Discovering the History of the Brousseau Buildings

The Brousseau Buildings, or the "Brousseau Bldg" as is etched in the glass of the surviving transom, have been vacant since 2005. Recently, Walter Ritchie researched the history of this pair of turn-of-the-century apartment buildings on the corner of Warren and Second streets and invited Gossips to publish what he discovered.

In 1903, Theodore Brousseau, a brick manufacturer, purchased the lot at the northeast corner of Warren and Second Streets, where he erected a block of two Colonial Revival-style three-story red brick apartment buildings embellished with marble trim. In all likelihood, the brick used to construct the buildings was supplied by Brousseau’s brickyard in Ulster County. The design of the buildings has been attributed to Hudson architect Michael J. O'Connor. 

The two buildings are each three bays wide and five bays deep, separated at the center by an air shaft the extends from the back to approximately the middle of the structures. The air shaft provided light and air circulation to the inner rooms of the apartments. Each building has a pair of entrances that were once fronted by porticoes with Corinthian columns. The elegant marble detailing includes lintels with splayed ends and projecting keystones above the window openings and the water table capping the foundation. In an effort to make the buildings appear more elaborate, the foundation walls, where exposed, were covered with cement scored in imitation of ashlar masonry, or cut blocks of stone. Surmounting the block of buildings is a projecting cornice with modillions over a frieze decorated with ribbon-tied festoons of laurel leaves. 

The two buildings each housed three apartments, one on each level. The apartments consisted of a parlor, dining room, kitchen with pantry, bathroom, and three bedrooms. The parlor and dining room of each apartment were fitted with pressed-tin ceilings and cove moldings featuring neoclassical-style patterns. One of the two adjacent entrances in the main facade of each building provided access to the first-floor apartment while the other led to the apartments on the second and third levels.

The two apartment buildings were owned by three generations of the Brousseau family from 1903/1904 until the 1980s. 

In 2005, the buildings were acquired by T. Eric Galloway, and soon after, the porticoes were removed. Fortunately the buildings, with their porticoes intact, are part of Lynn Davis's monumental Warren Street Project, which documented all the buildings on Warren Street as they were in 1994 and 1995. 

COPYRIGHT LYNN DAVIS

Ear to the Ground

Last Tuesday, the Register-Star reported on a new multi-district alternative learning program for about forty high risk students from the Hudson City School District, Catskill Central School District, and Berkshire Union Free School District, to be headed up by controversial former Hudson High principal Tom Gavin and located somewhere in Hudson. The article didn't indicate where, but Gossips has learned from a credible source that the alternative learning program will be located in the old Register-Star building at the corner of Warren and Fourth streets.

Work crews with ladders have been observed at the building for the past week, and the word is they plan to have it ready for use in September.

Galvan Initiatives Foundation purchased the building in February 2012. For a while, it was considered as a possible new location for the Hudson Area Library, but the library board opted to stay with the Armory, the building Galvan had originally offered them. 

This news, assuming it's true, raises a question: Can a building in the heart of the city's commercial thoroughfare, which has been the office of a newspaper for the last hundred and fifty years, be re-purposed as a school without a site plan review by the Planning Commission? There seem to be all manner of concerns attendant on this change of use. On the most practical level, where will the buses park--for it seems there have to be buses to bring kids in from Catskill and Canaan and places besides Hudson within the Hudson City School District--when students disembark in the morning and board in the middle of the afternoon?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

Ear to the Ground

The news making the rounds on the street last week was that someone is interested in buying the three contiguous properties that are for sale in the 300 block of Warren Street to create a hotel. There have been plenty of rumors about plans for hotels in Hudson that never got beyond the rumor stage--most notably the rumor that the Ace Hotel Group was going to buy the Pocketbook Factory--so Gossips is waiting to see what happens with this one.

Documenting Hudson Architecture

Back in January, the Historic Preservation Commission was reviewing an application for a certificate of appropriateness to install new windows in the oriel at 721 Warren Street--the Animalkind building. The architect working on the project at that time described the windows at the front of the oriel as "two super ugly holes" and wanted to replace them with windows with muntons.

