6/1 Meeting & 6/8 Workshop Recaps
Hello Hudson! The past two weeks have been BUSY! We celebrated my daughter’s first birthday, had family in town from Arizona, had some of my siblings in town from other parts of Ohio, and I launched my re-election campaign. It’s been a wonderful couple of weeks.
June 1, 2021 Council Meeting
On June 1, 2021 Council had a regularly scheduled meeting. Here is the agenda from this meeting, and below is a quick recap.
Public Hearing
A public hearing took place regarding a proposed Land Development Code (LDC) text amendment to amend the city’s LDC to permit single family attached dwellings, townhomes, and planned developments as allowed uses within the district 7 office overlay zone. Staff presented the Planning Commission’s findings and recommendation, the applicant presented, and several members of the community spoke regarding this topic.
Public Comments
During the first week of June, news that the school district was investigating racist and homophobic comments made by students came out, and we were faced with the horrible actions that two American Legion members took to silence a story told by a decorated veteran about the contributions of black Americans to the history of Memorial Day. The latter of the two incidents made national headlines.
Several of the public comments addressed the need for us to have community-wide dialogue and for Council to take action to prevent anything like this from ever happening again. A number of other comments addressed another Council member’s comments on social media opposing such dialogue.
Correspondence and Council Comments
During Council comments, I wished Principal Brian Wilch a speedy recovery, wished a Happy Pride month to all, and I read the following statement into the record:
“This week has been a hard week for many of our neighbors here in Hudson.
We’ve had many conversations regarding race, racial inequality, racism, and more due to our community’s DEI (Diversity Equity Inclusion) initiative, as well as a terrible, disgusting racist incident that occurred. That incident does not define Hudson, nor do its instigators.
We ALL need to work harder to make Hudson a more equitable place.
In these moments, I often struggle to find words to say. It's easy—and maybe even tempting—to sit back and say and do nothing. But that will not help those wounds heal, nor will it push progress. If you stand up for what is right and speak up when you see or hear something that is not, your efforts have meaning.
As community leaders, it is especially important that we speak out in a way that benefits those we represent. Everyone we represent.
So, to my neighbors whose feelings have been hurt and who worry for their families: I can imagine, but never fully understand, your pain.
I see you.
I am here for you.
I will continue to work hard to help ensure things like this become a distant memory.”
The rest of the meeting went fairly quickly and was fairly uneventful compared to the beginning. I suggest everyone watch the meeting, if you would like to do so, click here.
June 8, 2021 Council Workshop
This week, on June 8, 2021, we had a Council workshop. The agenda can be viewed here, and you can watch the meeting here. Additionally, the city put together a recap of the workshop which you can read here.
Correspondence and Council Comments
Councilwoman Kate Schlademan gave an update that the Environmental Awareness Committee is planning their community event, Green on the Green, for September 4, 2021 as part of the Labor Day festivities.
Discussion Items
4. A. 21-0047 Presentation of the AMP organization and the Prairie State Energy Campus
Brief Description: American Municipal Power representatives will present a brief history of the AMP organization and its relationship with the City of Hudson. The AMP staff will also present information regarding the Prairie State Energy Campus.
My Take: As of late, many in the community have been expressing concern about Prairie State Energy Campus which constitutes 41.4% of HPP’s energy sources with coal fired plants in southern Illinois. The future of this plant seems tenuous, to say the least, and it has left many with concern over the debt it could saddle the city with as well as concerns over possible disruptions in service should the plant close. Council seemed unanimous in their concern for the future of the plant and asked staff to provide us with an action plan so that we are prepared no matter what happens. The contract term that locks Hudson into this “deal” with Prairie State continues through December 31, 2057 and thereafter until all bonds are repaid and a super-majority of participants vote to terminate.
4. B. 21-0048 Community Dialogue Proposal
Brief Description: Councilwoman Schlademan has submitted the attached proposal for Council consideration.
My Take: This past Tuesday, Councilwoman Schlademan introduced a proposal to grant money to the Hudson DEI Alliance to facilitate conversations that will help move our community forward. It appears there will be support on Council for Kate’s initiative.
Two statements from residents were read during the correspondence section by Councilwoman Bigham opposing this initiative. This is atypical for a workshop, although, the reading of public comment during a workshop is at the discretion of each Council member. Resident public comment is typically done at regularly scheduled meetings.
I plan to support this initiative. Our community needs to take action. Simply saying “racism is bad” is no longer enough.
If we can allocate money to putting on a parade in Hudson, why can we not allocate money to this?
There were several arguments against supporting Kate’s proposal. Rather than rehash everything that was said, I encourage you to watch for yourself and draw your own conclusions. The conversation is about 40 mins long, but worth watching.
If you would like to make or send in public comment on this topic, the upcoming Council meeting is this Tuesday, June 15 and the next council meeting following that will be on Tuesday, July 6. Meetings are at 7:30pm and take place at Town Hall which is located at 27 E. Main Street. To make a public comment in person, simply attend a meeting and make the public comment when that portion of the meeting takes place. If you cannot attend but would like a statement to be read into the record, please email the Clerk of Council, Elizabeth Slagle, at eslagle@hudson.oh.us or send to the council member of your choice (my email is listed below, or click here to email me!) with a request for the correspondence to be read into the record. Put “Public Comment” in the subject line of your email.
A New Addition to Downtown Hudson - Public Restrooms!
Public, portable restrooms have been installed at 36 North Main Street in a parking lot adjacent to the Baldwin Buss house and across from Amaize Popcorn. Read the full story here.
Special City Council Workshop Meeting Notice
Council will be holding a special workshop for the purpose of discussing pedestrian safety on Monday, June 21, 2021 in the upstairs meeting room of Town Hall which is located at 27 E. Main Street. This meeting will be open to the public and held in-person.
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Have questions? Want to share your thoughts with me 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.
