A Night at the Council: Part 1

Gossips has been observing the Common Council for many years now, and last night something happened that I don't think has ever happened before. At the end of a meeting that lasted for more than two and a half hours, a roll call vote was taken to decide whether or not to adjourn. Eight voted in favor of adjournment; three were opposed. 

Because it was such a full evening, Gossips will report on what happened one issue at a time, beginning with the license agreement for the docks at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park. 

We are well into May. The floating docks have not yet been installed in the park, and the question of who will use and manage the docks has not been resolved. At a special meeting on Monday, May 10, the Common Council voted six to five to authorize Mayor Kamal Johnson to enter into a licensing agreement with Hudson Cruises, which has been operating from the river-facing commercial dock for the past seventeen years. 

Last night, the Council voted six to five to rescind the resolution it had passed the previous week. Before voting not to rescind the resolution, Alderman Eileen Halloran (Fifth Ward) said, "This is very confusing, and it sets a bad precedent." In voting to rescind, Alderman John Rosenthal spoke of the "commercial monopoly of the dock."

Before the vote on rescinding the resolution was taken, the Council heard from Noor Rahaman and Sam Merrett, representing respectively Hudson Cruises and the Hudson Sloop Club, the two entities vying for the license to use and manage the docks. Rahaman told the Council that in the past Hudson Cruises had worked harmoniously with the Hudson Sloop Club. He said Merrett was a former employee of Hudson Cruises and noted that Merrett had used the dock this past weekend to load his boat, Apollonia, with barley for delivery to breweries in New York City. Rahaman cited the late issuance of the RPF, which didn't happen until March, as "the reason we are having this dispute." He invited Merrett to engage in a dialogue over dock access.

For his part, Merrett said the process "has been strange and dividing." He said the Sloop Club was "trying to expand community public programming on the commercial dock" and "create connections with other vessels on the river." Rahaman responded that in the past, the boats Merrett mentioned, among them the Clearwater, had never been turned away. He argued that the three boats Hudson Cruises docks in Hudson "are our revenue stream" and told the Council they had already lost $10,000 in cruises that had to be canceled because of the delay. 

After the Council voted to rescind the resolution, Council president Tom DePietro said, "Let's just hash this out at a special meeting." That special meeting has been scheduled for Monday, May 24, at 7:00 p.m. Later DePietro commented, "Maybe we'll resolve it offline before Monday."

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been nine new cases of COVID-19. Many of the new cases continue to be residents and staff at Barnwell in Valatie. A press release from Matt Murell, chair of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, today reports: "Columbia County Department of Health Director Mabb today said the Grand Rehabilitation & Nursing facility in Valatie’s COVID-19 outbreak continues its upward trend. Currently, 16 residents and 11 staff are infected with the virus, up from 11 and eight, respectively, reported last Friday."

The total number of cases being reported today is six fewer than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that fifteen more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are thirty more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number hospitalized with the virus remains the same. No one is in the ICU, and there has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, May 4.  

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 1.2 percent and a seven-day average of 1.8 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 1.3 percent and the seven-day average is 1.3 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported one new case of COVID-19 and one death from the virus. The total number of cases was 345, and the number of active cases was 185. There were 153 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 16 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 27.

Unintended Consequences

At a special meeting of the Common Council last week Monday, the Council voted 6 to 5 to authorize Mayor Kamal Johnson to enter into a license agreement with Hudson Cruises for the use of the docks in Henry Hudson Riverfront Park. 

Three hours later, at the end of the informal meeting which followed immediately after the special meeting, Alderman Rebecca Wolff brought up the issue of the dock license again, arguing that the Council had not been given adequate to consider the issue and that the Council not the mayor's office should have made the decision. It was decided that authorization of the license agreement would be suspended until the Council had had more time to assess the two proposals received: one from Hudson Cruises, the other from the Hudson Sloop Club.

