Title
Discussion: The Future Use of Town Hall.
Executive Summary: As the City offices have been moved out of Town Hall, there is a need to decide the future use of Town Hall.
Body
Legislative History
None.
Purpose & Explanation
As the City moved its offices out of Town Hall, there was a consensus to continue using the Council Chambers on the second floor for all Council meetings and meetings of Boards and Commissions that already hold their public meetings at Town Hall. There was also discussion regarding all Boards and Commissions meeting at Town Hall in order to utilize the video cameras and online Granicus system to provide better access to their meetings. However, there was not a final decision.
There was also a discussion regarding the conversion of the upstairs offices to a space suitable for the Council and Mayor. Specifically to include a conference room (in anticipation of the loss of the downstairs conference room due to another use), file storage, copier and several workspaces that could be shared. There was also not a final decision on this matter.
Finally, since there has not been a discussion and resulting direction from Council regarding possible uses for the rest of Town Hall, there has not been any effort to solicit potential uses. However, the City has been approached by several parties interested in using the space. The only user that has proposed using the entire space downstairs is the Hudson Fire Department Association. They would like to renovate the downstairs to house a fire museum including two antique fire engines that the Association owns. They would convert the former space occupied by the City Manager's Office back to a garage bay for the engines, including renovations to provide for access on the southern end of the building through the former garage doors whose outline was maintained and is still signed as Fire Dept. The Association has indicated that they would assume responsibility for the cost of renovation...
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