Outcome of Meeting for HudsonDots

Perhaps predictably, the resolution authorizing Mayor Kamal Johnson to enter into a regulatory agreement with HudsonDots was approved by the Common Council on Wednesday, with the minimum numbers of votes required. Only seven members of the Council were present at the meeting: Jennifer Belton (Fourth Ward), Vicky Daskaloudi (Fifth Ward), Dominic Merante (Fifth Ward), Margaret Morris (First Ward), Gary Purnhagen (First Ward), Dewan Sarowar (Second Ward), and Council president Tom DePietro. All voted in favor of the agreement, except for Morris, who abstained. During the meeting, Morris explained that there were so many unanswered questions about the project that she could not vote for it. Because she thought it was a good model, she chose to abstain rather than vote no.

One amendment was made to the resolution before the final vote was taken. The agreement is only for two years rather than three. The amendment was made, at the suggestion of Merante, so that the agreement would not be binding on the next Council. 

This map shows the location of all current HudsonDots properties

The discussion prior to the vote had some interesting moments and yielded some useful information. At one point, Daskaloudi commented, "These buildings were in very bad shape." Her statement provoked Alan Weaver, who was in the audience, to protest they were not distressed properties. Sara Black, representing HudsonDots, explained that HudsonDots had purchased "a selection of distressed properties"--the last of Phil Gellert's inventory of properties in Hudson--and then bought "better properties" where they could move the tenants from the distressed properties while the very distressed properties were being renovated. Black said HudsonDots was restoring properties so that "they are able to last and be maintained by the residents." She clarified that HudsonDots was not a not-for-profit but insisted that it was not a "profit-seeking entity."

After the vote had been taken and the resolution passed, Purnhagen commented, "We've been burnt in the past as a city," to which DePietro responded, "This is not a Galvan project."

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