In August, Judge Henry F. Zwack handed down a decision in Colarusso's latest lawsuit against the Planning Board. In response, the Common Council and the Hudson Planning Board authorized the attorneys representing the City in this lawsuit to move forward with a Notice of Appeal related to the decision. Yesterday, Gossips learned that an appeal of the decision has been filed.
Last night, at the public hearing on the proposed 2023 budget, Donna Streitz expressed concern that the amount budgeted for attorneys' fees might not be adequate to defend against the Colarusso lawsuit. Mayor Kamal Johnson explained that there was money in a contingency fund for legal expenses. Council president Tom DePietro added that money had been allocated in the 2022 budget for expenses related to the Colarusso lawsuit which had not yet been used and would be carried over into 2023.COPYRIGHT 2022 CAROLE OSTERINK
I've been in Hudson for 33 years, and during that time no other business has been a disruptive pain in the ass like Colarusso. They have filed two lawsuits against the City, and for four years the company refused to give our Planning Board basic truck traffic data that would allow for an informed decision on their application to operate a gravel dump and truck route. They aren't keeping their dust down next to our waterfront park, and their property in our community is an embarrassing pile of rusting junk. And they are providing almost no employment for residents of the City. Our civic leadership should have given that lousy firm the heave-ho a long time ago. There are two problems here-- an abusive company, and a town severely lacking in self-esteem.
ReplyDeleteAs for Hudson "severely lacking in self-esteem," perhaps only future residents will appreciate the absurd disconnect between the centerpiece of the City's appeal and the company's continuing operations at the Hudson waterfront and on city streets other than the state truck route.
DeleteIt's no mere argument that the company lost its operating rights in January 2017. Such was the stated judgement of the NYS Supreme Court in January 2019.
And yet, since 2017 the City has allowed Colarusso operations to continue with no permit at all, only to be sued again a year ago with the SAME COMPLAINT from the last lawsuit, to wit: "the bulkhead repair is a Type II action." (For new readers, the required application at issue was never for a bulkhead repair, but for a conditional use permit consequent to such a repair.)
On second thought, Hudson's "low self-esteem" is far too charitable a description in the circumstances. It's more like brainlessness and idiocy, notwithstanding the gravel trucks' continued usefulness to cynical politicians such as Supervisor Mussman who obfuscates as readily as a company spokesman.
And they always win the bid to repave many sections of our streets every two years. It's state money they get for their work, not city money, but we are still hiring them.
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