Last night, the Legal Committee continued its pursuit of a solution to the problem of defective, hazardous, and missing sidewalks. Councilmember Margaret Morris (First Ward), who chairs the committee, had intended the committee look at sidewalk legislation in place in the cities of Ithaca, Cortland, and Mechanicville and consider how the models might work in Hudson, but after a brief discussion of how it is done elsewhere, Councilmember Ryan Wallace (Third Ward) proposed that Hudson follow the example of Albany, which, in Wallace's words, "is taking the bull by the horns and solving this."
Wallace's idea got support from councilmembers Art Frick (First Ward) and Mohammed Rony (Second Ward) and also from Council president Tom DePietro, who noted that the City has a triple A rating in the bond market. Morris, however, said she was not completely on board with the notion that, because the City failed in enforcing the code regarding sidewalks, the City is responsible to correct deficient sidewalks.
There are currently three plans being pursued to address the sidewalks, each focused on a different part of the city.
- The Connectivity Project funded by the Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant awarded back in 2017 includes the sidewalks below Second Street. At last report, the money allocated for the project, from the $10 million grant, is not expected to be enough to replace all the sidewalks in the BRIDGE District but only to repair or replace sidewalks as needed.
- The City is seeking $5 million in Congressionally Directed Funds to make sidewalk repairs in the parts of the city included in the sidewalk audit undertaken in October 2020. The sidewalks included are:
- Warren Street from Third Street to Seventh Street
- Seventh Street from Union Street to Washington Street
- North Fifth Street from Warren Street to Prospect Street
- North Sixth Street from Warren Street to Prospect Street
- South Third Street from Union Street to Warren Street
- Now it is being suggested that the City issue bonds for $5 million to repair the sidewalks not included in the other two plans.
Matt McGhee brought up another problem: places in the city, usually in historic districts, where the original bluestone sidewalks still exist.
Wallace opined, "I don't agree with the idea that original slate should be torn up to replace it with concrete." Bujanow wondered, "When we have a historic sidewalk, how does DOJ [Department of Justice] look at that?" Ronald Kopnicki asked, "Does the DOJ require a particular material?" Morris volunteered to take the question about historic sidewalks to Michael Hofmann, the mayor's aide, who is the City's ADA coordinator.
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Update: Ryan Wallace has informed me that he made his recommendation for solving the sidewalk problem in an email to members of the Legal Committee "weeks before" the article about the Albany plan appeared in the Times Union.
In Ithaca, to which Hudson is striving to emulate, they actually pay a person to be the sidewalk tsar, if you will. A paid professional, probably with an office and a desk and support from others in his department, to make sure that the sidewalk effort continues to succeed. Not just to get the program up and running, but to manage it. The Sidewalk Program Manager works for the Engineering Division of Ithaca's DPW. Even has a phone number, probably for the phone on his desk. Why? Because Ithaca understands how to run a city a whole lot better than Hudson. Yes, money helps, but that's not all that's at play here.
ReplyDeleteIn Hudson we have no one person dedicated to solving our massive sidewalk problem. And therein lies the problem. Instead, we have well-intentioned but ultimately ineffective alders (for a project of this scope) with plenty of other responsibilities trying to tackle this mess, with little guidance and no one in charge. No help from DPW or CODE. And so, year after year all we witness is talk and treading water and lots of ideas. Then a new council appears and they start all over.
Even if the city decides to throw 5 or more million dollars at the problem, if the city doesn't HIRE someone to actually manage that money and the project, it will fail miserably and take far too long to finish, if it can ever be finished. You watch, it's all so predictable.
B Huston
Sure, issue bonds, hire a sidewalk manager and more assistants. All this leads to higher taxes adding to the process of displacing low and medium income homeowners. All this to avoid the obvious, economical solution, compel property owners to fix their sidewalks! A simple process, issue warnings then citations with fines. The fines bring money into the city, rather than drain it. The sidewalks get fixed using the traditional methods. It seems the modern way of doing things is always to throw more money at the problem, which is fine if we don't care about costs skyrocketing and converting Hudson into a community of millionaires, which it is already on the road to becoming, by why accelerate the process? Govt. needs to start thinking of a ways to address problems without spending, or borrowing more money.
ReplyDeleteSorry P, but the "make the homeowner do it" approach will fail. It simply doesn't work, especially in an urban environment with ancient infrastructure. Ithaca knew this, other municipalities are understanding this, and Hudson will hopefully street clear of it, too.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in Business Law many years ago, it was taught that the city owned the sidewalks but the property owner had the responsibility to maintain them (not replace them). Is that still the case?
ReplyDeleteBest to ask Craig Haigh or attorney Crystal Peck that question. They may have a clear answer. Or not.
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