Open Meetings and RFPs

On October 19, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill that requires documents that are to be discussed at meetings to be posted to the public body's website at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. Gossips has learned that tomorrow night, the Common Council Legal Committee will be discussing a draft RFP for the City-owned vacant lot at Fourth and State streets, but, at this point, less than 21 hours before the Legal Committee meeting, that document has not been made available on the City of Hudson website. Gossips, however, has obtained a copy of the draft.

It will be remembered that, at the September 30 meeting of the  Common Council ad hoc "Properties" committee, Alderman Rebecca Wolff (First Ward) announced her discovery that, in February 2020, the Council had passed a resolution calling for the sale of the vacant lot for the purpose of developing affordable housing. At that meeting, it was also made known that an RFQ (request for qualifications) was being drafted by Michelle Tullo, the City's Housing Justice Manager, using a template provided by Joe Czajka of Pattern for Progress, the group working on Hudson's Affordable Housing Development Plan. 

The document that the Legal Committee will be discussing tomorrow night is identified as an RFP (request for proposals) not an RFQ (request for qualifications). The draft RFP makes this statement: "This City will prioritize projects that include a diversity of housing units such as those for AMI's ranging between 40% and 130% with a range of bedroom counts." It also includes this statement: "The City prefers a developer with access to multiple scattered sites to further the aims of the SHAP [Strategic Housing Action Plan]." This statement, of course, raises the question: What developer besides the Galvan Foundation has access to multiple scattered sites?

The Legal Committee meeting at which this draft RFP is to be discussed takes place at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, November 3. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK