Ed Moore, the new chief of the Hudson Police Department, met with residents of the First Ward on Thursday night at Basilica Hudson--a meeting arranged by First Ward aldermen Dave Marston and Nick Haddad. Among the reassuring things Moore told the First Ward community was he had been an unusual state trooper. He didn't like writing tickets and had written his last one in 1986. He shared his opinion that the police car was one of the worst inventions for municipal policing and made a commitment to putting more police officers on the street on foot--not only on Warren Street but also in the neighborhoods. He spoke of law enforcement as an art not a science--something he said he had learned from older officers when he started out in law enforcement thirty years ago and which is now cutting edge: community policing.
On the minds of many at the meeting was a burglary that happened last Sunday night on Allen Street. Moore's response was empathetic and reassuring. He pointed out that the person responsible for somewhere between fifteen and twenty burglaries had been caught and was now in prison. Moore shared the fact that his own home had once been burglarized and declared, "I hate burglars. I really want to get 'em and stop 'em."
Melissa Auf der Maur spoke of the nuisance and danger to people created by the gravel trucks making their way to the port. She talked of the dust kicked up by the trucks, the hostile attitude of the truck traffic, and the harrowing challenge of trying to make one's way on foot the few yards from the Basilica to riverfront park with trucks approaching from all directions. Bob Meching and Paul Barrett added that the gravel trucks were often not covered and they exceeded the speed limit. Moore pointed out that are "volumes of laws that pertain to commercial vehicles" and the state police do commercial vehicle enforcement. "That's easy," he said, speaking of getting state troopers to set up a temporary checkpoint in Hudson.
A comment by Phil Osattin, recounting a disparaging and insulting remark made by a Hudson police officer about the 100 block of Warren Street, led to a number of comments about the behavior and general attitude toward the city displayed by police officers. When Marston suggested that police officers should be required to live in Hudson, Moore responded, "If the rule applied, I'd be out." He went on to suggest that such a mandate might be impractical given Hudson's small size and relatively large number of police officers. (Moore had earlier remarked that the ratio of police officers to residents in Hudson was among the highest in the state.) When Victor Mendolia suggested that Hudson police officers were reluctant to live in Hudson because they feared their families might be targeted for retaliation, Moore said he didn't buy into that idea.
More refreshing news: Our new police chief seems to think that an inordinate number of parking tickets are issued in Hudson. [Full disclosure: There's an unpaid parking ticket in the Gossipsmobile right now, received two weeks ago when the Historic Preservation Commission meeting ran more than two hours.]
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After today, there's just one week left in Gossips' observance of National Preservation Month. Tomorrow morning, we'll publish a new cumulative walking list you can download and take with you on your search for architectural details. In the meantime, here is today's detail.
Our post about the Hudson Sloop Club on Tuesday inspired Jennifer Arenskjold to send these pictures, taken at the fish fry last Friday. The centerpiece of each is the Mariana, a smakkejolle sailboat that belongs to Kim Arenskjold. The Mariana, which is forty or fifty years old, is an example of an old style of Danish sailboat still in use today. It was shipped here from Denmark last year. It is now undergoing some restoration at the sloop club before being launched on the river this summer.
I learned yesterday that at least three people have taken the Gossips challenge and are out there searching for architectural details. That's exciting! There's just a little more than a week left in National Preservation Month and a long weekend coming up for walking and looking. Here's the detail for today.
Gossips is headquartered in the First Ward, so this post is meant for my neighbors and former constituents. Thanks to our current aldermen, Dave Marston and Nick Haddad, Hudson's new police chief, Ed Moore, will meet with residents of the First Ward at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 23, at Basilica Hudson, to hear about the worrisome things that have been happening in our neighborhoods.
Gossips slept right through it, but apparently, around 2 a.m. on Wednesday, Hudson experienced torrential rain, jolting thunder, and wind strong enough to make some consider taking shelter in the southwest corner of the basement. It was then that Hudson's new waste water treatment plant, which can handle 17 million gallons a day, was overwhelmed. For 23 minutes--from 2:06 to 2:29 a.m.--there was what is known as a CSO--combined sewer overflow--and untreated waste water spilled out into North Bay.
DPW superintendent Rob Perry reported this, as required, to DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) and the Columbia County Department of Health and, as not necessarily required, to the public, at the Common Council Public Works Committee meeting on Wednesday night. The good news is that, since not many people are taking showers or doing the laundry or flushing toilets at 2 o'clock in the morning, what overflowed into North Bay was storm water.
