As we move deeper into December and closer to the winter solstice, these are the meetings happening this week.
- Tonight, Monday, December 13, the Common Council holds its informal meeting at 6:00 p.m. Of particular interest on the agenda for tonight's meeting is a resolution to issue an RFQ (request for qualifications) for "a qualified professional development partner to implement components of the Affordable Housing Development Plan to result in the development of more affordable housing." The resolution and RFQ can be found here. The Affordable Housing Development Plan can be found here. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
- On Tuesday, December 14, the board of the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meets at noon. The agenda for the meeting includes updates on the ADLN (Anti-displacement Learning Network) program and Hudson Housing Authority updates. An item of new business is "Board position transitions." Tiffany Garriga and Rebecca Wolff, who serve on the HCDPA Board because they are, respectively, majority and minors leaders of the Common Council, will no longer be on the Common Council next year and therefore cannot, according to the current bylaws, be on the HCDPA Board, which is made up entirely of ex officio members. The meeting will take place on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting.
- The Planning Board meeting, which was scheduled to take place at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. December 14, has been canceled. The next Planning Board meeting will take place sometime in January.
- On Wednesday, December 15, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) holds a special meeting at 2:00 p.m. "for the purpose of discussing the PBF Hudson LLC project." It is expected that a vote on the project will take place at this meeting. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
Update: This meeting has been canceled, and a new meeting has been scheduled for Monday, December 2o, at 12:30 p.m.
- On Wednesday, December 15, at 6:00 p.m., the Zoning Board of Appeals holds its regular monthly meeting at 6:00 p.m. The ZBA has been the only regulatory board to hold its meetings in person. It is unclear if the new state mask mandate or the newly imposed rules regarding access to City Hall will affect that practice. The agenda for the meeting includes public hearings on eight requests for variances from the City's short term rental law and a ninth request for a similar variance to be presented as new business. Another item of new business is a proposal to open a 30-room hotel at 601 Union Street, the former Elks Lodge.
- Also at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 15, Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, hosts a virtual Public Participation Meeting to present an update on the Ferry Street Bridge reconstruction project and provide an opportunity for the public to provide feedback and ask questions about the bridge's redesign. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
- On Thursday, December 16, at 6:00 p.m., the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners holds its monthly meeting, rescheduled from last Wednesday. The meeting is likely to provide an update on the search for a new executive director and the progress on the plans for the redevelopment of HHA properties. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
- On Friday, December 17, the Historic Preservation Commission holds its second meeting of the month at 10:00 a.m. The meeting includes a public hearing on a proposal to demolish an existing garage in Cherry Alley, behind 326 Union Street, and construct a new two story structure with a smaller footprint in its place. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
Also of note on tonight’s agenda for the Informal- a proposed Rules of Order change for the Common Council affecting the way next year’s Common Council can select both majority and minority leaders, which affects the makeup of HCDPA and the IDA, the board doling out such generous tax rebates to the town’s most unscrupulous property owner.
ReplyDeleteIf Tom DePietro and the Council wanted to make honest procedural changes to the method of selecting leader’s for next year’s Council, they should have introduced the rule change prior to this year’s primary cycle, so candidates could make their own decisions about party affiliation before the race began.
Tom, whose job performance thus far has been so sub-par that the mere mention of a write-in campaign on a comment board spawned impressive turnout opposition, has no business dictating how the next Council chooses their own caucus leadership, nor do any of the departing Council members.