At the time, Gossips made an appeal to readers for a historic picture of the building, which could guide the decision about what windows would be appropriate for the building by establishing what the original windows looked like. Nothing came of that appeal, and the HPC ended up approving a configuration for the new windows based on a not-too-clear photograph of the building taken in 1985 when all the buildings in the Hudson Historic District were being inventoried for National Register designation. 

That picture was not shared with the public, and it was never quite clear, even to the most diligent and devoted observer, exactly what window configuration the HPC had approved. Gossips got the impression, however, that the windows approved for the front of the oriel had a single mullion, dividing the windows vertically in a manner similar to what is found on the oriel of the building next door.

Today, remarkably, Gossips received a response to the appeal made six months ago. Walter Ritchie sent a detail, taken with his cell phone, from a photograph he discovered recently in the History Room of the Hudson Area Library. The original is a "panoramic" photograph of the 700 block of Warren Street taken at the beginning of the 20th century (1900-1910).  

The hundred-year-old picture shows quite clearly that the front facing windows in the oriel at 721 Warren Street were always large single plates of glass. (There are white shades in the windows; the upper one fully drawn, the lower one partially drawn.) The windows at the sides were double hung sash, also without division. The picture shows, too, that the top window at the side of the oriel was originally arched, like the front window, but that detail has been lost over time.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK    

What's Happening at 3FortySeven

Michael Davis's plan for an outdoor food court at 347 Warren Street--with an ensemble of food trucks and an outdoor beer and wine garden --got site plan approval from the Planning Commission back in April 2012, and in the fifteen months that have passed since then, the eagerly anticipated mecca for gathering and grazing doesn't seem to have moved much closer to what was envisioned in this rendering.

Spring saw the re-opening of the acclaimed Taste of India, at the back of the lot, where the site plan indicated it would go, along with Truck Pizza. Then around the time the ever popular Tortillaville returned for the season, Truck Pizza closed down, and the word was its owner was heading back to California. In recent weeks, something new and unheralded was added: Hudson Gelato, sited right up at the front where a series of vendor stalls had been planned.

Recently, Gossips got the whole story of what's happening at 3FortySeven. First, about Hudson Gelato: the owners are Miles Vidor and William Smith, and the gelato is natural, kosher, and locally sourced. The news about Truck Pizza is that Sam Starr has sold the business to Alvaro Medina. Earlier this week, Starr was at the truck training his successor to make the inimitable pizza, and there was free pizza for anyone lucky enough to be around when that was happening. Truck Pizza is expected to be reopening sometime in the next few weeks. And there's a new truck expected to join the lineup very soon: Stephen Bluestone's Tin Can Kitchen. Tin Can Kitchen will be offering "slow, sustainable deli food," including organic hot dogs and sausages and condiments made from local ingredients.

The beer and wine garden, with both indoor and outdoor seating, now has a name: BackBar. Described by its creator as "a healthy bar alternative offering food and drinks throughout the day, from breakfast into late night," BackBar is expected to open in the fall and stay open throughout the year, six days a week. The food on offer will be provided by Hudson Grains and Greens, managed by Miles Vidor. In the morning, the drinks will be gourmet coffees to accompany such breakfast fare as local yogurt with granola and berries, quinoa egg burritos, steel-cut oatmeal with cinnamon, vanilla, crushed nuts, and local maple syrup. Later in the day, for lunch and dinner, there will be wine, locally brewed beer and cider, and small production liquors, to complement such menu offerings as vegetarian farm-to-table salads and hearty grains, with some fish and poultry and veggie burgers. The casual dining scene in Hudson is about to become even more diverse and intriguing than it already is.

What She Said

Tom DePietro's interview with city attorney Cheryl Roberts has been archived and can be heard at wgxc.org. Although much of what she said in the interview she has said before, it's worth listening to hear her confirm that Holcim wants to sell the port and the mine and get out of the Hudson Valley and then dismiss the notion that the City of Hudson could buy it by alluding to the Common Council's struggle over the purchase of two police cars.

