At the Common Council Legal Committee last week, Jack Hornickel presented two draft resolutions for the committee's consideration, both having to do with the sale, by the City of Hudson, of this land on Mill Street to Kearney Realty & Development.
It will be recalled that in May, Mayor Joseph Ferris amended the agreement of sale, without the knowledge or authorization of the Common Council, changing the date of closing from a fixed date to an open-ended one: "thirty (30) days after the Seller has discontinued all pending actions/proceedings relating to the ability of the Seller to convey the Property." The sale of the property is currently the subject of an Article 78 proceeding.
The first of the two draft resolutions declares the contract extension by Mayor Ferris unenforceable and declares a default on the Kearney contract for their abandonment of the State Street and Rossman Avenue projects, which were part of the original agreement with the City. The second draft resolution dedicates the site as municipal parkland and terminates the Kearney contract as inherently void as a matter of law. Both draft resolutions can be found here.
Hornickel presented these arguments in support of the first resolution:
The contract extension signed by Mayor Ferris on May 20, 2026, is unenforceable, because it altered a material term to the contract for sale of municipal real estate without authorization by Common Council. Therefore the original contract closing date of May 3, 2026, is still in effect, and only the Common Council may act to determine its outcome.
Common Council should declare Kearney in default under this contract and terminate its relationship with the developer. Kearney failed to close on Mill Street in the allotted time; more importantly, Kearney abandoned its projects for State Street and Rossman Avenue, without explanation. These failures represent a material, willful, and substantial breach of the contract, one that defeats the original intent of the parties. Abandonment of these sites by Kearney also fails to satisfy a legislative condition of sale placed by Common Council and undermines the “scattered-site” development program envisioned by the Mayor.
After some discussion, it was decided that the Legal Committee would seek counsel from the Council's attorney, Ken Dow, who was not present at the meeting, before bringing the resolutions to the full Council for consideration.
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