Transportation – from the contentious transit hub project planned for Cannon Street to a lesser-known paratransit service agreement with the county – was the issue at hand at Poughkeepsie’s Common Council meeting on March 3, where council members also heard an update on progress on the Luckey Platt building.
The transportation hub project, initially proposed in 2005, would create a transit facility on a city-owned parking lot along the eastbound arterial and Cannon Street. The hub, which would serve as a bus depot, would replace the bus transfer currently located at Main and Market streets.
According to officials from Thornton Tomasetti, Inc., the Manhattan-based firm in charge of the project, the facility, which would include a five-story parking garage with more than 620 parking spaces, would provide a heated area for people waiting for public transit, and would be camouflaged by a realistic “thin-brick” façade.
“It’s going to be a huge improvement from what people do now,” said Department of Public Works Assistant Superintendent Stanley Merritt.
But some council members raised questions about the safety of the proposed structure.
“There’s a concern among some of the perception of safety and security,” said Council Chairman Brian Doyle (D-4th Ward). “While we want it to be functional, I don’t think we want anything that will attract undue loitering.”
Other concerns included security boxes, public restrooms, separate lanes for buses and cars and the project’s location.
“Where are those buses going to go when they leave? Cannon Street – which is largely residential? Or will they be making wide right turns onto Market Street to hit the arterial?” asked resident Doug Nobiletti.
The project, which is currently in its planning stages, is estimated to cost $23 million.
Members of the Common Council also chose to delay renewing a service agreement with Dutchess County approving paratransit services. The agreement is a requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which provides transit service to people with disabilities who meet a list of specific criteria. Last year, one person qualified and signed up for service, but failed to utilize it. The City of Poughkeepsie pays a flat fee of $8,500 a year, regardless of use.
The current service agreement expired in 2006, but city officials were not informed about the change until July of last year. The council said it required further information before a possible vote on the plan.
Luckey Platt
At the meeting, Fire Chief Kenneth Boyd updated the council on the status of work at the Luckey Platt building. After a stop-work order was issued in March of last year due to building code and safety issues, minimal work has taken place in the 165-year-old mercantile building.
The landmark, a former department store, is slated to become a multiuse facility with 35 apartments and floors of community spacing, for stores or community venues.
Boyd said the stop-work order could be lifted this month, and if Queens-based Alma Realty meets city requirements, the project could be completed as early as this summer, he said.
Information session
Dozens of city residents also gathered at City Hall before the regular meeting for the Common Council’s semi-annual information session, which consisted of a presentation by a city department with time allotted afterward for the public to ask questions. Department heads from several city agencies were present at Monday’s meeting.
Merritt began the meeting with a presentation on Notices of Violation.
He outlined the Department of Public Works’ procedures, the responsibilities of land owners and the challenges the department faces.
“Our amended ordinances are geared toward property owners taking a proactive approach, rather than a reactive approach – it allows us to get out of the property management business,” he said.
Merritt said that of the more-than 3,200 recorded violations in 2007, over 2,300 were abated by the property owner, while just over 900 were abated by a city contractor. A majority of the violations were trash and grass-related, he said.