12/15/2020 Council Meeting Recap
It’s the holiday season, and as a result, Tuesday was the last meeting of the year. The next Council meeting will be on January 5, 2021.
Here is where you can view the meeting minutes.
Once again, we had an early start time to interview applicants for boards and commissions.
Public Comments
During the Public Comments section of the meeting, we had one comment from Mr. Ron Brubaker who spoke in opposition to the possible reactivation of the Metro RTA rail right-of-way.
My take: Many of you have reached out after reading the article addressing this in the paper recently. Community desire for the other proposed use for this rail line, converting it to a multi-purpose trail, is much more widespread than support for the rail line to be reactivated. Most residents I talk to about this issue do not want to see another active rail line running through Hudson. I am not denying the need for a transload facility (the type of facility that would go in should the rail line be reactivated) in the area, however, I just do not think this is the right area for it and that the community would benefit far more from a multi-purpose trail.
It was suggested that Council send a letter expressing their support for the trail project as well as their concerns about the reactivation of the rail line. Just from the Council comments I heard on this subject, there seemed to be support amongst several members for sending a letter.
Correspondence and Council Comments
Mayor Shubert spoke about some very personal and heartbreaking news in his life. In an emotional public statement, he shared that his wife, Sherri Moyer, has been diagnosed with Lymphoma. I cannot imagine what their family must be going through, so I ask that everyone join me in sending thoughts, prayers, well wishes, good vibes - whatever it is you personally do in times like this - to the Shubert/Moyer family. One of the things I love most about Hudson is that we have a wonderful habit of loving our neighbor and supporting them in their time of need. I know that, as a community, we will do that again now. I hope she responds well to treatments and recovers quickly.
Report of Manager
During the report of the manager, Police Chief Tabak presented on hybrid vehicle performance and vehicle graphics.
My take: I never had an issue with the design of the police cruisers to begin with, but the changes they are making to the design to improve the legibility of the word “police” is a positive change and will look very nice. I also was glad to see that the hybrid vehicles are providing the department with fuel cost savings - $7,069.17 over 100k miles. This cost savings along with the environmental benefits that hybrid vehicles provide is a reminder that this purchase provided benefit to Hudson.
Discussion Item
9. A. 20-0158 Small Business Relief Program
Brief Description: Council members will consider COVID-19 relief options for local small businesses.
My take: Council agreed they want to review options for COVID relief for small businesses. I had suggested we take a look at what the neighboring city of Beachwood is doing by paying for the delivery of takeout to residents to offset that cost for local restaurants. You can read more about that here. Staff will present more on different relief options in January.
Consent Agenda
Recently, the city of Hudson has been putting forth incredible efforts to improve communication with residents. One way they are doing that is by writing up short, fact-based, unbiased summaries of the meetings every week in an easily digestible format. Check that out here and reference the “Consent Agenda” section for a quick summary of the items we passed.
This is an excellent summary of the meeting overall, and is worth reading.
https://www.hudson.oh.us/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2230
Legislation
12. A. 20-145 and C. 20-160 are the two short-term rental items that Council will be revisiting in January. Nothing new to report here, I just wanted to let you know we formally tabled these items until January. However, behind the scenes, a lot of work is going into staff finessing the proposed business regulation legislation that we recently reviewed.
12. E. 20-168 A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF A DESIGNATED OUTDOOR REFRESHMENT AREA FOR THE CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL IN SPECIFIED PUBLIC AREAS OF DOWNTOWN HUDSON AND AMENDING THE HOURS OF OPERATION THEREFOR; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
Brief Description: Authorization to renew the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) within Downtown Hudson and expanding the hours of operation.
My take: This was the first reading of this item. I believe that the DORA has supported our small businesses, especially the restaurants, during what is a difficult financial time for many due to COVID. I am excited to see this continue.
Have questions? Want to share with me your thoughts on any of the agenda items or issues listed above? As always, I would love to have a conversation! Email me directly at nkowalski@hudson.oh.us.