Last night at the Tourism Board meeting, there was a participant whose screen identified her/him only as "Citizen 001." When Council president Tom DePietro asked those participants whose identities he did not know to identify themselves, Citizen 001 said he was a member of the public who wanted to observe the meeting anonymously. At the end of the meeting, when Tourism Board chair Calvin Lewis invited public comment, Citizen 001 identified himself and explained his interest in the meeting. He was getting married on June 5. He and his fiancee were planning a ceremony St. Mary's Church, followed by a cruise on the Marika, one of the Hudson Cruises boats. He wanted to know if the issue of the dock had been settled, and if the boat would be there so their wedding could happen as planned. DePietro told him the issue of the dock and its usage would be settled tonight at the regular meeting of the Common Council.  

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More Blocks on More Blocks

The installation of the concrete barriers along Warren Street, to protect diners and shoppers from the hazard of passing cars, began yesterday and continues today. Facebook is abuzz with photographs, videos, and complaints about them, and you have to admit that sitting in the street, unenhanced by planters or dining tables or merchandise, they look pretty brutal.

At last night's Tourism Board meeting, Council president Tom DePietro pointed out that the concrete blocks can be painted. The photo below, provided by a reader, shows similar concrete blocks, which have been painted, in use in New York City.

Gary Purnhagen, project manager for Warren Street Seasonal Usage 2021, said he was going to reach out to the business community about painting the blocks, adding, "We don't want kids to go at them with spray cans." He also told that board he was going to refer the barriers as "Donald Judd-esque blocks," saying, "There's some connection of Donald Judd to Hudson." Although he didn't explain his allusion, Gossips will. Donald Judd's daughter, Rainer, owns a house in Hudson and served a two-year term (2006-2007) as an alderman for the Third Ward.

At the Tourism Board meeting, John Kane, whom Tourism Board member Chris McManus referred to as "critic in exile," asked about an incident that had taken place a couple of hours after the first cement blocks had been put into position: a car collided with one of the barriers and moved it. Kane wanted to know the make and model of the vehicle. Members of the Tourism Board, who seemed to have no knowledge of the incident, suggested that Kane should be directing his question to the Hudson Police Department. DePietro later commented about the incident, "If we had what we had last year, it probably would have hit a person."

Tourism Board member Kate Treacy told the board there was "an overwhelming number of businesses that did not make the April deadline" for requesting use of the parking spaces and urged, "We should be providing for all businesses that want to participate." As it was explained on Sunday by Purnhagen, businesses that had not registered in April would receive the concrete barriers only if businesses that had registered decided not to participate. Without concrete barriers, businesses will not to allowed to expand into parking spaces. Last night the Tourism Board decided to allocate another $2,000 to purchase more concrete barriers to accommodate businesses now on a waiting list.

Update: Gossips has learned there has been another collision of car and concrete barrier. A car making a right turn onto Warren Street from Third struck with a barrier at Lawrence Park.

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COVID-19 Update

After taking the weekend off, the Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since Friday, there have been nine new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is fourteen fewer than Friday, from which it can be inferred that 23 more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are 46 fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine today than on Friday, but the number hospitalized with the virus remains the same. None of those hospitalized is in the ICU, and there has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, May 4. 

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 1.7 percent and a seven-day average of 1.7 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 1.5 percent and the seven-day average is 1.3 percent.

 
A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 4 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 344, and the number of active cases was 188. There were 153 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 17 were hospitalized, and 1 was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 26.

Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead

We've turned the corner. The weather this week promises to be consistently warm and summerlike, but the Zoom meetings go on. Here's what's happening this week.

• Today, Monday, May 17, the Hendrick Hudson DAR Speaker Series presents "Women's History and Historic House Museums." The talk by Patricia West McKay begins at 2:30 p.m. Click here for more information and to register. 

• At 5:00 p.m. on Monday, May 17, the Tourism Board holds a special meeting. The subject of the meeting is not known--at least, not known to Gossips. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
• On Tuesday, May 18, the Hudson City School District holds its budget vote and school board election from noon until 9:00 p.m. The polling place for Hudson is the Central Fire Station at 71 North Seventh Street. Click here for information about the vote. For information published by HCSD, click here.  