There was a resolution included in the aldermen's packets last night (and in those given to the press) "Authorizing Litigation Against Holcim US to Recover Costs Related to the Proposed Transfer of Riverfront Land to the City of Hudson." The resolution was withdrawn, by Council president Moore, but the issue was the subject of some discussion.
Attached to the resolution was this rendering of the dock area that was part of the St. Lawrence Cement Greenport Project. The rendering shows the dock facility extending onto the parcel of land the City of Hudson seeks to acquire.
Moore opened the discussion by asking rhetorically what the goals for the waterfront were and suggesting that one of them was to ensure that there would be no cement plant in Hudson. City ownership of the ten acres immediately south of the port, he pointed out, would accomplish this goal because it would prevent the expansion that the rendering suggests would be necessary for a cement operation. Moore suggested that a second goal was to obtain ownership of the entire port and obtaining this parcel could be seen as the first step toward obtaining the entire port. Moore advised the Council, "We have to decide whether or not we want to proceed with eminent domain on the ten acres."
Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward) was unrestrained in his criticism of Holcim and its handling of the situation, saying Holcim had "acted in a villainous fashion." "Is this," he asked, "a harbinger of what they plan to do in the future?"
Moore said of the land transfer, "This issue is not over." Other aldermen concurred. Alderman Chris Wagoner (Third Ward) said, "We lost our way in the controversy over who owned it," but expressed his conviction that "we need to acquire the property." Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward), who has always maintained that the City would be the best steward of the ten acres, asserted, "It doesn't make sense for the City not to own it." He went on to say, "Holcim created an expectancy when they created the document [referring to the contract that Holcim has not signed]. They owe us some money, and at the very least we should go after them."
Mayor William Hallenbeck said that he would be "happy to obtain the land as a transfer" but cautioned against "going after them for damages." Seeming to think the Council was considering trying to acquire the entire port through eminent domain, he admonished the Council to "keep the financial stability of the City in mind" in their discussions about using this strategy. Later in the conversation, when Moore spoke of "continuing to have discussions about obtaining the land" and Haddad described the parcel as a "critical and fundamental component of the health and well-being of the city going forward," Hallenbeck suggested that, in a discussion about "what's critical and what isn't," a priority should be "developing on land we already own."
The discussion ended with city attorney Cheryl Roberts, who was the last to be in contact with Holcim, delivering the message she had received from Holcim counsel: "The City needs to be patient. Holcim is committed to transferring the property."
The outcome of yesterday's school board election wasn't as simple as Gossips presented it last night. It seems that Lynn Lee, the candidate who received the second highest number of votes, is a teacher in the Hudson City School District. She plans to retire on June 30, 2013, but she hasn't retired yet. That situation prevented her from being sworn in last night and may cost her the seat on the Board of Education. Lynn Sloneker explains the situation at her blog Unmuffled.
Gossips' observance of National Preservation Month continues. Each day, a different architectural detail is presented. Gossips invites readers to identify the location of the each detail and submit all your answers at the end of the month. Here is the detail for today.
Right now, if you click here, you can watch a meeting of the New York State Liquor Authority. One of the items on the agenda is this:
At last night's Common Council meeting, the aldermen unanimously approved a resolution authorizing Mayor William Hallenbeck to enter into a purchase agreement for 701 Union Street. John Mason has the story in today's Register-Star: "Council OKs first step to buy Finnish Line for police, court."
For more than a decade, the need to provide a better facility for the police department and the city court has been a problem city government has struggled to solve, and there had been a series of solutions proposed--some involved entirely new construction, some involved repurposing existing structures, all seemed out of reach or unacceptable for one reason or another. During all but two of those years of unsuccessful proposals, Rick Scalera was the mayor of Hudson, so now that it looks like the problem may be reaching a resolution, he felt compelled last night to point out that the space requirements he had been working with were far greater than the space that the police department and the Unified Court System now seem willing to accept. The building at 701 Union Street is 12,000 square feet--6,000 for the court; 6,000 for the police. "Good to hear now that the court and police are willing to compromise," said Scalera. He then commented that he didn't think that the police, who now have 4,500 square feet in their building on Warren Street, were going to be satisfied with 6,000 square feet.