The City and Its Finances

The Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday night was supposed to determine if the City would plunge over a fiscal cliff if the Dunn warehouse and the lot at Fourth and State streets were not sold to the highest bidder before the year is out, but that discussion really didn't happen. But even though that question was never answered and the meeting sometimes devolved into bickering about money, some important information emerged.

The big topic of the evening was the news that Galvan Partners was walking away from the purchase of 405 Warren Street. There were questions about who knew what when (the city treasurer, it seems, was among the last to know), whether the City can now go to the next highest bidder (assistant city attorney Carl Whitbeck reportedly has reservations about that), and if the City has to return the $26,000 down payment (the letter to Whitbeck from Galvan attorney Mark Greenberg, which gives no reason for backing out, makes this request: "Please return the down payment at your earliest convenience"). When committee member Nick Haddad (First Ward) suggested that the City has shown some discretion about returning down payments on auctioned property in the past, Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward) said, astoundingly, since she is usually the Council's self-appointed bean counter when it comes to getting and spending, "If we've done it in the past [i.e., return a deposit], we should do it again."

The topic that provoked shouting at the Finance Committee meeting was the purchase of two new "unbudgeted" police cars. Chief Ed Moore, who told First Ward residents in May that he thought the police car was one of the worst inventions for municipal policing, now wants two new ones. (By Gossips' count, there are currently five "black and whites" and an untold number of unmarked police vehicles.) Cappy Pierro, chair of the Police Committee (and police commissioner in the past), wants to deliver those cars, but city treasurer Eileen Halloran cautions budgetary restraint.

Halloran prefaced the police car discussion with information about the budget. To balance the 2013 city budget, $200,000 was allocated from the general fund. So far in 2013, the Common Council has appropriated expenditures from the general fund that exceed that amount by $130,000. Those expenditures include the $71,000 paid to Spacesmith for the design of a senior center that was never built; $26,000 allocated for the demolition of 67 Fairview Avenue; and the down payment on 701 Union Street. 

Although the actual amount in the fund balance has never been disclosed, we are led to believe that it is an adequate and healthy amount. Making reference to the fund balance, Halloran said on Monday, "We didn't get in the healthy condition we're in by purchasing every bright, shiny object." She was alluding, of course, to the new firetruck for Hoysradt and the two new police cars, and her comment incensed Pierro, who accused her of jeopardizing the welfare and safety of Hudson residents with her penury. The police, Pierro asserted, haven't had a new vehicle in three years, and the cars to be replaced have more than 90,000 miles on them. 

The solution suggested by Halloran is the one that the Council decided to follow: the cost of one car--$22,000--will come from the general fund; the police must find the $22,000 for the second car in their own budget.

To continue her theme that the Council needs to be disciplined in its spending, Halloran updated the committee on the "foreclosure list"--the list of properties at risk of foreclosure owing to nonpayment of property taxes. The list, which every year starts out long and ends up fairly short as property owners enter into payment agreements or find ways to pay their back taxes, is now down to 81 properties. These properties, she reported, are spread throughout the city: 13 percent in the First Ward; 27 percent in the Second Ward; 16 percent in the Third Ward; 18 percent in the Fourth Ward; 26 percent in the Fifth Ward. "Foreclosures," said Halloran, "are a factor of the taxes. The stress [indicated by these numbers] is across the city."

The question of whether or not the City needed to sell the Dunn warehouse and the lot at Fourth and State was never actually addressed, but on that topic, Cheryl Stuart expressed the opinion that "every time the City mismanages money, they shouldn't turn around and try to sell valuable property." In truth, it's not a matter of mismanaging money. It's more of a Jacob and Esau thing--being willing to give up something of immense long-term value to satisfy an immediate need. Haddad alluded to this when he declared, "The Dunn warehouse has no business being sold."
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

On a Thursday in 1889

Because the building on the waterfront that was once the Hudson Gasification Works is currently the subject of heated debate over whether or not it should be sold at auction, Gossips tried earlier this week to find out more about this historic industrial building. Turning to my favorite research tool, Fulton History, I searched for "Hudson gas works" and was taken to a page from the Daily Evening Register for May 16, 1889. The item about the gas works wasn't very enlightening, but the page included many other fascinating bits of news and commentary--all of which I share now.

