Virtual Meetings in the Week Ahead

It's been four weeks since Mayor Kamal Johnson issued his first State of Emergency order which, among other things, canceled all nonessential city meetings. The only meetings considered essential are meetings of the Common Council. In the virtual town hall meeting on Friday, Council president Tom DePietro assured everyone that the Council is remaining "busy and active," albeit with limited opportunity for the public to know what the Council is doing. The week ahead--the fifth week of social isolation--offers a couple of opportunities for keeping up with what's going on.

• Today, Monday, April 13, the HDC Emergency Task Force meets in a virtual Zoom meeting at 3:00 p.m. Information for joining the meeting can be found here.
• On Tuesday, April 14, three meetings were scheduled. The cancellation of two of them--Hudson IDA (Industrial Development Agency) and HCDPA (Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency)--has been announced. The cancellation of the third--the Planning Board meeting--can be assumed, since Planning Board meetings are considered nonessential.
• On Wednesday, April 15, the DRI Committee has been canceled, and, given that it too is considered a nonessential meeting, it can be assumed that the Zoning Board of Appeals will not happen either.
• On Thursday, April 16, the Economic Development Committee will at 6:00 p.m. It is assumed that this meeting will be live streamed, so the public can hear the discussion if not participate in it. Access to the live audio can be found here.
• On Friday, April 17, at 5:00 p.m., the reconstituted Tourism Board will hold its first meeting since its unannounced "meet and greet" on February 21. The Tourism Board now has in its coffers about $400,000 from the lodging tax, earmarked for promoting Hudson as a travel destination. Many people have ideas about how that money could be used to support our local businesses in this time of crisis. The discussion at this meeting should be interesting. Access to the live audio of the meeting can be found here.

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