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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , October 3 , 2018

PUBLIC AGENDA

WEDNESDAY , OCTOBER 3

New Windsor Town Board , 7 p . m ., Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .

THURSDAY , OCTOBER 4

Newburgh City Council Work Session , 6 p . m . City Hall , 83 Broadway . Town of Newburgh Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .

TUESDAY , OCTOBER 9

Newburgh Town Board meeting , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .

WEDNESDAY , OCTOBER 10

Town of New Windsor Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .

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The Mid Hudson Times ( USPS 000-5947 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , NY 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , NY POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Mid Hudson Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY 12550 .

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New York State Homes and Community Renewal with a $ 15 million donation . The local partners worked with the state office to put the money to use with local contractors and workers getting the job done .

“ The land bank has been working since 2012 to put through zombie properties working with independent purchasers , said Executive Director of Newburgh Community Land Bank , Madeline Fletcher . “ This is a great example of historic preservation . We are so happy with the outcome and even more happy

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Newburgh city planner , there were four proposals made . The committee decided on Wedgewood Properties , LLC , owned by Greg Sgromo .

The four proposals were in various degrees of completion including a design firm , an attorney office branch , a Quesaria or Spanish cheese store , a restaurant or cafe , and the accepted bid an engineering firm . These proposals were for the commercial space at street level . This does not include the two apartments above .

Once the bids are put in they are presented in front of the committee , which is set up by the City Manager ’ s office . The current RFP committee includes ; City of Newburgh Corporation Counsel Michelle Kelson , Interim Director of Planning and Development Cynthia Corsiglia , City Planner Alexandra Church , Fred Visconti and Paul Halayko .

The members have changed since the RFP process was put through for 41 Liberty Street , which included Dierdre Glenn in the place of Corsiglia , and excused Halayko due to a conflict of interest . This process was not open to the public nor are any of the bids other than the accepted bid for 41 Liberty Street .

The issue discussed was the lack of transparency . Only one of the RFP ’ s were presented in front of the board during a City Council work session on July 5 , 2018 .

In their presentation Greg Sgromo and Dina Schnellinger described their plans for the property . The commercial space has no designated plan of use . In the presentation Sgromo attests that he will have three full time employees using the back of the commercial space as an office . Sgromo will personally use the upstairs apartment on occasional weekends and twice a week with the second apartment put up for rent .

195 First : One of the buildings renovated by RUPCO and its partners .

for the families that this development will provide .”

As to the storefront , there are no plans for the space . Sgromo was asked multiple times by Mayor Torrance Harvey , and Councilman Anthony Grice about this commercial space , his response was there are no plans for the commercial space at the time .

“ To be perfectly frank the last thing that should be on that corner is an engineering office ,” said Sgromo . “ It ’ s a key cornerstone on that street , it ’ s a property that should draw people down Liberty Street . Right now it kind of stops , a block away there ’ s exciting stuff happening . You need something down there to draw people down there . What I would really like to do is possibly get some outdoor seating if that ’ s allowed . Put something that says there ’ s more stuff down there .”

Sgromo said he is open to work with people within the community who may have ideas for the space , he wants to put a business in the space that will bring people from the community to that section of Liberty Street .

The building at the corner of South William Street and Liberty Street owned by the city is currently vacant . It was constructed in the 1880s , and originally housed Liberty Bar and Grill . It has two large rooms at street level , one is the storefront and the second room with an entrance onto South William Street . The building has two apartments on the second and third floors in need of extensive renovation .

The presentation was made during a work session , closed to public comment . The first opportunity for the public to voice their opinions on the issue was July 9 , 2018 . The resolution did not show up in the city council ’ s agenda until September 24 due to scheduling issues .

The issue became a large topic of the Monday night city council meeting .

The 15 homes are just phase one in a larger plan for the renewal in Newburgh . According to Collins phase two will work on another 20 parcels . They eventually hope to move the program from rental homes to fixing them and finding homeowners to purchase the properties .

“ We are thrilled to be a part of the core revitalization that is going on in Newburgh ,” said Chief Executive Officer Kevin O ’ Connor . “ Newburgh is on the rise and our contribution that is restoring the fabric of this historic district and providing housing to stem the tide of gentrification is crucial .”

Councilwoman Patty Sofokles was concerned with the lack of transparency in the process .

“ We didn ’ t have public outcry in the past ,” said Sofokles . “ The question I asked was that when I see a lot of people coming to the microphone and maybe I want to hear more about the RFP process . I don ’ t question the committee itself but because it was so close when I have a lot of people come up to the microphone , that ’ s when I think maybe we need to listen to the people .”

The vote left the council split with Sofokles and Councilwoman Hilary Rayford voting against the resolution . Harvey was vocal about allowing the process set in place to run its course .

“ I think that and I stand on the notion that many people use the corruption word in our city and rightfully so ,” said Harvey . “ Our residents and our media outlets are the watchdogs of our city and government and should hold people accountable for being honest , open and transparent in dealings , especially in regards to dealing with our city government . It is important to maintain the trust with our function , so we can ’ t say there are alternative motives for an RFP or a proposed project over another RFP and all of a sudden it didn ’ t go a certain way and we want to say that the process has to change or is incorrect .”

Since the city council meeting the committee has met with its current members to discuss ways in which it can improve . One consideration is expanding the committee to have more opinions when scoring proposals that will be presented to the city council .

“ We welcome criticism ,” said Church . “ We are working to make the process better and more fair . We work with the goal to bring more diversity and business to the downtown .”