• At 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) holds a special meeting at which the Galvan Foundation will present its application for PILOTs (payment in lieu of taxes) for the buildings proposed for the Depot District with all the modifications to the proposal that have been made to the project since the application was originally submitted. At this meeting, the public hearing on the proposed PILOTs will be scheduled. Click here to join the Zoom meeting. 

• Also on Tuesday, May 18, the Common Council ad hoc committee tasked with drafting legislation to address the maintenance and repair of sidewalks meets at 5:30 p.m. The link to the meeting will be published on the City of Hudson website sometime tomorrow.
• At 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18, the Common Council holds its regular monthly meeting. Two issues that will be decided by the Council at this meeting are: (1) how to proceed with licensing of the docks at Henry Hudson Waterfront Park for the 2021 season; and (2) whether to accept $100,000 from the Galvan Foundation to pursue a feasibility study on relocating City Hall to 400 State Street, or to authorize bonding for $475,000 to make 520 Warren Street, the current location of City Hall, ADA compliant. The link to the Zoom meeting will be posted on the City of Hudson website prior to the meeting.   
• On Wednesday, May 19, the Tenant Relations Subcommittee of the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meets at 6:00 p.m. The subcommittee will be discussing the data collected in a survey of tenants conducted by the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition and how it will be used in HHA's development planning. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
• On Thursday, May 20, the Common Council ad hoc committee dealing with overnight alternate side of the street parking meets at 6:00 p.m. The link to the meeting will be posted on the City of Hudson website prior to the meeting.  

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Warren Street Seasonal Usage Update

Yesterday, Gossips received the following information from Gary Purnhagen, the project manager for Warren Street Seasonal Usage 2021. 

The installation of the concrete barriers begins today, Monday, May 17. The goal is to have them all in place by the beginning of next week so participating businesses can use their spaces for Memorial Day Weekend. Once the barriers are in space, the Department of Public Works will be placing the planters in the setups. New plants were installed in the planters this past weekend by volunteers from Perfect Ten, along with Michael Conti of Grace Gardens. Plants will be installed in planters that are owned by businesses over the next week and a half.

The entire setup process will take approximately a week and a half. Businesses will only be allowed to use their setups once the safety installations are complete, and all the permitting paperwork in finalized. 

Businesses that did not register their interest in participating by the April 19 deadline can contact Gary Purnhagen to be added to the wait list. Purnhagen advises: 

Additional participation will only become an option if businesses who originally wanted to participate decide not to and the resources needed to install the safety setups become available. I will be contacting businesses on the wait list on a first come first serve basis if/when this is the case.

Purnhagen's City of Hudson email address will be made available later today.

Contention Over a Plot of Land

Once upon a time, four lots on the northeast corner of Columbia and Second streets comprised a community garden. The garden had been established in 1993 on land owned by Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA), and over the course of years, there were times when it was vibrant and flourishing, the times when it was overgrown and neglected.

In 2013, after two decades of existence, the community garden was flourishing. It was being managed by Vanessa Baehr and Sarah Faulkner, there was an active volunteer board, and forty families had plots in the garden and grew a significant amount of their food there. It was then that Habitat for Humanity approached HCDPA wanting to acquire the land to build more of their passive houses. Habitat for Humanity claimed that longtime mayor Rick Scalera had promised them the plot; the community garden appealed to HCDPA to preserve the vitally important organic garden and its delicate ecosystem which had taken so long to develop. Tensions ran high. 

In the end, what was decided was something like the Judgment of Solomon, if what Solomon had proposed had actually been carried out. HCDPA sold one of the four lots, a lot which was actually bigger than the other three lots combined, to Habitat for Humanity, and allowed Hudson Community Garden to continue to exist on the other three lots.

By 2016, the Habitat houses had been built, the families who had plots in the garden had found other places to grow their vegetables, and the garden at Columbia and Second streets ceased to exist. In May 2016, HCDPA announced that sealed bids were being accepted for 202, 204, and 206 Columbia Street. The bids were due on June 9, 2016. Either no bids were received or none was accepted, because HCDPA still owns the property.

