The Gossips of Rivertown

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

The Plan Is Now Public

At the Common Council meeting last night, Michelle Tullo, Hudson's Housing Justice Coordinator, presented the Affordable Housing Development Plan, recently completed by Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress. Tullo's summary of the plan noted that the greatest need in Hudson was for low- and moderate-income housing and reported that 1,000 households in Hudson are "housing cost burdened," that is, their housing costs represent more than 30 percent of their income. The strategies identified in the report include: developing new multi- and single-family affordable housing; rehabbing abandoned properties; redeveloping vacant parcels for new housing units.

The plan includes a "Short List for Development"--vacant properties where multifamily rental apartment buildings and houses for home ownership could be constructed. Not surprisingly, three of the ten sites are owned by the Galvan Foundation.

The sites suggested for multifamily apartment buildings include:

The vacant lot at Fourth and State streets. The Council is already working on an RFP/RFQ for a developer for this site.

604 Washington Street--the lot across from the Central Fire Station. This is the lot that Galvan tried to acquire in its proposed deal to give 400 State Street to the City for use as City Hall. It is also the lot being eyed as possible parking for the redeveloped Pocketbook Factory.

The vacant area on East Court Street, behind St. Mary's Catholic Church, where the City currently dumps snow in winter and cleans out the street sweeper throughout the year.

1 Hudson Avenue, the site of the former Gifford-Wood building, which last we heard was on the market for $7.625 million.

The former John L. Edwards School, which is already being considered by a developer, although nothing has been heard about that plan for months.

The Affordable Housing Development Plan also includes some potential sites identified for "Home Ownership," where presumably single-family homes might be built.

620 State Street, the site of the original Hudson Orphan Asylum, which was demolished early in 2018. The site is owned by the Galvan Foundation. In one of his early presentations to the Planning Board of the buildings proposed for 75 North Seventh Street and 708 State Street, Walter Chatham included elevation drawings of the buildings in their context, to demonstrate that they were compatible in mass and scale. Included in the drawings was the demolished Hudson Orphan Asylum. Chatham told Gossips at the time that the plan was to build a new structure on the site that replicated the original building.

451 Warren Street, the vacant lot at Warren and Fifth streets that is owned by Galvan. This seems an unlikely spot for single-family houses, right on Hudson's main commercial thoroughfare, but years ago, before there even was a Galvan Foundation, one of Eric Galloway's several LLCs or not-for-profits proposed a commercial building for the site, facing Warren Street, with three or four town houses behind it, facing Fifth Street.

25 North Fourth Street, the vacant lot at Fourth and Columbia streets, owned by the Galvan Foundation. This was one of Eric Galloway's earliest acquisitions in Hudson. It is situated just across Long Alley from the vacant lot at Fourth and State owned by the City of Hudson.

Mill Street--It's not clear exactly what property on Mill Street owned by the City of Hudson is being considered. Much of the open space on Mill Street is designated park land. Hudson Development Corporation owned a lot on Mill Street--228 Mill Street--which was sold in August 2020.

Rossman Avenue--The City of Hudson owns three parcels on Rossman Avenue, but where exactly they are is hard to tell. The parcels don't seem to have street numbers.

Update: A reader identified the City-owned Rossman Avenue parcels for me. One is the location of the water treatment plant and the area around it, which includes the house, once the residence provided for the Superintendent of Public Works, which the Common Council ad hoc Properties Committee has been talking about selling. Obviously, that's not one of the parcels being considered for affordable housing. The other two are actually on Rossman Avenue, near the top, on the left as you are ascending the hill toward the water treatment plant and Mt. Ray Estates. The two parcels are outlined in red on the images below.

514-516 Columbia Street is a single vacant lot owned by the City of Hudson.

The complete Affordable Housing Development Plan is available at the City of Hudson website. Click here to access it.

Mayor Kamal Johnson will hold a virtual town hall meeting about the plan on Tuesday, November 23, at 6:00 p.m. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

Missing Dog

To Gossips readers in the vicinity of McKinstry Place, the hospital, the cemetery, Mt. Ray Estates, and beyond . . . please be on the lookout for this dog.

He ran off last night at about 1:00 a.m. from McKinstry Place, heading up toward the hospital. If you see him, please contact his distraught human at 805 402-2279. The dog needs his seizure medication.

Update: Nicholas has been found! Here's the message from his human that appeared on Facebook about an hour ago:

GOOD NEWS! We found Nick with the help of a very amazing concerned citizen who reached out to the sheriff's office. He made it to Maple Lane in Greenport from our house next to the hospital. He's very muddy and cold but seems healthy and happy!

