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Supes vote on DSS move tonight
Department slated for Ockawamick
By John Mason
HUDSON — The plan to move 15 county offices, including the Department of Social Services, from Hudson to Claverack, will be voted on, and likely approved, at 7:30 p.m. tonight by the county Board of Supervisors in their chambers at 401 State St.
When supervisors arrive at the county building, they will be met by a group of protesters who believe the vote is being taken “without the benefit of critical information and analysis,” and that “a substantial number of people will suffer as a result.” The group will assemble at 6:30 p.m. in front of the building.
On Feb. 23, floor plans for the county’s major office buildings passed the Workspace Evaluation Subcommittee and the Buildings and Facilities Committee. The only committee members whose votes were recorded as opposing the plan were Supervisors Joe Finn, D-Hudson3, and Margaret Robertson, D-New Lebanon.
According to those plans, DSS would move to Ockawamick, with a satellite office staying at 325 State St., Hudson, which would also house the Health Department, the Mental Health Department, the Health Care Consortium and Records Management.
Moving to Ockawamick with DSS would be the Office for the Aging and the OFA Nutrition Center, Environmental Health, Planning, Tourism and Economic Development, Central Services offices and storage, Central Printing, the Youth Department, the Veterans Office, and Facilities, the Public Defender’s Office, the Probation Office, Backup 911, the County Historian, the Columbia County Economic Development Corp. and the Engineering Department.
The $1.5 million purchase of the former Ockawamick School on Route 217 in Claverack was approved by the Board of Supervisors Oct. 31, 2008. It had originally been located by a committee seeking a replacement site for DSS, which has outgrown its current site at 25 Railroad Ave., Hudson.
But that plan has been beset by controversy over whether clients of DSS, roughly half of whom live in Hudson or nearby, should have to travel the six miles to the new site.
In a Feb. 2 meeting at the Hudson Fire Station, citizens discussed “Plan B,” an alternative to the Ockawamick idea.
Under Plan B a three-story, 38,000-square-foot building would be erected to house DSS on the northwestern corner of Fourth and Columbia streets. Across Fourth Street from that would be built a three-story parking garage with a 200-car capacity.
Behind the site of this new DSS building, across Long Alley, a new parking lot that would hold 60 vehicles is already being built.
Mayor Richard Scalera said the building would cost about $7.5 million and the garage would be $3.6 million, making a total of about $11 million, which he said is a $4 million savings compared to the $15 million Ockawamick is predicted to cost after renovation.
Linda Mussmann, an organizer of tonight’s demonstration, called Plan B “a viable option that provides the space needed, keeps the departments accessible and will cost the taxpayers less.
“By contrast, the plan currently favored by the board leadership will place the Department of Social Services six miles outside of the city, despite the fact that the majority of DSS clients live in the 12534 area code,” Mussmann stated in an e-mail. “In these hard times, how can this be a smart, economic move? Is it reasonable to expect people to pay $10 to travel by taxi from Hudson — and $10 to return — when they need access to the services offered by DSS?”
Mussmann’s e-mail urges citizens to “come to 401 State Street — corner of State and Fourth streets — at 6:30 p.m. and,
n Tell the board a decision made now almost guarantees that children and families will be denied access to essential human services. People in need will fall between the bureaucratic cracks of an already overburdened system.
n Tell the board to stop this ill-conceived and unfair proposal before it goes any further. Urge all the supervisors to visit the existing DSS office on Railroad Avenue — see what a day there entails, and experience the issues first hand.
n Tell the board to wait — to vote after important questions are answered, and every supervisor has the information required to make a fully informed decision.
n Tell the board to seek comparisons, from outside contractors/developers, between building a new Department of Social Services facility vs. renovation of the old school at Ockawamick and give real consideration to “Plan B.”
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
By John Mason
HUDSON — The plan to move 15 county offices, including the Department of Social Services, from Hudson to Claverack, will be voted on, and likely approved, at 7:30 p.m. tonight by the county Board of Supervisors in their chambers at 401 State St.
When supervisors arrive at the county building, they will be met by a group of protesters who believe the vote is being taken “without the benefit of critical information and analysis,” and that “a substantial number of people will suffer as a result.” The group will assemble at 6:30 p.m. in front of the building.
On Feb. 23, floor plans for the county’s major office buildings passed the Workspace Evaluation Subcommittee and the Buildings and Facilities Committee. The only committee members whose votes were recorded as opposing the plan were Supervisors Joe Finn, D-Hudson3, and Margaret Robertson, D-New Lebanon.
According to those plans, DSS would move to Ockawamick, with a satellite office staying at 325 State St., Hudson, which would also house the Health Department, the Mental Health Department, the Health Care Consortium and Records Management.
Moving to Ockawamick with DSS would be the Office for the Aging and the OFA Nutrition Center, Environmental Health, Planning, Tourism and Economic Development, Central Services offices and storage, Central Printing, the Youth Department, the Veterans Office, and Facilities, the Public Defender’s Office, the Probation Office, Backup 911, the County Historian, the Columbia County Economic Development Corp. and the Engineering Department.
The $1.5 million purchase of the former Ockawamick School on Route 217 in Claverack was approved by the Board of Supervisors Oct. 31, 2008. It had originally been located by a committee seeking a replacement site for DSS, which has outgrown its current site at 25 Railroad Ave., Hudson.
But that plan has been beset by controversy over whether clients of DSS, roughly half of whom live in Hudson or nearby, should have to travel the six miles to the new site.
In a Feb. 2 meeting at the Hudson Fire Station, citizens discussed “Plan B,” an alternative to the Ockawamick idea.
Under Plan B a three-story, 38,000-square-foot building would be erected to house DSS on the northwestern corner of Fourth and Columbia streets. Across Fourth Street from that would be built a three-story parking garage with a 200-car capacity.
Behind the site of this new DSS building, across Long Alley, a new parking lot that would hold 60 vehicles is already being built.
Mayor Richard Scalera said the building would cost about $7.5 million and the garage would be $3.6 million, making a total of about $11 million, which he said is a $4 million savings compared to the $15 million Ockawamick is predicted to cost after renovation.
Linda Mussmann, an organizer of tonight’s demonstration, called Plan B “a viable option that provides the space needed, keeps the departments accessible and will cost the taxpayers less.
“By contrast, the plan currently favored by the board leadership will place the Department of Social Services six miles outside of the city, despite the fact that the majority of DSS clients live in the 12534 area code,” Mussmann stated in an e-mail. “In these hard times, how can this be a smart, economic move? Is it reasonable to expect people to pay $10 to travel by taxi from Hudson — and $10 to return — when they need access to the services offered by DSS?”
Mussmann’s e-mail urges citizens to “come to 401 State Street — corner of State and Fourth streets — at 6:30 p.m. and,
n Tell the board a decision made now almost guarantees that children and families will be denied access to essential human services. People in need will fall between the bureaucratic cracks of an already overburdened system.
n Tell the board to stop this ill-conceived and unfair proposal before it goes any further. Urge all the supervisors to visit the existing DSS office on Railroad Avenue — see what a day there entails, and experience the issues first hand.
n Tell the board to wait — to vote after important questions are answered, and every supervisor has the information required to make a fully informed decision.
n Tell the board to seek comparisons, from outside contractors/developers, between building a new Department of Social Services facility vs. renovation of the old school at Ockawamick and give real consideration to “Plan B.”
To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.
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