Starting out with a holiday, this final week in May is a short one but possibly a consequential one when it comes to meetings.
- On Tuesday, May 26, Hudson Development Corporation meets at 4:00 p.m. in the conference room at 1 North Front Street. This will be the first meeting since HDC's president and vice president, Chris Jones and Nick Haddad, appeared at the Common Council meeting to urge that the City not sell the Dunn warehouse, and it is likely that proposal and the response from Mayor Joe Ferris, who serves ex officio on the HDC board, will be a topic of discussion. The meeting can be joined remotely on Zoom. Click here for the link.
- Also on Tuesday, May 26, the Common Council Finance Committee meets at 5:15 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
UPDATE: The Finance Committee meeting has been canceled.
- At 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26, the Common Council holds its regular monthly meeting. As Gossips has already reported, Ben Fain is expected to be at the meeting to speak about the proposed "Waterfront Village" and address concerns that have been raised by councilmembers. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
- On Wednesday, May 27, at 4:00 p.m., Mayor Joe Ferris is holding a public hearing on a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) application the City of Hudson is proposing on behalf of Return Brewing LLC. The hearing will be a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the hearing remotely.
- Also on Wednesday, May 27, the Public Works Board meets at 5:30 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here to join the meeting remotely.
- Thursday, May 28, is Grievance Day. From 3:30 until 8:00 p.m., members of the Board of Assessment Review (BAR) will be at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street, to hear and examine all properly filed complaints about assessment of real property. For more information, click here.
- Also on Thursday, May 28, the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meets at 6:00 p.m. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
- At approximately 6:45 p.m., on Thursday, May 28, or whenever the HCDPA meeting adjourns, the Planning Board holds a special meeting devoted to the Hudson Housing Authority's redevelopment plan. In particular, the meeting is meant to review the design of the proposed buildings. The meeting is a hybrid, taking place in person at City Hall and on Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely.
Does anyone know why the Dunn Warehouse was not sold at public auction with a recorded deed restriction limiting use to what the City Plan already permits?
ReplyDeleteThe mechanism is routine in other towns or cities. The choice not to use it is curious.
We are reaching out to Michelle Tullo, the Housing Justice Director, who seems to have been in charge of the process last year?
The City has sold other surplus buildings at auction--case in point, the former HPD headquarters in the 400 block of Warren Street and the house next to it, where the city court office and the code enforcement office were located. Selling the Dunn warehouse at auction would have been a huge mistake. It is part of a public park, and for that reason the City does need to have some control over how it is used. The RFP route was chosen, I would imagine, because, although everyone was happy with the original Dunn & Done proposal, they didn't want to limit the possible adaptive reuses of the building to that. Price was not as much the object as was finding a use that would be compatible with and would enhance the use of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park.
DeleteThanks, Carole.
DeleteBut if we are not mistaken, two points:
First, a simple deed restriction recorded at sale is exactly the tool for what you (wisely) describe.
It binds not just the buyer but every future owner of the property. An RFP does not.
The City could have written into the deed that any owner must use the building for x or y broad purpose (e.g. ice cream, brewery, restaurant public water use related like a kayak business, and not, say, for industrial storage.
An auction with a recorded "covenant" delivers both open bidding (maximum value back to taxpayers) and permanent control over certain uses.
Second, if the warehouse is truly part of Henry Hudson Riverfront Park, doesn't NY law require state legislative approval to sell parkland, regardless of how the sale is structured?
Similar to Mill Street?
In both cases, it seems last year's rushed RFP by Kamal and Tom, headed for some reason by the Housing Justice Director (conflict of interest with the then mayor), may not have been the best way to maximize cash return to taxpayers.
If it is, as you state, part of a public park, it appears it will require an act of the state legislature to obtain permission to sell the parcel.
Delete“In most jurisdictions, dedicated parkland is impressed with a public trust. A municipality must obtain express, special authorization from the state legislature (or equivalent governing body) before the land can be sold or diverted to private or non-park use.”
Last year, when it was questioned if the City could sell waterfront property, it was determined (by whom I'm not sure) that, because Water Street comes between the Dunn parcel and the river, the Dunn parcel need not be considered waterfront property. I rather imagine whatever logic came to that conclusion would also conclude that the Dunn parcel is not parkland.
DeleteOk, good, well if not part of a "park", then that issue will not hold up the process. And it appears that most of the heavy remediation has been completed.
DeleteSo then why was a simple Public Auction with simple deed restrictions not held in the open. One can even start the auction with a floor.
This way the taxpayers get the maximum sales price, the use of the property, now and in the future, is in line with the City Plan, and local government is not in the precarious role, or appearance, of picking favorites?