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

An Apparent Attempt to Run Away Foiled

For everyone who saw the notices on Facebook last night that two Hudson High School students were missing, here's the follow-up story as told in a press release from the Hudson Police Department.

On Monday, November 15, 2021 at 5:15 p.m., a Hudson woman reported to HPD that her 15 year old son had not arrived home from school and she was concerned. Shortly thereafter the Columbia County Sheriff began investigating a report from a Greenport woman that her 16 year old daughter had not come home from school either. Both juveniles are students at Hudson High School.

Police agencies responded and coordinated the investigation. Hudson High SRO Deputy Zach Sahotra began a search of the school grounds. The Deputy was able to locate video that showed the two students, together, exiting the school property west toward a wooded area. HPD officers and Detectives joined State Trooper Justin Bell and Troop K bloodhound Tilly to search the area and trails behind the school. Patrols from HPD, Greenport PD, Columbia County Sheriff’s office, and NY State Troopers continued to check stores, public buildings, abandoned buildings and trails throughout the night. Temperatures dipped down to 28 degrees.

At daybreak Tuesday, November 16, 2021, HPD established a command center at their station and initiated various strategies to locate the young people. Detectives checked cell phone information, while patrols conducted interviews and tried to develop leads. Information was put out statewide via the police information network as well as social media. Teams were established to check all possible locations.

One team made up of Chief Ed Moore and Sgt Nick Hodges was assigned to check along the river north of the city. At around 9:25 a.m., about two miles north of Hudson, the youths were spotted in a wooded area next to the railroad tracks. After a brief pursuit on foot, the youths were taken into protective custody by the officers. They were brought back to an awaiting ambulance from the Greenport Rescue Squad where they [were] brought to Columbia Memorial Hospital and evaluated. They were later released to their parents.

“Despite frigid temperatures and strong wind they were in pretty good shape. They had one thin blanket and a small amount of food with them. After spending the night in some woods adjacent the tracks, they had plans to leave the area. What’s really encouraging was the outpouring of support and information sharing on social media. While young people may get lost and forgotten in a big city, our community banded together to demonstrate that we care, and together we are going to locate these kids.” Chief

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today, and it seems the pandemic is having a resurgence. Since yesterday, there have been 27 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 22 more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that, since yesterday, 5 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 53 more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number hospitalized and in the ICU remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, November 9.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County from Sunday to Monday of 15.7 percent and a seven-day average of 6.0 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the Capital Region for the same 24-hour period was 7.3 percent and the seven-day average was 5.6 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 9 new cases of COVID-19 and one death. The total number of cases was 851, and the number of active cases was 102. There were 130 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 25 were hospitalized, and 4 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 44.

Devastation Along the Dugway

In the past few days, a lot of trees have been cut down along the Dugway, which is now the route of the Empire State Trail between Mill Street and Harry Howard Avenue. The devastation has raised concern among many. The photographs below were provided to Gossips by Hilary Hillman of the Conservation Advisory Council.

The trees were in National Grid's right of way. They had to come down because National Grid is replacing its old, outdated utility poles in that area and installing new poles in a different location. The power lines had to be moved because, in their original location, they were overhung by large cottonwood trees, and there could be disturbances in electric service should any limbs from those trees fall onto the power lines.

Of Interest

This article was first published more than three years ago, but it was recently referenced on Facebook by Strong Towns: "Two Perspectives on the Housing Crisis: Affordable Housing vs Housing Affordability." It is relevant to the current conversation in Hudson around affordable housing.

Monday, November 15, 2021

COVID Closes Another County Building

It's not a building that most of us visit often, if ever, but it was announced today that the county building at 610 State Street was closed today and would be closed tomorrow because of COVID-19 exposure. After a thorough cleaning, the building is expected to reopen on Wednesday, November 17.

This pandemic is far from over.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since Saturday, there have been 42 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 18 more than on Saturday, from which it can be inferred that, since Saturday, 24 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 59 fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine today than on Saturday, but 1 more is hospitalized. None of those hospitalized is in the ICU. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, November 9.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County from Saturday to Sunday of 5.4 percent and a seven-day average of 4.8 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the Capital Region for the same 24-hour period was 5.8 percent and the seven-day average was 5.6 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 7 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 842, and the number of active cases was 111. There were 139 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 27 were hospitalized, and 1 was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

Wondering About Hudson Connects

The last time we heard anything about Hudson Connects, the project that is getting the lion's share of the City's DRI (Downtown Revitalization Initiative) funds, was on September 22, when the folks from Arterial held their Public Workshop 2. Gossips reported at length about that workshop at the time: "The Streets of Hudson." Since then, the website meant to keep people informed about the project, HudsonConnects.com, which for several months was merely a landing page, was gone live. Exactly when that happened is not known. The website promises to let you see the presentation from that September workshop, but when you click to download a pdf of that presentation, what you actually get is a pdf of the presentation made to the Common Council on December 15, 2020. Check it out by clicking here.

