How To Waste Money And Make Hudson Look Like Shit At The Same Time!

Last week, after seeing this insulting "sign" on city property in front of the Union Street parking lot, I called the state agency who we have to thank for it and the original 10 or 11 nearby so-called sidewalk trees which showed up at least 7 years ago.  All the trees are in the same general condition as the sign -- they are either dead, dying, cut off or completely gone (leaving a gaping hole or cone in the sidewalk, thank you very much).  To call them trees is an insult to mature, thriving trees.  The redesigned sidewalks and curbs, trees and sign were brought to us with grant money from the Environmental Facilities Corporation, which is a rather suspicious name for an agency to begin with.  The rest was up to us.  "Us" being Rob Perry.

I spoke with an EFC employee by the name of Brian Hahn, who is well aware of the ugly situation on Union Street, as well as his supervisor who is also named Brian.  The latter Brian told me that he had spoken with Rob Perry late last year about the condition of the remaining trees and the deplorable "sign."  Because the contract between the Hudson DPW and the EFC (signed by Perry, apparently) stipulates that the City of Hudson is responsible for the maintenance of the trees (and the sign!), Brian told me that he had told Rob that by May or June of this year the city "must" replace the sign and any trees that are dead or missing.  Neither Brian had a satisfactory answer to the question I followed up with:  "And what will you do if he does nothing?"

Readers must understand that the dozen or so so-called Stormwater Planter trees were expected to thrive and survive on a generous diet of street runoff full of salt, debris, oil, litter and anything else that makes its way onto the surface of upper Union Street and is swept into the basins holding the trees.  What you may not be able to read in the "benefits" section of the upper left portion of the sign explains precisely why no tree involved in this project could ever possibly survive, particularly at the hands of a DPW that has no interest in trees and no qualifications to tend to them.  Let me help you understand what was once legible until a year or so ago:  "A Stormwater Planter naturally treats the water stream by capturing and removing pollutants."  Sounds like a great idea to me!  (Both Brians told me that the City of Kingston has successful Stormwater Planter trees along Broadway that were installed 5 years ago.)

A 7-year-old "tree" that anyone could 
easily snap in two.  If we are lucky, it will 
be replaced by an orange cone soon.

Saving the planet by cleaning the air and water,
and making Hudson beautiful!

Runoff full of pollutants feeds the trees through an opening in 
the curb which was specifically made for the trees.

And Rob Perry bought into this hook, line and fucking sinker.  But now that the EFC won't help out with providing the funds needed for a new sign and new trees, what do you suppose our DPW Superintendent will do this year or next?  Will he meet the quickly arriving deadline suggested by the EFC?  Now that the tree project is no longer "free" to Hudson residents, will Rob find the money to purchase a new sign and install it?  Does he even have the funds in his 2025 budget to purchase eleven more trees and get them planted in the specially created sidewalks and curbs so they can capture all the crap in the street runoff and save the planet while making Union Street look pretty and a pleasure to walk along (without tripping on a stump or a cone or stepping into a 12-inch-wide hole)?  Can he even justify spending revenue on anything having to do with this miserably failed tree project that he should have stayed away from 7 or more years ago? 

Or will he continue to do nothing by ignoring the problem, the dangerous holes in the sidewalk and the ugliness, an approach that he seems to favor, including not mentioning a thing about it?

Two or three years ago during a DPW report to the council (via Zoom, of course), Perry showed a picture of a DPW crew cleaning out one of the Union Street Stormwater Planter basins full of leaf litter and other debris.  He had no comment to make about the general state of the tree project, the implication being that there was nothing to be concerned about and that everything was just fine with the trees.  As far as I know, that was the one and only mention of the project since it began 7 years ago.