Now there is new tension over the three lots that are all that remain of the community garden. At the HCDPA meeting in April, Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward) brought up the garden, saying that people want to use it, but the space needs to be cleaned out. Garriga asserted, "The people who need to grow food are using it." Branda Maholtz, the coordinator for HCDPA, explained that HCDPA did not have insurance to cover the use of the garden. She suggested that if there were a community group that would take responsibility to manage the garden, HCDPA could partner with that group. Garriga told Maholtz, "You're bringing us down." When Maholtz recalled that TSL was once involved with managing the garden and might be willing to do so again, Garriga snapped, "How disrespectful are you?"

Mayor Kamal Johnson intervened and volunteered to work with Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC) to work out a solution, a solution that might involve Grow Black Hudson, a community gardening initiative started by Nkoula Badila.

At some time between HCDPA's April meeting and its May meeting, an individual whose identity was not revealed expressed an interest in purchasing the three lots. The person is considering buying another property in proximity to the lots. At last Tuesday's HCDPA meeting, Garriga observed, "We were talking about the community garden, now all of a sudden a buyer comes forth." She demanded to know "who told people that." It seems that, when learning about the interest in buying the property, HCHC made its own offer to buy the lots, and Quintin Cross and other members of the HCHC staff were present at the Zoom meeting on Tuesday, apparently with the expectation of making their case for acquiring the property. Maholtz had to explain that, as a public agency, HCDPA had to follow a process for disposing of the property, and the first step in the process was to get an updated appraisal. Claire Cousin, who is part of HCHC, responded to that information by saying she felt disrespected by City officials. Garriga said she wanted to schedule a special meeting to discuss the fate of garden, and June 1 was suggested as the date for that meeting.

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Walking Maps of Hudson

Today, at the Trixie's Oven cookie table at the Hudson Farmers Market, you could get a bonus: a Trixie's List Hudson Walking Map.

All the critical information about Hudson and nearby Greenport is on the map, including such things as the Hudson Dog Park and the Greenport Conservation Area. If you missed snagging one this morning at the farmers market, look for them around town. If you have a business or a hostelry, you can get the copies of the map from TrixiesList.com. Click here to make your request.

COVID Insight

Despite the fact that the CDC has declared it unnecessary for vaccinated people to wear masks anywhere, new cases of COVID-19 continue to be reported in Columbia County. There were twelve today. That's seven more than were reported on this day last year. 

Although we are still far from herd immunity, one wonders about this persistent rate of new infections. Today's press release from Matt Murell, chair of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, sheds some light. Murell reports: "Also Friday, DOH Director Mabb said the Grand Rehabilitation & Nursing facility in Valatie is experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19. Currently, 11 residents and eight staff are infected with the virus."

A year ago, half the cases of COVID-19 in Columbia County were in nursing homes, and 76 percent of those cases were at The Grand at Barnwell.

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been twelve new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is seven more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that five more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are seven more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, and two more are hospitalized with the virus, although none is in the ICU. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, May 4.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 3.6 percent and a seven-day average of 2.2 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 1.1 percent and the seven-day average is 1.4 percent.   

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 5 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 333, and the number of active cases was 183. There were 151 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 11 were hospitalized, and 1 was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 24.

History Prevails

For those following the Great Window Debate of 2021, I won't keep you in suspense. Today, the Historic Preservation Commission denied a certificate of appropriateness to the proposal to replace all the windows at 400 State Street with nine over nine windows, a proposal that ignored the evidence provided by an 1830 engraving of the building which shows the window configuration to be twelve over twelve.

Voting against the proposal were Paul Barrett, the historian member of the HPC; Chip Bohl, the architect member; John Schobel; and Miranda Barry. Phil Forman, HPC chair, and Hugh Biber voted in favor.  

During the discussion that preceded the vote, Biber opined that, with the proposed windows, the building was "going in a very good direction . . . to make the building great again." Schobel responded, "If everything is a matter of style, what's the purpose of historic preservation." Responding to the idea, posited by Walter Chatham at previous HPC meetings, that the windows had been changed from nine over nine to twelve over twelve in 1830 when the building became the lunatic asylum, Barrett noted that they would not have gone from larger pane windows to smaller pane windows because, in the 19th century, proper light was considered to be important for the state of mind of mental patients. 