At the September workshop, it was said that Arterial would make another presentation to the Historic Preservation Commission in October. That didn't happen. On Friday, the HPC has its second meeting for November, and there's no word that Arterial will be presenting. In September, David Lustberg of Arterial said they anticipated presenting their final plans to the Common Council in December, and the goal was to begin construction in Spring 2022.

Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

As we move deeper into the darkness of autumn and impending winter, here is what's happening on the meeting front.

On Tuesday, November 16, at 5:30 p.m., the Common Council holds a public hearing on proposed Local Law Introductory K of 2021. This law would affect buildings in R4 residential districts that were constructed as commercial buildings and portions of buildings that have had commercial uses in the past and have not subsequently become dwelling units. It would allow the following types of businesses to be established in such nonresidential buildings: retail stores and bank; personal service and other service businesses; eating and drinking establishments. The R4 districts, which are primarily west of Third Street, both north and south of Warren Street, appear in pink on the zoning map below.

The public hearing will take place on Zoom. The link will be published on the City of Hudson website prior to the hearing. Scroll down to the calendar.

Also on Tuesday, November 16, the Common Council holds its regular monthly meeting at 6:00 p.m. Gossips has heard that the Affordable Housing Development Plan will be presented to the Council at this meeting, but there has yet been no confirmation of this. What is on the agenda is the amended "good cause" eviction law, the zoning amendment to allow certain businesses to be established in buildings or parts of buildings that previously had commercial uses in R4 districts, and legislation being advanced by Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward) to allow the honorary naming of streets. The link to the Zoom meeting will be published on the City of Hudson website prior to the meeting. Scroll down to the calendar.
On Wednesday, November 17, the Zoning Board of Appeals holds its monthly meeting at 6:00 p.m. This is the only city meeting currently taking place in person, so if you are interested in what's happening with the ZBA, mask up and head over to City Hall, 520 Warren Street. The agenda for the meeting, which can be found here, includes no fewer than nine requests for a variance to continue using a residence as a short term rental.
Also on Wednesday, November 17, there is the Comprehensive Planning Workshop, organized by Michelle Tullo, Hudson's Housing Justice Director, and conducted by students from Albany Law School, in the Community Room of the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street. The goal of the workshop is explain "how a comprehensive plan affects the development of a community and what is the role of citizens in shaping Hudson's planning process." This is an in-person event. Masks are required. Space is limited. Click here to register.
On Thursday, November 18, the Planning Board holds a special meeting. The main item on the agenda will be Colarusso. It would seem to be time for the Planning Board to make a positive or negative declaration in the SEQR process. At its last meeting, however, the Planning Board postponed voting on granting site plan approval to the redevelopment of the Pocketbook Factory so that the attorneys could work out an agreement to memorialize public access to the garden being planned as part of the project. That, too, is expected to be on the agenda for this meeting. The meeting will take place on Zoom. The link to the Zoom meeting will be published on the City of Hudson website prior to the meeting. Scroll down to the calendar.

On Friday, November 19, the Historic Preservation Commission holds its second meeting of the month at 10:00 a.m. The meeting will take place on Zoom. Click here to join.
At 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 19, there will be a special meeting of the Common Council, at which the three solar companies that responded to the RFEI (request for expressions of interest) in developing a solar farm on City-owned land along the North Second Street Extension will make presentations to the Council. As Gossips has noted elsewhere, all three companies have their eyes on the capped landfill rather than the sites recommended by the Conservation Advisory Council. The meeting will take place on Zoom. Click here to join the meeting.

Sunday, November 14, 2021

Considering the Most Recent Election

On November 5, three days after the 2021 election, Gotham Gazette reported that voter turnout in New York City was just under 20 percent. Here in Hudson, we did a bit better than that. According to statistics provided by the Columbia County Board of Elections, there are 4,502 registered voters in Hudson, and 1,353 ballots were cast, giving Hudson a voter turnout of 30.05 percent. Some wards did better than that. In the Fifth Ward, it was 38.28 percent; in the First Ward, it was 33.6 percent. Some wards did worst. In the Third Ward, it was 29.35 percent; in the Second Ward, 26.32 percent; in the Fourth Ward, 21.46 percent. It is interesting that the Fourth Ward, where everyone seeking a city office was running unopposed, had the city's lowest voter turnout.

Of interest, too, is that of the 1,353 voters who cast ballots, 278 didn't bother to vote in the mayoral race, and 334 didn't vote in the Council president race--either voting for the candidate on the ballot or writing someone in. By comparison, in the race for city treasurer, only 177 voters skipped over that column.