On a related topic, the Council also approved reimbursing Hudson Community Development & Planning Agency the $71,158.61 HCDPA has paid to Spacesmith for developing the design for the now abandoned senior center project. That amount represents 85 percent of the outstanding invoices from Spacesmith. Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward) objected to paying 85 percent of what was billed when only 50 percent of the work had been done. He protested, "We asked for a design at a certain level, and we got a design at a different level"--one the City couldn't afford. Alderman Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward)--in what seemed like an example of a kind of municipal financing shell game--pointed out that if the City didn't reimburse HCDPA the $71,158.61, HCDPA wouldn't be able to contribute $100,000 to the current plan to repurpose part of the Armory, owned by the Galvan Foundation, as a senior center.
When the resolution to reimburse HCDPA came to a vote, only Friedman and Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward) voted nay.
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Here is the breakdown of votes. According to a reliable source, this was one of the lowest voter turnout rates ever for a school district election.
Click on the chart to enlarge it.
The 2013-2014 HCSD budget passed by a vote of 614 yes and 431 no.
The winners in the race for the two vacant seats on the Board of Education are Tiffany Martin Hamilton and Lynn Lee. The candidates' totals are: Hamilton 506; Lee 404; Joseph Carr 380; Scott diMonda 273; Jaclyn Bruntfield 270.
The breakdown of the vote by polling place will follow.
Have you voted yet in the school district election? The polls are open until 9 p.m.
While government officials fret about a stalled LWRP and wring their hands over the urgent need to repair or replace the Ferry Street bridge, there is a group with a simpler plan for connecting to the river.
The Hudson Sloop Club sailed onto many people's radar last Friday when the group hosted a fish fry at Basilica Hudson followed by a lecture by Dr. Guy McPherson on the subject of local resiliency for the 21st century.
The goal of the Hudson Sloop Club is to bring the Hudson River back into the daily life of our community, and the club's organizers are doing it by restoring and building a fleet of boats and providing education in seamanship, boat safety, and the river's ecology, history, and protection for the future. This spring, the Hudson Sloop Club offered ten-week workshops, which started in April, in wooden boat building. An afternoon workshop for children is conducted in collaboration with Kite's Nest and coordinates with an evening workshop for adults. Both workshops contribute to the construction of a twelve-foot sailing skiff.
To learn more about the goals and programs of the Hudson Sloop Club, visit their website. To learn about sloop club activities and events, visit their Facebook page. To support the sloop club's effort and become a member, visit Indiegogo.
Gossips' observance of National Preservation Month continues, and there is still time to catch up on the search. Identify, by address, the location of the architectural details featured and submit your answers to Gossips at the end of the month. Here's the detail for today.
Good news for weekend visitors! Once again, overnight alternate side of the street parking has been suspended for the summer months. Overnight, from Friday to Saturday and from Saturday to Sunday, vehicles may park on both sides of the street. On Sunday night, cars need to be on the odd-numbered side if the date of the next day is odd and on the even-numbered side if it is even. The suspension took effect on May 3, but no one bothered to make it known to the public. It continues through the summer and fall, to the end of October.
Tomorrow, we in the Hudson City School District vote on the proposed 2013-2014 budget and select two members of Board of Education.
The total budget proposed for 2013-2014 is $43,416,302--an increase of 1,865,587, or 4.49 percent more than the budget for 2012-2013. The revenue that must come from the tax levy has risen 4.79 percent, from $19,708,416 to $20,652,449. An informational flier distributed by HCSD attributes 99.43 percent of the increase over last year's budget to "mandated employee costs."
There are five candidates running for two vacant seats on the Board of Education.
- Jaclyn Rose Bruntfield, 27, who lives on Glenwood Boulevard in Hudson
- Joseph E. Carr, 57, who lives on Edmonds Lane in Hudson
- Scott D. diMonda, 44, who lives on Arthur Avenue in Greenport
- Tiffany Martin Hamilton, 42, who lives on upper Warren Street in Hudson (incumbent)
- Lynn E. Lee, 59, who lives on County Route 14 in Greenport
Lynn Sloneker provides the links to opening statements made by each of the candidates during last Tuesday's candidate forum on her blog Unmuffled. The entire forum has been archived and can be heard online at WGXC.
Today--Monday, May 20--Park Falafel & Pizza is offering its own version of the Golden Arches' McTeacher's Night. Like McTeacher's Night, Park Falafel will donate 20 percent of its sales to Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School--for field trips and other student activities. Unlike McTeacher's Night, the event lasts all day, teachers don't have to do the serving, and no one has to make unhealthy food choices.
May 20, Detail 20. Our observance of National Preservation Month continues. Readers are encouraged to go out, look at the historic buildings that surround us, and locate the architectural details featured here. This is the detail for today--a gift for loyal Gossips readers.
