The Weekly Digest

What happened.The Common Council was set to review selling the Dunn Warehouse, the city's last central building on the Hudson River waterfront, and a designated city landmark, to a local brewery for $500,000. Instead, the proposal ran into a wall of opposition from council members and the public. Critics said the price is far below the property's value, that there was no competitive bidding process, and that the contract gives the city no right to take the building back if it is flipped for a profit. The Hudson Development Corporation urged the city to keep the warehouse and offered to help stabilize it. The Council president pulled the sale from next week's agenda.

Where it’s headed.The sale is off next week's agenda. The Council president said it may return in June or July, after the city gathers the buyer's financials, remediation costs, and the building's history.

What happened.Developer Ben Fain unveiled Waterfront Village, a plan to redevelop the long-abandoned Kaz property near the Amtrak station into a mixed-use neighborhood of about 150 homes, a grocery store, retail, and open space. The Planning Board took its first formal step, agreeing to lead the project's environmental review. The plan needs the Common Council to rezone the parcel, and it is already drawing scrutiny. Council members questioned whether a five-story building fits Hudson's scale, and one member said long-time residents of Tanner's Lane have been pressured to sell, with project renderings showing homes the developer does not own turned into parking lots.

Where it’s headed.The Planning Board is now the environmental-review lead agency; the developer returns with full plans and traffic and stormwater studies. The rezoning petition is before the Common Council, likely reviewed in earnest by July.

Disclosure: This digest is published by me, Peter Spear, and I am a member of the Hudson Planning Board.

What happened.Columbia County bought 11 Warren Street and is moving offices in, including the Board of Elections, but the building cannot hold its employees' cars. A proposed agreement would reserve county parking along the Warren Street frontage on weekdays, with the county paying 90% of the city's parking rate. Council members and residents called it a raw deal: a resident argued the county took housing and storefronts off Hudson's main commercial street and then handed the city its parking problem. Supporters said the agreement at least shields nearby residential streets and guarantees the city revenue.

Where it’s headed.The intermunicipal agreement is expected to be voted on at the May 26 formal meeting, with new written language opening the county's spaces to the public after hours.

What happened.The Council voted to apply for a federal Safe Streets for All grant. It would pay for a roughly $225,000 'safety action plan' that uses crash data to pinpoint Hudson's most dangerous roads, the consultant said three roads account for about 40% of serious injuries, and is the required first step toward much larger federal money to actually fix them. Members spent a long time on a catch: the grant is reimbursement-based, so the city must front the cost and chase the money back. The city treasurer pressed on who would handle that paperwork before the Council approved the application.

Where it’s headed.The application is due in late May. The city expects to learn by the fall whether it won the grant.

What happened.The Department of Public Works laid out a major sewer-and-stormwater separation project that has grown larger as its design firms up. New sewer and storm pipes, up to four feet wide, will replace the old ones from Second Street up through the numbered blocks, with new connections run to every house and many roads and sidewalks rebuilt from scratch. The work is expected to take about two years, and DPW warned that affected blocks will 'look like a bomb went off' during construction. Residents will get door hangers before crews run non-toxic 'smoke testing' to map old sewer lines.

Where it’s headed.The project is expected to go out to bid in August or September, with contract awards in the fall and construction beginning after winter.

What happened.The redeveloped Pocketbook factory, a large building with guest rooms, a restaurant, a bar, and a 200-person event space, has been a source of neighbor complaints. The Council is moving an amended lease that would give the building reserved parking at the fire station lot, after DPW and the fire department won back room for snow removal and emergency access. On noise, the city's new code enforcement officer has been taking decibel readings around the building. Council members discussed amending the city code to address steady mechanical 'droning' from rooftop HVAC equipment, which the current code does not clearly cover.

Where it’s headed.The lease amendment goes to the May 26 formal meeting. The factory still needs Planning Board site-plan approval before paving its parking lot.

What happened.A council member reported that a cannabis convention at the Basilica on May 13 drew an estimated 500 vehicles and overwhelmed the waterfront, cars blocked crosswalks, fire hydrants, and the emergency access road to the river. The organizers did not file the required mass-gathering permit or notify police in advance. The member said an ambulance or fire truck could not have reached an emergency on the water that afternoon, and that she will ask the safety committee whether the organizers should be denied future mass-gathering permits.

Where it’s headed.The issue goes to the Council's safety committee. No decision has been made.