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Hudson City panel moves to seek bids for sidewalk repairs as residents press for stronger contractor oversight
Summary
Hudson City’s public works board authorized staff to begin preparing a full bid package for sidewalk repairs covering roughly 11 parcels and two alternates. Residents warned past contractor work failed quickly; the board said an outside project manager will oversee the work rather than daily city inspection.
Hudson City’s Public Works Board on June 22 authorized staff to prepare a full public bid for sidewalk repairs covering about 11 parcels across the city, while a public commenter urged the board to ensure stronger oversight after contractors’ recent work began cracking prematurely.
Staff described the targeted locations as stretches on North and South Fifth Street, portions of Third Street and Sixth Street and tie-ins to municipal buildings, and said two alternates will be added so a low bid could allow up to three more parcels to be included. “We have identified six 10 11 different parcels… North Fifth between Columbia and Warren… North Fifth between Columbia and Long… South Third Street between Warren and Union,” the staff member said, listing candidate segments.
The board discussed procurement logistics and agreed the value of the work exceeds informal-RFP thresholds, requiring a full public bid. A motion was made to authorize the city’s engineering team (the Associates firm) to begin preparing the bid package; the board moved to proceed.
A resident during public comment criticized prior sidewalk and bridge work, naming a contractor (spoken as Vosberg or Vossberg in the record) and saying several earlier pours and stone repairs began cracking shortly after completion. “I sent you guys pictures of the cracks… I just hope that they don't win the bid that comes around,” the resident said, urging the board not to rehire the same firm and asking who will supervise contractors’ workmanship.
Gary, a board member, replied that the city has a project manager assigned to the SID work and said the team includes a commissioner and the mayor’s ADA aide. “We have a project manager on this job,” Gary said, adding he felt “very comfortable with the team we have in place” to oversee subcontractors. Board members clarified that on-site, daily city inspection by a municipal employee is not standard practice and that oversight will be provided by the hired project manager from the engineering firm rather than a standing city inspector.
Board members also addressed approach and scope: rather than replace entire blocks, officials said the program will generally repair parcel-by-parcel to tie incomplete segments to ADA access near municipal buildings and to stretch roughly $300,000 in annual SID revenue. “There is no reason for us to rip up sidewalk that is already ADA compliant,” the staff member said, noting the budget limits and priorities for the worst segments first.
The board and staff said they will print maps of the proposed segments for the common council and move to advertise the full bid package promptly so contractors can submit proposals this construction season. The board also agreed to wait to publicly announce selected segments until the common council approves the specific streets and associated expenditures.
The meeting closed after additional comments and an adjournment motion.
