At 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 25, the Greenport Planning Board holds its regular monthly meeting. There are two items of interest on the agenda: the proposal from East Light Partners to site a solar array on land along Route 9 and adjacent to the grounds of the Dr. Oliver Bronson House, a National Historic Landmark; and the proposal by Trinity Realty Group (TRG) to construct a new retail development at the current site of McDonald's in Greenport.

At the last meeting of the Greenport Planning Board, East Light Partners were asked to provide letters from Scenic Hudson, The Olana Partnership, and Historic Hudson, the steward of the Bronson House, "saying they have no concerns, or, if they do, what concerns they are." They were also asked "to take a very close look at the landscaping plan," to ensure it was adequate to screen the solar panels from view.

In July, Ed Stiffler, chair of the Greenport Planning Board, announced the review of the project to build a new retail center, with Aldi's as its anchor and McDonald's as its centerpiece, had been deferred because SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) had determined that the Gothic Revival house on the site was eligible for listing in the State and National Registers of Historic Places and was asking that, instead of demolishing it as planned, TRG incorporate the historic house into the design for the retail development. Given that request and the rumor that Aldi's will be moving into the building now occupied by ShopRite, it will be interesting to how TRG has amended its site plan.

• On Wednesday, September 26, the Common Council Legal Committee meets at 6:15 p.m. No agenda for the meeting is available. Since there is no indication to the contrary, we are assuming that meeting will take place at City Hall.
• On Friday, September 28, the Historic Preservation Commission meets at 10 a.m. at City Hall. This is the HPC's second meeting in September, and at its second meeting of the month, the HPC votes on certificates of appropriateness for projects reviewed at the first meeting of the month. Three projects were reviewed at the September 14 meeting: new windows at 744 Warren Street; alterations to a 2012 addition and a new fence at 446 East Allen Street; new windows and a new, repositioned fence at 353 Union Street.

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