Last night's meeting of the Common Council ad hoc committee tasked with completing the sidewalk legislation was very brief--less than half an hour. Jeff Baker, counsel to the Council, said he had not done a new draft of the law and identified two issues still to be determined: the rates to be changed and the areas to be covered by the law. When the committee meets again in May, it is hoped there will be "something more tangible in terms of a document" and maps to show the areas of the city to be impacted by the new law, which, if enacted, would impose an annual fee on property owners, even those that are tax exempt, for the repair and maintenance of sidewalks.
Meanwhile, on the topic of sidewalks, the sidewalk audit, undertaken last October, required by the settlement agreement between the Department of Justice and the City of Hudson regarding ADA compliance, has been completed. The study was limited to "sidewalks between key areas of service." Those key areas were identified as Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, Promenade Hill, City Hall, the Youth Center, the Senior Center, Oakdale Park, the Central Fire Station, and the Police Station. The 270-page document can be found here.
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This seems somewhat dysfunctional. Leaving messed up broken sidewalks sitting for years while new rules are debated on how to fix them. All you have to do is enforce the law and tell people to fix their sidewalks like they do in any other town. What is so hard about telling someone to fix a sidewalk?
ReplyDeleteDid anyone even bother to take an inventory of all the broken up sidewalks and estimate how much money it is going to cost taxpayers to have the city repair them all? And if the sidewalks that everyone walks on are to become the responsibility of the city to repair, why are homeowners the only ones being charged? Why not charge every resident a walking tax?
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ReplyDeleteWe need to take care of our sidewalks! Aside from improving quality of life for all, it will make Hudson safer! I know someone who has a permanently injured foot after visiting Hudson. She won't come back because of our sidewalks!
ReplyDeleteI don’t understand the need for a new law when they should just enforce the current one. Is there also going to a mandatory common sidewalk snow removal fund that homeowners have to pay and then wait for the city to decide when to shovel you out?
ReplyDeleteIn most cities and towns, sidewalks are provided and controlled by the municipality. it is another quirk of Hudson that requires each owner to fend for himself. it is to the detriment of 'the common good".
ReplyDeleteConsistent safe sidewalks should be required and paid for the town. Hudson's sidewalks are a haphazard danger to its own residents, to the disabled, and to visitors from other communities.
Are these not basic amenities in modern society everywhere else ?
In Queens NYC property owners are responsible for sidewalk repair. This is not uncommon
ReplyDeleteYou’re kidding. Now 70 years in Hudson. SOS different day. The Govt of Hudson does NOT enforce pedestrian safety laws. Including standard sidewalks, sidewalk repair, snow removal to the curb, crosswalk safety. Surely it’s a fools game.
ReplyDeleteThe #1 on the left is where the removed street lights and used inferior cement all over town.
ReplyDeleteIf you think Hudsons sidewalks are bad then you have never been to Rhinebeck !
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