Barry spoke of the building's prominence in the city's historic architecture, saying that its early uses, first as an almshouse and then as a lunatic asylum, were important parts of the city's history. She said she was convinced by the window in the west gable, saying, "It belies the notion that the engraving might not be accurate." She recalled Schobel's statement at a previous meeting: "This is not the Aesthetics Committee; it's the Historic Preservation Commission." Barry concluded, "If we are going to do our job, we have to preserve our history." 

Of some interest is that, in supporting his case for nine over nine windows, Chatham, who said he'd been criticized for using far-flung examples, today produced an example very close to home: 211 Union Street, the birthplace of General William Jenkins Worth, a building he said "sums up what a stylish house in the 19th century would have looked like." What Chatham didn't bother to mention, if in fact he even knew, was that this house was restored by Eric Galloway ten years ago in a restoration project that returned the building to what it was believed it would have looked like during the eighteen years (1794-1812) when Worth lived there, based on no archival evidence. Gossips' account of the public hearing on that project can be found here.

At one point in the discussion, Chatham told the commission, "The owner doesn't want to put in twelve over twelve windows. If nine over nine isn't approve, he will put in windows that simply replace what is there." What is there, for the most part, are the windows that were installed in 1865, when the building was refitted to be the private residence of George H. Power. Forman characterized Chatham's position as "My way or the highway." Code enforcement officer Craig Haigh clarified that like for like replacement, which would not require review by the HPC, means identical in every way. Schobel elaborated, "If the owner cannot reproduce the windows exactly as they are now, it is not like for like."  

Although Chatham declared he was willing to "go to the mat" for what he called "a question of style," and Forman asked him why he was taking "such a hard line" with this proposal, things ended fairly amicably. Chatham told the members of the HPC, "Even if we disagree about the occasional windows, we all agree that the city is an architectural treasure, and many believe the entire city should be under the HPC."

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been eight new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is two fewer than yesterday, from which it can it inferred that ten more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are nine more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number hospitalized with the virus remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, May 4. 

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 1.2 percent and a seven-day average of 2.1 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 1.0 percent and the seven-day average is 1.5 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported no new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 328, and the active cases was 184. There were 159 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 8 were hospitalized, and none was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 24.

For Want of a Nail . . .

We hear regularly about the housing crisis in Hudson. There are at least three projects being discussed to address that situation: the Galvan Foundation's Depot District, the adaptive reuse of John L. Edwards School, and Hudson Housing Authority's as yet undefined plans for development, not to mention the Affordable Housing Development Plan, work on which started a month or so ago. None of these efforts, however, will result in new housing units being available anytime soon. 

Meanwhile, the Hudson Housing Authority (HHA) has twenty apartments that are offline: fourteen in Bliss Towers and another six in the low-rise buildings. Several of these apartments are the coveted three- and four-bedroom apartments sought by families.

At first, lack of funding was what was keeping the apartments unavailable. Now the funding is in place, but the work to rehabilitate the apartments has not begun. Last night, at the HHA Board of Commissioners meeting, executive director Tim Mattice explained why. He can't find people to do the work. 

The situation inspired the board to talk about developing their own trades program. Rebecca Wolff suggested there might be an on-the-job training program for the work needed on the offline apartments. The Construction Technology Program at Columbia-Greene Community College was mentioned as a possible source of assistance. Mattice said he had spoken with C-GCC and reported that C-GCC does not have a program currently in place to address HHA's needs, but they are willing to work with HHA to develop one. Getting local contractors to do training was also discussed, and it was decided the Rebecca Borrer would contact local contractors to propose the notion having them do training in the areas of general construction, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical. A report on the success of this effort will be presented at the board's next meeting, which will take place on June 9.

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School Budget Vote Next Week

Last week, signs like this one started appearing all over town. Fortunately, most of the signs, unlike this one, actually tell you the date of the budget vote and the school board election: Tuesday, May 18. 

