Plans for 11 Warren Street

At its meeting on Wednesday, the Public Works Committee of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors agreed to forward to the full board a resolution authorizing an agreement with LaBella Associates, in the amount of $177,400, "for the programming, design, bidding, and construction administration services associated with the design and construction of exterior building improvements" to 11 Warren Street. The resolution will be voted on by the full board in February.

The RFP (request for proposal) for the project, which was issued in September 2025, provides this information about the scope of the project and how it is expected to proceed.

The consultant will work with the County through four (4) workshop sessions. At the first meeting the consultant will listen to the County’s needs for the exterior building façade improvements. The consultant will be expected to offer feed-back relative to building code issues, building mechanics, advantages/disadvantages to available options; concepts for the exterior building elevations; strategies to keep the project within budget; permitting issues; and any other matter that would be normal to the planning of a building exterior façade renovation of this kind.

After the initial workshop session, the Consultant shall prepare a minimum of three (3) schematic concept drawings for use in two (2) public charrette workshops that will allow the general public to review, comment and provide input on the proposed design. The general idea of a charrette is to create an innovative atmosphere in which a diverse group of stakeholders (County and City) can collaborate to "generate visions for the future" for the building appearance.

The scope of work described in the RFP makes no reference to a review by the Historic Preservation Commission. The building is located in a historic district, and although 11 Warren Street is a noncontributing structure, any alterations to the exterior require a certificate of appropriateness from the HPC.

There is always some question about whether or not the City of Hudson has jurisdiction over county projects. This was the case back in 2011 when the County did the expansion of the courthouse and the alterations for ADA compliance. 

In 2011, Cheryl Roberts, then city attorney, clarified (and Gossips reported) that the City "has jurisdiction [over county projects] until the City says that it doesn't." David Robinson, then Commissioner of Public Works for the County, originally indicated he would seek a Monroe decision from the Common Council to exempt the courthouse project from review and approval by the Hudson Planning Board (then the Planning Commission) and the Historic Preservation Commission. In the end, however, the courthouse project was reviewed both by the Planning Board and the HPC. It remains to be seen how Ray Jurkowski, the current Commissioner of Public Works, will handle this.

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