Apparently the notion of taxing dogs, or licensing them, as we think of it today, was introduced in New York State in 1889. It's amazing that a century and a quarter later, the fees have not increased that much. In 1889, it was $2 for a male dog, and $3 for a female dog. Today, there is no gender distinction. In Hudson, the fee is $13.50 for a spayed or neutered dog and $50 for a dog that has not been spayed or neutered.

The newspaper that day also reports that first "paying train" to cross the newly completed railroad bridge at Poughkeepsie will be the Barnum's circus train. That railroad bridge today, of course, is Walkway Over the Hudson.

Then there is this notice of a lawsuit brought by a woman from Poughkeepsie who is suing the owners of a Hudson saloon because her husband got drunk and fell out the saloon, injuring himself to such an extent that he can no longer work.

It's very likely that the saloon the unfortunate Mr. Muldary fell out of was located in this building at Warren and Third streets. A saloon called McKenna's occupied the ground floor of this building for decades, and until the current owner removed them within the last decade, there were French doors on the ground floor.

This item, with a Newburgh connection, is a cautionary tale about the need to be precise with language and careful about what you agree to.

Most people who have been involved with gutting an old building have had the experience of finding old newspapers, which had been used as insulation, in the walls and ceilings. This item gives some insight into other 19th-century uses for old newspapers. (Buffalo bugs are carpet beetles.)

Then there is this item, which laments a growing problem on Hudson's streets in 1889: the use, by young men, of rude, offensive or foul language.

It sometimes seems that newspapers, when acknowledging an error, go to great lengths to exonerate themselves of any blame. Even given that, this response to a man who pointed out that the newspaper had reported the date of his wedding incorrectly seems both ungracious and harsh.

Not to Be Missed

Sam Pratt has more dish on his blog about the fallout from Rick Scalera's defection: "Amid heat wave, Hudson Dems experience total meltdown." 

Nothing New Under the Sun

In today's Register-Star, John Mason catches up on the story Gossips reported on Tuesday night: "Scalera changes horses, will run with GOP." Citing his reasons for declining the Democratic designation, the first mentioned are his "philosophical differences" with the Democrats' mayoral candidate, Victor Mendolia. Scalera promises to elaborate on those philosophical differences as the campaign progresses. Of course, that fails to explain why he waited until the last possible moment to decline the designation. The Democrats announced their slate of candidates weeks ago. 

Another reason is his pique that only four signatures had been gathered by others on his behalf. Scalera says that he "was given assurances the committee was obtaining names," but, unlike Scalera himself, Gossips was present at the Hudson City Democratic Committee meeting the night the petitions were distributed, and it seemed pretty clear that the expectation was that candidates would be involved in the petition process, obtaining signatures not only for themselves but for other Democratic candidates. Curious, Gossips FOILed the petitions that were turned in and discovered that Scalera obtained no signatures for anyone but himself.

Mason's article also chronicles Scalera's previous dalliances with the Republican Party, going back to 2005 when Scalera supported unsuccessful Republican mayoral candidate Dan Grandinetti and more recently in 2011 when he supported Republican Bill Hallenbeck's run for mayor. In truth, Scalera started his political career forty years ago running as a Republican. A Gossips reader found this picture of Scalera in a twelve-page Republican Party advertising supplement to the Register-Star for November 2, 1973.

Bid Farewell to the Wall

The demolition of 124 Union Street has begun, and with this little infill house, whose side walls were the walls of the houses on either side, will go that last vestige of a very early Hudson house, one that was already here when the Proprietors arrived in 1783.