The first line of the sign--"Your vote matters!"--strikes me as particularly cynical. The 2021-2022 budget is $52,244,404, an increase of $1,559,666 over last year. It is the biggest HCSD budget ever. If the voters were to reject the proposed budget, things will just revert to the contingency budget, which is $1,425,135 more than last year and still the biggest HCSD budget ever. 

Regarding the school board vote, there are three openings on the school board and only one candidate running: Lucy Segar, wife of Nick Zachos, who is just ending his tenure as director of the Hudson Youth Department.

This year as last year, Ken Steffer, who watches the HCSD Board of Education far more closely than Gossips can manage, has shared his views about the state of the Hudson City School District and its proposed budget in an opinion piece, and Gossips is grateful for the opportunity to publish it: "COVID and the Students and Teachers and the Missed Opportunity to Create a Real 'Community' for the HCSD." It is recommended reading before Tuesday.

The polling place for Hudson voters this year is the Central Fire Station at 71 North Seventh Street. The polls are open from noon to 9 p.m.

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been twelve new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is nine more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that three more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are four more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday. The number hospitalized remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, May 4.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 3.5 percent and a seven-day average of 2.3 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 2.3 percent and the seven-day average is 1.4 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported two new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths. The total number of cases was 328, and the number of active cases was 192. There were 177 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 7 were hospitalized, and 1 was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 24.

The Status of the Ferry Street Bridge

In October, it will be seven years since the Ferry Street Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic. 

In April 2016, Mayor Tiffany Martin announced that funds had been secured to rebuild the bridge through the NYS Department of Transportation's Region 8 office. In October 2018, a public meeting was held by Mayor Rick Rector to present the preliminary design for the new bridge. At that time, it was believed that the new bridge was only two years away. But alas, October 2020 came and went, and there is no new bridge.

Various delays and a global pandemic have prevented the original schedule from being met, but progress on the bridge continues. In his monthly report to the Common Council on Monday, Rob Perry, DPW superintendent, provided an update on the bridge. The Advanced Detail Plan will be submitted to the DOT by the engineer next week. Perry commented that when that happens we will be 60 to 75 percent through the process. The next step is the final design, which will involve more public engagement.

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health was released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been seven new cases of COVID-19. There are ten fewer active cases being reported today than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that seventeen more county residents are now considered to be recovering from the virus. There are four more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, and one fewer is hospitalized with the virus. No one is in the ICU, and there has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, May 4.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday, strangely, of 0.0 percent and a seven-day average of 2.3 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region is 2.4 percent and the seven-day average is 1.4 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported no new cases of COVID-19 but two deaths. The total number of cases was 326, and the number of active cases was 193. There were 180 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 4 were hospitalized, and 1 was in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 22.

Dissent Over the Docks

Last night, the Common Council held a special meeting the sole purpose of which was to authorize Mayor Kamal Johnson to enter into a license agreement with Hudson Cruises for the use of the docks at Henry Hudson Riverfront Park. Council president Tom DePietro scheduled the meeting to take place just fifteen minutes before the informal meeting of the Council was to begin because, as he said a good twenty-five minutes into the meeting, he thought it would be a "pro forma meeting." It was no such thing.

In introducing the resolution, mayor's aide Michael Chameides said Hudson Cruises was offering a higher amount of funding for the City--$3,400--and would assist in installing and removing the seasonal docks. He also said they were offering a reduced cost for programming and free rides to the lighthouse during Waterfront Wednesdays. 

Alderman John Rosenthal (Fourth Ward) commented, "We've had problems with this operator before," mentioning that Hudson Cruises "caused trouble" and "used the dock as if it were their private dock." He then asked Chameides, "Why this [proposal] and not one submitted by the Sloop Club?"

In responding, Chameides cited the highest cash amount, the most programming, the option of providing lower cost programming, and a different set of programming and a variety of programming (Hudson Cruises has three different boats). By comparison, the Hudson Sloop Club offered $2,000 in cash and offered to function as an "events coordinator."