Preparing for Winter in 1871

On this day, 150 years ago, the following item appeared in the Hudson Daily Star.

Saturday, November 13, 2021

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health released its numbers at 2:00 p.m. today. Since yesterday, there have been 22 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 9 more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that, since yesterday, 13 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 41 more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but there is one fewer hospitalized and none is in the ICU. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, November 7.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County from Thursday to Friday of 3.9 percent and a seven-day average of 4.5 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the Capital Region for the same 24-hour period was 4.1 percent and the seven-day average was 5.2 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 10 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 831, and the number of active cases was 120. There were 175 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 27 were hospitalized, and 3 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

Mark Your Calendars

There are a couple of community workshops coming up, conducted by students from Albany Law School and organized by Michelle Tullo, Hudson's Housing Justice Director. The first, which takes place from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17, deals with comprehensive plans and how they affect the development of a community. The second, which takes place from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 1, deals with the SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) process. Both workshops will be held in the Community Room at the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street. For more information and to register for the workshops, go to http://hudsonarealibrary.org/calendar/. Click on the event date.

Friday, November 12, 2021

COVID-19 Update

After taking Veterans Day off, the Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since Wednesday, there have been 32 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 6 more than on Wednesday, from which it can be inferred that, since Wednesday, 26 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 18 fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine today than on Wednesday, and there is 1 fewer hospitalized. Of those hospitalized, 1 is in the ICU. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, November 9.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate from Wednesday to Thursday in Columbia County of 2.4 percent and a seven-day average of 4.5 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate in the Capital Region for the same 24-hour period was 4.9 percent and the seven-day average was 5.2 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 18 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 821, and the number of active cases was 117. There were 193 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 27 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

The Future of Hudson

For several months now, Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress has been working on an Affordable Housing Development Plan for Hudson, and for several weeks now, mostly in meetings of Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA), it has been reported that the plan is complete and is being reviewed by one or another group. At the last HCDPA meeting, it was indicated that the Affordable Housing Development Plan would be presented to the Common Council "next week," which would seem to mean it will be presented at the Council's regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 18. There was also mention of the mayor holding a town hall about the plan. So far, there have been no official announcements of either the presentation to the Council or the town hall, and it seems the document has been seen only by those most closely involved with its development.

"Good Cause" Eviction Law Moving Ahead

Last night, the Common Council Legal Committee held an emergency meeting to consider what Alderman Jane Trombley (First Ward) referred to at the meeting as the "Rebecca Wolff amendments" to the "good cause" eviction law, which was passed by the Council in September and vetoed by Mayor Kamal Johnson in October so that those amendments could be made. The major amendment was the elimination of the ninth "good cause" for eviction:

The owner-landlord has in good faith entered into a contract for the sale of the housing accommodation and such contract requires that the housing accommodation be transferred free and clear of any and all residential tenancy obligations as a condition of such sale where the owner-landlord has no shared financial or other interest with the potential buyer other than the sale of the housing accommodation in question and submitted sufficient proof to the court thereof.

Given the circumstance, it would have been helpful if a red-lined version of the law had been made available to the public prior to the meeting. Instead, a version of the law that did not include the Rebecca Wolff amendments was posted on the city website.

At the outset of the meeting, Council president Tom DePietro announced that members of the public would be allowed to speak for two minutes each. Council members had no such restrictions. Speaking for the urgency of enacting the law, Alderman Rebecca Wolff (First Ward), whose request for amendments prevented the law from already being enacted, called it "a really important law for the city" and asserted, "We are in a time of unprecedented difficulties for people who do not own their homes."

DePietro cited two articles that appeared recently in the New York Times: one that reported significant rent increases nationwide; another reporting that the pace of evictions has accelerated. This article, which may not be one that DePietro was referencing, appeared in the NYT on November 8: "Evictions are mounting in the United States, but at a pace slower than many tenants and advocates feared." Alderman Ryan Wallace (Third Ward) commented that the pace of evictions in New York State has not been as rapid as in other states.

Steve Dunn used his two minutes to complain that the wrong version of the law had been posted on the website. He also declared, "To rent out a single-family home to anyone is insane under this law," and told the committee he had instructed his contractor to stop work on a house he was renovating with the intention of making it available as a rental.

Margaret Morris, First Ward alderman elect, predicted that Hudson would lose rental units as a consequence of the law, saying, "Landlords will no longer want to rent out properties in Hudson." She suggested that instead of pursuing a "cut-and-paste law from Albany," the Council should have conducted focus groups with landlords and tenants to find a solution to the problems.

Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward) responded, "All of a sudden people are worrying about landlords. This law is for the protection of people who are living in this city. . . . Landlords are taking their money, and nobody is standing up for them." She adjured the Council to "stop forgetting about the people that brought you here."

Wolff argued that it was "an alarmist idea that landlords will not be able to evict tenants who are not paying their rent" and asserted, "This law is intended to make landlords into good landlords."

Rebecca Garrard of Citizen Action, which has been advocating for the passage of this law in Hudson and other cities, claimed that "transfer of ownership as good cause [for eviction] does not exist in the state law passed in 2019" and concluded, "Hudson is not stepping out in front or leading in a radical way." Her reference was undoubtedly to the "Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019." That law addressed co-op and condo conversions, but I don't recall it addressing transfer of ownership. In that, I could be wrong.

In the end, it was decided that the amended law would be forwarded to the full Council at its next meeting on Tuesday, November 18.

Update: The amended law, as it will be presented to the full Council of Tuesday, can now be viewed here.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

HHA and Galvan

Last night, at the meeting of the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, Dan Kent of the Galvan Foundation appeared to propose a "linkage agreement" between HHA and Galvan specifically regarding the Galvan building proposed for 75 North Seventh Street, where the 54 apartments are to be "permanently affordable."

The agreement, which Kent said was being encouraged by Darren Scott of NYS Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), is expected to enhance the project's chances of receiving low-income housing tax credits from HCR. The agreement would require that two months before the application period is opened for 75 North Seventh Street, Galvan would notify HHA, and HHA would inform everyone on its waiting list of this new housing opportunity. HHA would also provide Galvan with a list of all the websites it uses to post availability of units in HHA buildings.

When board member Marie Balle asked about a timeline for entering into this agreement, Kent said it needed to go with Galvan's application for funding, and the next funding deadline was sometime in December.

Rebecca Wolff, who sits on the HHA board, said she wanted an "actual relationship" between HHA and Galvan "that goes farther than the linkage agreement." She noted that "HHA will have to do relocation of tenants" when it carries out its plan to demolish and replace the current HHA buildings. Responding to Wolff, Kent mentioned 75 North Seventh and "even future projects" as the means to "help HHA reach its goals."

Regarding the linkage agreement, HHA board member Rebecca Borrer commented, "We need to wait until we have legal counsel," and then noted, "The executive director must make the decision." Later, in his report, Nick Zachos, one of the two recently appointed interim directors at HHA, reported there were "good options for interim counsel."

About that Solar Farm

It started out as an idea for bringing in new revenue by monetizing vacant and unusable City-owned land, but the solar farm project has taken on a life of its own. The RFEI (request for expressions of interest) has received responses from three companies--BQ Energy Development, Nexamp, and AC Power LLC. The Common Council has scheduled a special meeting on Friday, November 19, at 5:00 p.m., to hear presentations from the three companies.

At the meeting of the Conservation Advisory Council on Tuesday, David Konigsberg reported that all three companies were interested in the capped landfill, which is not the area they were allegedly supposed to be considering and not the area the CAC was encouraging. In a statement submitted to the Common Council on the day the Council approved the release of the RFEI, the CAC stated: "We recommend that the capped landfill and surrounding grassland be excluded from any industrialization, including solar arrays, and that, as planned in prior deliberation, these areas continue to heal and gradually be developed as open recreational space in a city that has very little." The statement from the CAC was accompanied by an image showing the areas the CAC was recommending for solar development. Those areas are marked in fuchsia on the image below.

Despite the opposition from the CAC, the response from BQ Energy states, "We are proposing that part of our project be located on the Columbia County landfill"; Nexamp's response states, "It immediately became apparent that the most advantageous approach for development would be a landfill solar approach, focused on utilizing the capped City landfill in the Northeast section of the development area"; AC Power's response states, "AC Power would like to propose the utilization of the County owned landfill adjacent to Parcel I, known as the North Bay Landfill or Hudson Landfill . . . for redevelopment."

If the purpose of the solar farm is to bring new revenue to the City, siting the solar farm on the capped landfill would defeat the purpose, since that land is currently controlled by Columbia County and the revenue would presumably to the County not the City.

The meeting at which the three developers will make presentations takes place on Friday, November 19, at 5:00 p.m. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

The Pocketbook Factory and the Planning Board

It was thought that, after completing the SEQRA process at its October meeting, the Planning Board would vote on approving the plans for the former Pocketbook Factory at its meeting last Tuesday. That, however, did not happen.