The owner of 124 Union Street is demolishing the little house in order to build an addition onto 122 Union Street. The demolition received a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission in May, but it almost didn't. The vote was split, with three members voting aye, three members voting nay, and one member--Tony Thompson--abstaining. When he realized that his abstention meant a certificate of appropriateness would be denied, Thompson changed his vote to aye, saying that he didn't want to "impede progress."

If the ancient brick wall had not been an integral part of the infill house, it would have been demolished back in 1993, when efforts to save the 18th-century house after a devastating fire had to be abandoned. Still, the wall has been, for twenty years, an intriguing and provocative element in the streetscape of lower Union Street, offering a unique window into so much of Hudson's past. I will be sorry to see it go, and I encourage readers to come down to see it one more time before it does.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

God Is in the Details

Earlier this week, a reader reported that the gable at 67-71 North Fifth Street appeared to be finished, but there was no window or vent. The original gable had a pair of small windows; the proposed design showed what appeared to be some kind of vent.

But this oversight has now been remedied as well. This picture was taken of the building yesterday and shows a window in the gable that appears to be more like the original than what was proposed.

A Remarkable Turn of Events

On Monday, Rick Scalera, whose desire in the past to appear on the ballot as many times as possible led him to commandeer, in the 2003 mayoral race, his opponent's Bottom Line Party, declined the designation as the Democratic candidate for Fifth Ward supervisor and gave up his spot on the Democratic line. Scalera will be running on the Republican, Conservative, and Independence Party lines, as will his running mates in the Fifth Ward, Robert "Doc" Donahue and Bart Delaney.

It is not clear why Scalera rejected the Democratic endorsement, but there is speculation that he may have been unhappy because some members of the Democratic Committee and other Democratic candidates did not gather petition signatures on his behalf. (Apropos the party notion of "all for one and one for all," two years ago Scalera, who had the endorsement of the Democrats in his run for supervisor, did radio ads for mayoral candidate Bill Hallenbeck, the Republican candidate.)  

The officers of the Hudson City Democratic Committee--Aaron Enfield, president; Debby Mayer, secretary; Sarah Sterling, treasurer--have until Friday to designate a new candidate to run for Fifth Ward supervisor on the Democratic line, but Enfield told Gossips tonight, after the three had met in executive session, that they continued to think that Scalera would be the best representative of the Fifth Ward on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, and they were not planning to name a new candidate.

Ear to the Ground

Hours before the Finance Committee is due to discuss whether or not the City, given the revenue realized from the auction on June 1, still needs to sell the Dunn warehouse on the waterfront and the vacant lot at Fourth and State streets in order to close a gap in the 2013 budget, Gossips has received word that Galvan Partners, for reasons still unknown, does not intend to go through with the purchase of 405 Warren Street. Rumor has it that some people in city government knew about this a week ago, but the city treasurer Eileen Halloran learned of it only this morning. 

Galvan's winning bid of $354,000 for 405 Warren Street represented a big part of the $425,000 in unanticipated revenue that some aldermen were hoping could prevent the sale at auction of the two City-owned properties, which have been identified as key properties in the development of the waterfront and the revitalization of the north side of Hudson. In the past, Galvan Partners have expressed interest in buying both properties: the Dunn warehouse and the lot at Fourth and State streets. In December 2010, Galvan Partners, then calling themselves Warren Street Partners, offered the City $250,000 for the Dunn warehouse and later had a change of heart. In June 2012, Galvan offered the City $150,000 for the lot at Fourth and State and apparently had second thoughts about that, too. The City recently had appraisals done on the two properties which estimated the value of the Dunn warehouse at $335,000 and the value of the vacant lot at $72,000.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

Turn Your Radios On

Tomorrow morning, July 17, at 10 a.m., Tom DePietro will be interviewing Cheryl Roberts, city attorney and principal author and interpreter of Hudson's controversial Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan (LWRP). The interview with Roberts on WGXC's @Issue is expected to continue DePietro's exploration of the LWRP, its content, its status, and its implications, which began with an interview with Chris Reed, Patrick Doyle, and Timothy O'Connor of the South Bay Task Force and continued in subsequent interviews with Linda Mussmann, who chaired the Waterfront Advisory Steering Committee in 2006-2007, and Common Council president Don Moore. The show can be heard on WGXC, 90.7 FM on your radio dial or online at wgxc.org.  

