Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

It's a short week, leading up to Labor Day weekend and the unofficial end of summer, but an intense one. Tuesday, in particular, offers almost back-to-back meetings from noon until well after 8 p.m.

• On Monday, August 26, the Common Council Fire Committee meets at 5:30 p.m., and the Police Committee meets at 6:00 p.m. Both meetings take place at City Hall.
• On Tuesday, August 27, the board of the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) meets at noon at 1 North Front Street. No agenda is available for this meeting. Apropos nothing at all, the URL for the HDC website is hudsonfirst.com, but if you search "Hudson First," as Gossips did this evening, what appears at the top of the list is hudsonfirst.org, the website of the First Baptist Church in Hudson, North Carolina.

• Also on Tuesday, August 27, the DRI Committee meets at 2:30 p.m. at City Hall. A couple of important things may happen at this meeting. First, it may finally be revealed which of the three firms--Grain Collective, OSD, or Starr Whitehouse--has been selected for the restoration/renovation of Promenade Hill. Also, August 27 is the deadline for submitting proposals for the DRI "connectivity project," which combines the Complete Streets improvements with the improvements to Cross Street and the Second Street stairs. It is expected that the proposals will be received and the names of the firms submitting proposals will be revealed.  

• At 5:30 p.m., on Tuesday, August 27, the Tourism Board meets at 1 North Front Street. This promises to be an interesting meeting, given that the Common Council declined to pass the resolution authorizing entering into a contract with Chandlerthinks, the consultant the Tourism Board had chosen after a year's worth of meetings and research. Many people--both supporters of the Tourism Board and those who think they know a better way--have made known their intention to be present at the meeting.  
• To wind up the lineup of meetings on Tuesday, August 27, the Greenport Planning Board meets at 7:30 p.m. at Greenport Town Hall. Of interest at this meeting is the continuation of the public hearing on the proposal by Greenport Land Partners (TRG) to create a new retail development at the intersection of Fairview Avenue and Healy Boulevard, the current site of McDonald's. This project involves the demolition of the historic Farrand House, the Gothic Revival house once known as "The Pines."

• On Wednesday, August 28, the Common Council Legal Committee meets at 6:15 p.m. at City Hall. No agenda is available for the meeting, but it is likely that the committee will continue its work on legislation to regulate short-term rentals. There is also the possibility that the committee will take up the task of amending the law that created the lodging tax to redefine the mission and the powers of the Tourism Board.
• On Thursday, August 29, we can all prepare for the start of the long Labor Day weekend and the arrival of the Bklyner Bus, which is expected to roll into town at around 10:45 p.m. on Friday, August 30.   

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