EDITORIAL: What’s going on?​

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THE CHALLENGE: write short. The county is stirring. Here are a few examples.

•County and town elections will appear on primary and general election ballots. Look for county judges, district attorney, coroner, other office holders;

•The nine-floor high-rise called Bliss Tower in Hudson has moved a little closer to the wrecking ball or a make-over. Officials call Bliss apartments and the low-rise units next door “income-restrictive” housing. Next steps in the plan is to find temporary housing for displaced tenants and then to build new permanent homes for them;

•In Philmont there’s a battle of words, some on social media and some of those containing inaccurate or misleading information. It has separated residents who don’t want 16 new homes built near the edge of Summit Lake vs. two local developers who say they are ready to start building. The village Planning Board has approved the developers’ plan.

BLISS TOWERS is a half century old and looks like similar large buildings in cities along the Hudson River at the time and aimed to replace low-income neighborhoods. More recently Bliss tenants have complained about insects in the kitchens, unreliable elevators (there are two elevators to serve the 135 apartments) and other problems that can’t easily be repaired.

After years of discussion and debate, the Hudson Housing Authority seems to have found a partner to demolish or redevelop Bliss and the other apartments. A Scarsdale company called Mountco Construction and Development Corporation has the experience and the assets for the task. The next step is a contract. After that there’s a year of planning. Then the demolition or reconstruction begins.

What worries the current Bliss tenants is that they might have no place to live while the Bliss project is being built. They also fear that they won’t be allowed to live in whatever building or buildings replace Bliss.

Now is the time to talk with the Hudson Housing Authority (HHA), Mountco and government at all levels (city, county, state and federal). Ask lawmakers to guarantee that current Bliss tenants must receive all the protections available by law allowing them to return.

PHILMONT WOODS might seem at first like business-as-usual for the Philmont Planning Board. It’s a proposal by two local developers to build 16 homes on a 22-acre property on a slope not far from Summit Lake. A group of village residents opposed to the housing plan formed and took the developers to court.

The judge tossed out most of the charges but told the Planning Board it would have to hold another public hearing on the project to meet state deadline requirements. After that decision the social media campaign weighed in with disinformation about the housing project.

It’s possible that a few of the opponents were not clear about the purpose of a public hearing; it’s a chance for government to hear from the public. It’s not a debate or a partisan rally. In any case the Planning Board was not swayed.

The Planning Board members voted as they had done before. The developers received approval for their plan.

The developers will build their homes and we hope they sell them soon. But an even greater opportunity can emerge from this confrontation. The group that made up the “opponents” is now Summit Lake Conservation Group (SLCG). In effect that means they now have political power.

They should not squander it on disinformation. It’s not a legitimate tool in a democratic society.

Ask the candidates running for office this fall.

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