School District News

There are two articles about the Hudson City School District in today's Register-Star, both written by Arthur Cusano. 

The first reports that someone is interested in buying the Greenport School: "City school board accepts Greenport school sale bid." This is not the same person who, according to the Register-Star, was going to give the building a "Hollywood makeover." That buyer withdrew his offer. The new buyer, Mark Solomon, who is identified as "a local area resident," has offered $400,000 for the building. (The district was asking $750,000.) There is no information about how he intends to use the building. 

The sale of the building must be approved in a referendum by the voters in the Hudson City School District.

A second article reports that Thomas Gavin, the former principal of Hudson High School who was accused by HCDS superintendent Maria Suttmeier of sexual harassment, suspended for nine months, and recently reinstated, will head up a new multi-district alternative learning program: "Gavin to head up new alternative ed. program." The program, sometimes referred to as "the bridge," will involve about forty high risk students from HCSD, Catskill Central School District, and Berkshire Union Free School District. It has not been announced where this program will be physically located beyond that it will be somewhere within the two square miles of Hudson.

"Will Work for Film"

If you love film, Basilica Hudson has a great opportunity for you. 

In exchange for helping out for four hours at BasilicaScope, Hudson's first annual film festival at Basilica Hudson, you get a free festival pass, a special festival souvenir, and the opportunity to make new friends, watch great films, and meet the filmmakers!   

Volunteers of all ages are needed for tasks ranging from directing cars in the parking lot to supervising the front desk during the festival that runs from Thursday, July 18, through Saturday, July 20. These are the available shifts:

• Thursday ~ 5 to 9 p.m. or 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.
• Friday ~ 5 to 9 p.m. or 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.
• Saturday ~ 5 to 9 p.m. or 8:30 to 11:30 p.m.
• Sunday ~ Noon to 4 p.m.

Email the Basilica to let them know what help you'd like to provide and when. Click here for the festival schedule.

Assets for Sale . . . or Not

Lately there have been some very heated exchanges in the Common Council, involving not only the aldermen but also members of the audience, over the possible sale of the Dunn warehouse and the vacant lot at Fourth and State streets. 

Back in November, the Council—absent aldermen Nick Haddad (First Ward) and Chris Wagoner (Third Ward)--docilely agreed to write into the 2013 city budget $300,000 in anticipated revenue from the sale of these two City-owned properties. Now, with 2013 more than half gone, two aldermen--Ohrine Stewart (Fourth Ward) and Cappy Pierro (Fifth Ward)—are pushing to sell one or both these properties at auction, because it was written into the budget. Other aldermen—most vocally John Friedman (Third Ward) and Haddad—believe that it is no longer necessary to sell these properties in haste because the auction of foreclosed properties brought in more than $300,000 in unanticipated revenue. They argue that the City should retain ownership of the properties until the highest and best use for each can be realized.

At last Monday's informal Common Council meeting, Council president Don Moore poured oil on the turbulent waters by saying that question of whether or not the City needs the revenue from the sale of these properties to balance the 2013 budget would be taken up by the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee meets tomorrow--Tuesday, July 16--at 5:30 p.m. The regular meeting of the Common Council follows at 7 p.m.

Coming on Saturday

With one summer weekend just behind us, it's time to plan for the next. So much is happening in Hudson these days that if Samuel Johnson were among us he might very well be inspired to quip, "When a man is tired of Hudson, he is tired of life." 

Next Saturday, July 20, there's a brand-new event taking place on the waterfront: Hudson River Exchange, the first maker fair in our area.

