The special meeting of the Common Council taking place today at 6:00 p.m. is likely to be very well attended. As Gossips reported, on Tuesday, after the Council was unable to agree either to rebid the Ferry Street Bridge project or to award the project to A. Colarusso & Sons, Mayor Kamal Johnson expressed his opinion that rebidding the project would be "an extremely bad idea." Johnson then turned to Facebook to rally support for his position. His post there begins: "Update on - Ferry-fairy-Front street, waterfront bridge." The Facebook group he chose for making his appeal is called "Unfiltered Hudson NY Community Board." One of the group's rules is: "No tourists or transplants . . . locals only."
The mayor's Facebook post so far has elicited ninety comments. This morning, Lance Wheeler announced on Facebook that he would be videotaping the meeting and publishing it on his YouTube channel.
At the special meeting, the Council will be voting on four things:
- A resolution to reject the current bids and rebid the project
- A resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract with A. Colarusso & Sons to construct the new Ferry Street Bridge
- A resolution authorizing the issuance of serial bonds to finance the new bridge. This resolution was voted on at the meeting on Tuesday, but the vote was invalid because approving a bond issue requires a two-thirds majority (in other words, eight affirmative votes) and only six members of the Council were present at the meeting.
- A resolution, totally unrelated to the Ferry Street Bridge issue, to authorize a contract with a landscaping service to plant trees for this year's Autumn Arbor Day.
The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, and on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
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Tonight only! Watch as Tom tries to keep his composure as he and the rest of the Council get berated by Greenport Good 'Ol Boys and Florida retirees (if they can figure out Zoom). Expect to hear a long list of unrelated grievances relating to globalization, domestic migration trends, populism, and so on. And, when Lance Wheeler brings his camera, you know you're in for a show. Bring an extra battery, Lance, it's gonna be one for the archives.
ReplyDeleteA bond for the bridge? I thought it was fully financed by the State, that they provide 100% of the funding and wouldn't reimburse the municipality for the costs -- which is why we've been waiting so long and going through the process. Any clarification?
ReplyDeleteAs for the Mayor's choice of posting fora and Lance's decision to videotape and narrowcast the content: the bigger the tent, the bigger the circus. It should be a shit show -- I'll be sure to miss.
The bridge is fully financed, but the City has to spend the money and then be reimbursed. That's why the bond is needed. It will be paid off as the City gets reimbursed.
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