Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

As we approach Halloween, All Saints' Day, and Election Day, the week ahead is short on meetings. All of them are concentrated in the first two days.

• Today, Monday, October 28, at 5:00 p.m., the Zoning Board of Appeals is holding a public hearing on an application for a height restriction variance needed to install solar panels on an accessory building in the 300 block of Rope Alley. The ZBA scheduled the special meeting to accommodate the applicant, who needs to have the solar panels installed by the end of the year in order to qualify for a solar tax credit. The public hearing takes place in City Hall.
• Also on Monday, October 28, 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, October 29, the board of the Hudson Development Corporation meets at noon at 1 North Front Street. HDC is scheduled to close on its purchase of the CSX parcel on October 30, so that might be a topic of discussion. Also, HDC's efforts to bolster its depleted coffers by renting space in the Kaz warehouse for winter boat storage may also be discussed. They may talk about recruiting new board members to replace the two who resigned recently: Mark Morgan-Perez and Walter Chatham. It is always possible that there will be some discussion of how to move forward on the development of the Kaz site.

• Also on Tuesday, October 29, the Common Council holds a special meeting at 6:00 p.m. at City Hall to discuss and consider the proposed RAD conversion and general renovation of Bliss Towers by the Hudson Housing Authority. 

Also to be considered at the special meeting is a resolution in support of applying for a New York State Anti-Displacement Learning Network grant. The deadline for submitting applications is October 31.

In the guidelines for the grant application, the purpose of the grant is described in the following way: "Resident displacement is a significant contributor to destabilizing communities. Displacement occurs in both strong and weak housing markets and can be caused by a variety of triggers, ranging from gentrification to limited supply of quality rental housing to tax foreclosures, and can be exacerbated by local code enforcement and housing policies. Displacement disproportionately harms low-income communities, under-resourced, marginalized, and communities of color, but its impacts reverberate across communities, causing lasting impacts on poverty and economic mobility and overall community well-being. Additionally, when low-income people of color are displaced from communities, research indicate[s] that patterns of re-segregation emerge, perpetuating racial and economic inequity."

Up to ten municipalities or counties in New York State will be chosen to participate in the three phase program: (1) Municipal teams will learn about various strategies to address displacement through webinars and peer-to-peer discussions: (2) Each municipal team will receive twenty hours of technical assistance to select an anti-displacement strategy and develop a plan to implement the chosen strategy. During this phase, each team may submit a funding request of up to $1 million to implement the chosen strategy. (3) Municipal teams that have been awarded implementation funding will execute their chosen strategies.

The New York State Anti-Displacement Learning Network is a collaboration between the New York State Office of the Attorney General and Enterprise, a national not-for-profit whose mission is "to create opportunity for low- and moderate-income people through affordable housing in diverse, thriving communities." Click on the following links to learn more about Enterprise and the New York State Anti-Displacement Learning Network. 

And that's it for the week as far as the schedule of meetings goes.
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