Patrick Logan, an associate with the law firm of Rodenhausen Chale & Polidoro, who was presumably standing in for Victoria Polidoro who usually serves as the Planning Board's legal counsel, presented a resolution granting site plan approval, a resolution that contained six conditions. One of these conditions presented a problem for the applicant, the one that required an easement "granting public access to open space on the property." The following is the exact wording of the condition:

Approval by the Planning Board Attorney of a declaration of easement granting public access to open space on the Property, as indicated on the Site Plan Set, for purposes of passive recreation during daylight hours, along with an undertaking from the Applicant's attorney to record the declaration as soon as the Site Plan Set is signed.

Andy Howard, attorney for the applicant, objected to the easement, declaring, "We agreed to make private property open to the public, but we never agreed to give it to the public." Logan asserted, "The board wants to ensure that there is public access to the space." Howard responded, "We don't have a problem with those conditions. We have a problem with creating a property right and filing it." He went on to say it was "unprecedented to have an easement such as this on private property." He reiterated, "We have no problem with a written agreement or a penalty for not complying." When Sean Roland, one of the partners in the project, spoke of the "incredible amount of money" being invested and the landscaping plan and reiterated their commitment to making the outdoor space accessible to the public, Larry Bowne, who was chairing the meeting, retorted, "Kumbaya statements are not enforceable."

There was some discussion of a temporary easement, and in the end it was decided that Logan and Howard would "work out the details of some kind of easement agreement." It was suggested that the agreement should be crafted in time for the Planning Board's special meeting next Thursday, November 18, so that the board could vote on approving the project at that time.

The Budget for 2022

Yesterday, Mayor Kamal Johnson presented the proposed 2022 budget to the Common Council. Four Council members--Eileen Halloran (Fifth Ward), John Rosenthal (Fourth Ward), Jane Trombley (First Ward), and Rebecca Wolff (First Ward)--were absent from the Zoom meeting.

In his budget address, Johnson noted that the property tax levy would be the same in 2022 as it was in 2021. He observed that the City of Hudson, with more than a hundred employees, was one of Hudson's largest employers and expressed his commitment to "paying these individuals a fair and appropriate wage." He highlighted the City's renewed interest in providing for seniors, mentioning the creation of the Senior Services Department and effectively doubling the budget--from $75,000 to $150,000--for that department.

Johnson also mentioned Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's Fiscal Stress Scores and said that Hudson's score was 5. Gossips checked, and it appears that Hudson's score is 6.7, which is still very good. The three municipalities in New York identified as having "Significant Fiscal Stress" are Poughkeepsie (78.3), Niagara Falls (72.1), and Caneadea (65.4).

Johnson's entire budget message can be found here. The proposed budget can be found here. The public hearing on the budget will take place on Zoom tomorrow, Friday, November 12, at 5:00 p.m. Click here to join the meeting.

Wednesday, November 10, 2021

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been 11 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 1 fewer than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that, since yesterday, 12 county residents have recovered from the virus. The number of county residents in mandatory quarantine today is 15 more than yesterday, and there is 1 more hospitalized. One of those hospitalized is in the ICU. There has not been another death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since yesterday.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County from Monday to Tuesday of 11.6 percent and a seven-day average of 4.4 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the Capital Region for the same 24-hour period was 6.7 percent and the seven-day average was 4.6 percent,

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 10 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 789, and the number of active cases was 105. There were 309 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 27 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

The Perils of Onstreet Parking

We've all had experience. Someone on our block--could be a neighbor or a visitor--pulls into a space between two cars already parked. The space is big enough for two cars, but they park their car smack dab in the middle, leaving a space in front and a space in back not big enough to park a car.

Usually when we see this, we mutter curses under our breath and look for a space farther up the block, but it seems that on Alderman Malachi Walker's block in the Fourth Ward situations like this have more than once led to fisticuffs, so he came up with plan to remedy the problem: paint parking lines, like the ones on Warren Street and other streets where there are parking meters, on every street in the city. A resolution to that effect came before the Common Council on Monday night.

Before the Council could consider the resolution, Rob Perry, superintendent of the Department of Public Works, noted some problems with the plan. Perry explained that painting parking lines on residential streets would actually eliminate potential parking spaces, since a parking space, as dictated by the city code, is 22 feet long and the average car is only 15 feet long. He calculated that painting parking spaces throughout the city would cost $64,000, an amount that had not been written into the budget.

Later in the meeting, when the Council got to the resolution on its agenda, it was agreed that the resolution would be tabled. Walker insisted there needed to be a way to "hold people accountable for the way they are parking." Council president Tom DePietro suggested, "We may need an ad hoc committee to pursue this."

Tonight's Meetings

There are two meetings running concurrently tonight. They both begin at 6:00 p.m., and they are both on Zoom.