Hudson River Exchange is a curated, independent craft fair --a celebration of all things handmade and locally sourced, inspired by the mercantile history of the Hudson River. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., more than seventy makers, artisans, and collectors will be offering crafts, art, and vintage wares. There will be vendors selling food made with ingredients sourced from local farms. Throughout the day, there will be live music which will continue at the Half Moon even after the stalls at the fair have closed up shop.

So if you appreciate objets handsome and handmade, savor food wholesome and local, and enjoy being by the river listening to music and taking in the view, head down to riverfront park on Saturday for Hudson River Exchange. Admission to the fair is free. You can preview the work of some of the vendors on the event's Facebook page.

The Evolution of a Grant Application

Every year, Hudson applies for a Community Development Block Grant (CDGB). CDBG is a HUD program, administered in New York by the Department of State Division of Community Services. The last time Hudson had a successful CDBG application was in 2010, when $400,000 was awarded to build a senior center, although how successful it was is debatable. After delays caused by a significant omission in the original application, substantial underestimates of the cost of the building, and a dramatic shift in plans, it looks like the request to re-purpose the grant will be denied, and the City will forfeit the $400,000.

Every year, the CDBG process is the same. There is a mandated public meeting to solicit project ideas from the community. Then there is a second mandated public hearing to present and receive comment on the project chosen for that year's grant application. The project presented at the second public hearing is rarely one that was suggested by anyone at the first public hearing. The choice of projects is made with the advice of the grant consultants based on what the grant program is "looking for this year." This makes for community development not driven by the community and what residents perceive to be their needs but by whatever is the flavor of the month--or in this case, of the year--at HUD and DCS.

So this year, the first public hearing took place on May 16. Among the ideas articulated at that meeting, there was a common theme: sidewalks. The sidewalks in Hudson, off Warren Street, are deplorable, on both sides of town--a situation created and exacerbated by the fact that responsibility for the sidewalks is foisted onto individual property owners, resulting in sidewalks that are in disrepair and sidewalks of remarkably inconsistent height. Treacherous in a city that would like to perceive itself as a walkable city.

But alas, a sidewalk project was judged to be not a good "fit" for CDBG, so at the next meeting, advertised as a "continuation of the public hearing," grant consultant Bill Roehr pitched another idea: directing the potential resources of three grant programs--CDGB, Rural Area Revitalization, and Main Street--to a single target area in the city to make visible improvements to buildings, which would benefit not only the people who own and live in them but the community as a whole.

That was June 6. Since then the applications for the Rural Area Revitalization and Main Street programs have gone their separate ways: the former to fix up the City-owned town house at 10 Warren Street in which the Hudson Day Care Center is operated; the latter for facade improvements to commercial buildings somewhere on Columbia Street. The CDBG application will be for housing rehabilitation.

At a public hearing on July 11, the second hearing mandated by the CDBG program, John "Duke" Duchessi explained how the housing rehabilitation grant might work. If the grant application is successful, the City would get $400,000 which in turn would be awarded as grants to low and very low income home owners to make basic improvements to their homes. Upgrades to heating and plumbing systems have been mentioned; so has replacing windows and doors--the former by Duchessi, the latter by Fourth Ward supervisor Bill Hughes. Qualifying properties would be required to be owner occupied single-family and two-family houses, and the maximum grant would be $25,000. Eligibility could be limited to a target area, or it could be citywide. Mayoral candidate Victor Mendolia, who was at the meeting, expressed his unequivocal preference for making grants available to qualifying homeowners throughout the city.     

The deadline for submitting CDBG applications has not yet been announced, but Duchessi recommended that the City begin preparing for the grant now by doing the following:

• Create a citizens' advisory committee to establish criteria for owner qualifications and projects
• Identify a pool of qualified contractors
• Do a request for proposal for the administration of the grant
• Prequalify twenty prospective grant recipients

Alderman John Friedman (Third Ward) raised questions about who would appoint the committee and provide oversight for its work. Those questions were not resolved at the public hearing.
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK