The City's settlement with the Department of Justice over its ADA compliance shortcomings requires that there be a plan in place before the end of the year to repair the sidewalks and make them ADA compliant. With eighteen days left in the year, an amendment to Article XXII of the city charter, establishing sidewalk improvement districts, is ready to be reviewed by the Legal Committee. The draft legislation, together with a Sidewalk Improvement District "infosheet," was posted on the City of Hudson website late this afternoon. The documents will be the subject of discussion at tomorrow's Legal Committee meeting, which takes place at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, happening in person at City Hall and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
But with sidewalks, curbing and crosswalks like this, some people are pushing a parks department?? Unreal.
ReplyDeleteLet's for argument's sake say the City doesn't meet the deadline. What happens then? Does the City get sued by the government until the repairs/alterations are made? Let's hope not. At this point Hudson is bleeding money and can't "spare a dime". Oh, and about that Parks Commissioner...
ReplyDeleteAt the recent public meeting prior to the budget being passed, Hillary Hillman voiced her displeasure that there was no funding for a Parks Department. Mayor Johnson immediately responded by saying this was a priority of his but that it would have to wait until next year for consideration. What he should have said, what a good manager would have said, is "We have a much bigger, more urgent and potentially more expensive issue to deal with now with our sidewalks, and you should not expect any funding for a Parks Department until we have the sidewalks handled and the DOJ is no longer knocking on city hall's doors." Priorities, indeed. B Huston
DeletePlease, Carole, take a picture of one of the nastiest sidewalk tripping hazards in all of Hudson for your next post on this topic. It's located in front of the Union Street municipal parking lot, also known as CITY PROPERTY, waiting FOR YEARS to put some unsuspecting pedestrian on their chin if it hasn't already happened. It's not just an "accident" and lawsuit waiting to happen, it's a clear sign that no one, not even this current administration, takes this issue seriously, knows how to handle it and will continue to fail at dealing with the problem properly EVEN IF the DOJ tells us that things must improve. Hudson City Hall is simply unequipped. Maybe the answer is an intervention of some sort?
ReplyDeleteIt's not just that sidewalk hazards are everywhere, it's that city property is full of hazards, too, paving the way for others to be just as irresponsible and negligent. No excuse.
B Huston
"Part of the project budget will include hiring new managerial staff at DPW." Now is the time to create a Streets and Sidewalks Dept within DPW that Rob Perry is not involved with. If he takes on any more responsibilities, we may have to increase his salary, the largest at City Hall, once again.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who works with cement knows it does not dry properly in freezing temperatures. So, any work done now may have to be redone at a future date
ReplyDeleteThis is a management problem but not really the Mayor's. This belongs squarely to the Council and its feckless leader who still hasn't met a job that can't be avoided. As long as no one on the Council is going to do anything, nothing will get done. This has been the case since Don Moore left the dais. Don was a manager and a leader. Now we have neither.
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