Click here to join the special Common Council meeting at which Mayor Kamal Johnson will present the proposed city budget for 2022.
Click here to join the regular monthly meeting of the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners.

Ear to the Ground

On the agenda for the next Greenport Planning Board meeting, which takes place on Tuesday, November 23, is a proposal to construct a 161-unit apartment building on Healy Boulevard. The "For Sale" sign suggests that this lot, between the old ShopRite and Town Hall Drive, may be the site in question.

Gossips' intel suggested that the project was being proposed by Redburn Development Partners, the creators of The Wick Hotel here in Hudson. An email to Tom Rossi, one of the partners, confirmed that this indeed is their project. What's being proposed is workforce housing, with rents that target households with incomes from 80 to 120 percent of AMI (area median income).

Redburn has an impressive portfolio of multi-family buildings in Albany, Troy, and Schenectady, mostly former industrial, institutional, or commercial buildings that have been adapted into apartment buildings. The project in Greenport, of course, would be new construction.

Settlement with Verizon

Monday's informal Common Council meeting began with an executive session that lasted for almost half an hour 28 minutes "to discuss litigation." With the Council in executive session was attorney David Luntz. It turns out, Luntz is the attorney who represented the City, the Planning Board, and the Code Enforcement Office in the lawsuit brought by Verizon back in July. The executive session was to consider the settlement that had been reached, which can be found here.

It will be remembered that Verizon sued the City because of the "unreasonable, unenforceable and arbitrary and capricious" conditions the Planning Board had imposed when granting site plan approval for siting wireless communication antennas on Providence Hall, for dragging out the review of the project, and for the "exorbitant fees" the Planning Board had exacted from Verizon in escrow payments for the consultant who advised the Planning Board in this matter. The resolution granting site plan approval can be found here. The conditions for approval are found on pages 3 and 4.

According to the terms of the settlement, Condition 2 of the approval, which required a deed restriction on the property to prohibit other wireless providers from locating equipment on the building for twenty years, will be deleted. The language of Condition 3, which required Verizon to return to the Planning Board for approval of any modification to the facility and specifically mentioned an upgrade from 4G to 5G, will be amended to acknowledge that a change from 4G to 5G does require approval by the Planning Board unless it includes antennas "that will not be screened by the stealth concealment panels and are visually discernible." Condition 5, which requires approval by an architect chosen by the Planning Board of the final plan for the stealthing structure, will be amended to require that approval be granted within thirty days of submitting the design for review.

In the terms of the settlement, Verizon agrees to abandon its effort it get back any of the escrow payment made on the condition that the Planning Board abandons its effort to collect additional escrow payments still owed.

On Monday, a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign the settlement agreement was introduced in the Common Council. The Council will be voting on the resolution at its meeting on Tuesday, November 16. The Planning Board has called a special meeting for Thursday, November 18, "for the purpose of considering a settlement agreement with Verizon Communications, Inc." The timing seems a bit off, since it would seem that by the time the Planning Board gets around to considering the settlement, the Council will have already voted to accept or reject it.

Tuesday, November 9, 2021

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. The report includes the sad news that there has been another death from COVID-19. A press release from Matt Murell, chair of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, identified the deceased as an unvaccinated senior. Since yesterday, there have been 15 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 5 more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that, since yesterday, 9 county residents have recovered from the virus. There is 1 fewer county resident hospitalized.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 6.4 percent and a seven-day average of 3.8 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region was 6.6 percent and a seven-day average was 4.5 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 12 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 779, and the number of active cases was 109. There were 399 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 27 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

How's It Coming?

A while back, Mayor Kamal Johnson expressed the hope that the redesigned entrance to Promenade Hill would be completed in time for Winter Walk 2021. Winter Walk, scheduled for December 4, is less than a month away, and this is what the site looked like this morning.

At the informal Common Council meeting last night, DPW superintendent Rob Perry reported that the splash pad in the children's playground had been installed.

He also reported they were having problems getting the quarried stone being used for seating, and there were problems getting the railings for the ramps.

The "Good Cause" Eviction Law

At the Common Council Legal Committee meeting that took place last Wednesday, it was decided that instead of pursuing an amended version of the "good cause" eviction law, which had been vetoed by Mayor Kamal Johnson to allow the amendments to be made, the Council would hold off on pursuing passage of the law in favor of passing a resolution in support of a similar law being pursued in the state legistlature (A5573/S3082) and sending a letter to the Attorney General requesting an opinion of whether or not municipalities had the authority to pass such a law. Last night, those two resolutions were expected to be introduced at the informal meeting of the Common Council, but that did not happen.