Alderman Dominic Merante (Fifth Ward) pointed out that last year Hudson Cruises had received a $1,200 grant from the Tourism Board to pay its docking fee to the City. Alderman Rebecca Wolff (First Ward) observed, "It sounds like the Sloop Club is offering more community programming." Alderman Malachi Walker (Fourth Ward) expressed the desire for a plan that incorporated both Hudson Cruises and the Sloop Club." Chameides responded, "Sounds like a good idea, but I wasn't able to make it work in the time allowed."

After the meeting had run almost twice as long as intended, Alderman Tiffany Garriga moved to go forward with the vote. There were five votes against approving the resolution (Garriga, Rosenthal, Jane Trombley, Wolff, DePietro) and six votes in favor (Eileen Halloran, Calvin Lewis, Merante, Dewan Sarowar, Malachi Walker, Shershah Mizan). The resolution was approved, but that was not the end of it.

Three hours later, at the end of the informal meeting, Wolff brought up the issue again, arguing that the Council didn't have adequate time, and the Council not the mayor's office should have made the decision about who would use the docks. She also said she wanted to revisit the concept of a shared dock. Peter Bujanow, commissioner of Public Works, explained that the selection had been made in a formal RFP (request for proposal) process, and "anything you do has to be in the context of the RPF." Collaboration, he said, was not in the RFP. Jeff Baker, counsel to the Council, noted that this was a license agreement not a lease agreement, so the Council did not have to be the body making the decision. 

Chameides advised, "If the Council wants to take longer and look at the two proposals, it will just be longer before the docks are in the water." 

DePietro asked a couple of times, "Who would change their vote?" Merante seemed to intimate he might when he complained about the "time crunch" and suggested, "Hudson Cruises can offer more money because they got Tourism Board money last year."

In the end, it was decided that Wolff would lead a study to reassess the proposals submitted.

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The Council's Choice

Two resolutions were introduced at the informal Common Council meeting last night. The first resolution would accept $100,000 from the Galvan Foundation for a feasibility study on relocating City Hall to 400 State Street. The second resolution would authorize the issuance of bonds not to exceed $475,000 for alterations to 520 Warren Street, the current City Hall, to achieve universal access. Both resolutions were motivated by the City's need to demonstrate progress in satisfying the terms of its settlement agreement with the Department of Justice.

It will be remembered that the Galvan Foundation has offered to give 400 State Street to the City for use as City Hall. Along with the gift of the building itself, Galvan offered $100,000 for the feasibility study and another $1.4 million toward the renovation of the building. The resolution now before the Council would accept the $100,000 for the feasibility study but would not obligate the City to pursue the project.

Regarding the second resolution, in October 2019, the architectural firm of Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson presented four plans to make 520 Warren Street ADA compliant. The plan the City has chosen to pursue is Plan 3, the least expensive one, which Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson estimated would cost $131,000. Sadly, the City is not considering pursuing the most expensive and most desirable of the four plans for 520 Warren Street--the one that would expose the building's glorious stained glass laylight. The estimated cost of that plan is less than what it would cost to renovate 400 State Street for use as City Hall.

   

In the discussion about the two resolutions, Alderman John Rosenthal (Fourth Ward) expressed the opinion that, given the need to move quickly, "the $475,000 bonding seems like a no-brainer." He said he had been told that the Galvan Foundation had received New Markets Tax Credits for 400 State Street, and the NMTC program mandates that they do renovations to the building before it is transferred to anyone. He opined that 400 State Street would be a "massive undertaking and incredibly expensive for the City to do." This picture, which Gossips took yesterday of the back of the building suggests how massive an undertaking it might be.

Rosenthal suggested that Galvan use the $100,000 to provide rent relief for people who are rent distressed or use it for Galvan Housing Resources "rather than wasting it on a study for us about a building that we won't be able to afford to move into."

Both resolutions were introduced. It will be decided which one the Council will proceed with at its meeting next Tuesday.

COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK

Addendum: Since this post was published, Dan Kent, of the Galvan Foundation, contacted me to provide this information: "Your post today regarding 400 State Street contained a factually incorrect statement from John Rosenthal. Galvan has not received any financing from the New Market Tax Credit program, or any other development financing, for 400 State Street."