Aldermen Rebecca Wolff (First Ward) and Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward), both of whom are on the Legal Committee and were present at last Wednesday's meeting, wanted to table the resolution supporting state legislation and move forward with the law, amended as Wolff had requested. Jeff Baker, counsel to the Council, noted there were "continuing questions of the fundamental legality of the law" and advised, "You could go forward with the two resolutions and still amend the law."

Alderman Ryan Wallace (Third Ward) pointed out that Attorney General Tish James had come out in support of the law now being considered in the state legislature, implying that seeking an opinion about the legality of the law from the AG's office was therefore unnecessary. Baker tried to make the point that a policy statement from a statewide perspective was not the same as saying that it was acceptable for every municipality to pass such a law on their own. A memo shared at the Legal Committee meeting from the attorneys to the Beacon City Council, which is considering a similar law, advised that "the State Legislature has preempted the ability of a municipality to regular the Landlord/Tenant relationship in this manner." Judith Goldiner, attorney for the Legal Aid Society who was attending our Council meeting at the invitation of Rebecca Garrard, legislative director for Citizen Action NY, declared that the municipalities were not preempted by the state from taking such action and insisted there was no conflict. Garrard also spoke, saying she was "disgusted to be here testifying in this matter." She accused Baker of being "the only person who has any confusion or hesitation" about the law and spoke passionately about residents of Hudson "being gentrified, unhoused, and displaced."

The call for the law to be passed expeditiously was taken up by Quintin Cross, Claire Cousin, Kaya Weidman, and Molly Stinchfield. Despite the fact that the proposed law made its first appearance in August, without having been vetted by any committee, Garriga complained it had been "sitting around for so long." As a consequence of the argument of urgency, Council president called an emergency meeting of the Legal Committee to take place on Thursday, November 11, at 6:30 p.m. The purpose of the meeting will be to amend the law as Wolff decided it had to be amended after the Council had already passed it in September. The meeting will take place on Zoom, but the link to the meeting has not yet been published.

Seen on the Way to Somewhere Else

For anyone missing those Golden Arches, they're back. Can Big Macs be far behind?

Meetings Updates

There are two meetings taking place later today: the Conservation Advisory Council at 5:00 p.m. and the Planning Board at 6:00 p.m.

As it turns out, today's meeting is not a special meeting of the Conservation Advisory Council. It is its regular monthly meeting rescheduled. The link to the Zoom meeting was not published last week, and, as a consequence, the meeting was canceled and rescheduled for today. The agenda for the meeting lists an enormous number of topics. Of greatest interest may be a report from David Konigsberg on the RFEI for the solar farm being pursued by a Common Council ad hoc committee and a report about a low maintenance ground cover as a possible alternative to grass in the cemetery. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

When the special Planning Board meeting scheduled for last Thursday was canceled, it was said that the Colarusso issue, the subject of the special meeting, would be taken up at the board's regular monthly meeting, which is tonight. The agenda for tonight's meeting is now available (click here), but Colarusso is not on the agenda. Click here is join the Zoom meeting.

Monday, November 8, 2021

Hudson in Song

For a little diversion, watch and listen to "The Hudson Song," written and performed by Mark Allen. Where Hudson ends and Greenport begins goes unacknowledged, but I guess it's all part of the Hudson experience. To see for yourself, click here.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since Saturday, there have been 28 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 1 more than Saturday, from which it can be inferred that, since Saturday, 27 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 36 fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine, and 2 fewer are hospitalized, but the number in the ICU remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since October 26.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County on Sunday of 1.8 percent and a seven-day average of 3.5 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the Capital Region on Sunday was 4.9 percent and the seven-day average was 4.3 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 17 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 768, and the number of active cases was 103. There were 366 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 24 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

Plan Ahead

Back in May, when Mayor Kamal Johnson announced the weekend suspension of alternate side of the street rules for overnight parking, it was indicated that the suspension was in effect until further notice. In the past, the suspension lasted until the end of September or the end of October, so it is with some fear and trepidation that I have been parking the Gossipmobile on the odd side of the street every weekend night.

Not wanting to be caught by surprise or have my readers caught by surprise, I inquired about the end of the weekend suspension. This morning, I learned from mayor's aide Michael Hofmann that Thanksgiving weekend will be the last weekend that alternate side of the street rules will be suspended for overnight parking. Beginning the first weekend in December, the alternate side rules for overnight parking will be in effect seven days a week. From midnight to 8 a.m., cars must be parked on the side of the street where the houses are odd numbered if the day's date is odd and on the side of the street where the houses are even numbered if the day's date is even.

We Didn't Make the Cut

A few minutes ago, the Register-Star published the news about prison closings: "6 prisons to close after DOCCS, union meet." Alas, the Hudson Correctional Facility is not one of them. The prisons that will be closing in early 2022 are: