Five-year spending plan gets the green light; city bids Comeriato farewell

by Judy Stringer

Nov. 19 city council meeting

Hudson City Council passed a resolution adopting the city’s five-year spending plan. Under current projections, the general fund will receive $32.5 million in revenue in 2025 and spend $33.8 million. The ending cash balance for 2025 is expected to be approximately $13.9 million.

Revenue will increase slightly over the next couple of years to top off at $35.1 million in 2029, as spending remains around the $33 million mark. In 2029, based on planned expenditures and current assumptions, the city will end the year with $14.1 million in its coffers.

Management and Budget Director Brian Griffith detailed the five-year plan to council over two previous workshops. Highlighting council’s focus on infrastructure at the Oct. 8 workshop, Griffith said the city is poised to spend an average of just over $3.3 million annually on street and sidewalk construction from 2025 to 2029. That marks a 40% increase from an average of $2.4 million annually for the past 10 years. Likewise, annual spending on stormwater projects is expected to average $3.1 million in this upcoming cycle, up $47% from $2 million between 2015 and 2024.

“We also have a new public works building in this five-year [plan], which is estimated at $34 million, 60% of that’s out of general fund and 40% is the in the electric fund. And we also have the new golf course clubhouse in there for $3.1 million, so it’s quite a bit of capital,” he said.

Griffith added that there are 274 capital improvement items planned over the next five years that total $127 million in spending. 

Among specific line items Griffith highlighted was a $100,000 for security upgrades to City Hall. He said the Hudson Police Department conducted an assessment that recommended, among other things, a bulletproof wall inside the main entrance to create an atrium that would keep visitors from getting to office and conference spaces without permission. 

City Manager Thom Sheridan said steel entrance doors and security cameras were two other recommendations from the police inspection. City staff had originally pegged the upgrades at $180,000, which councilors Chris Banweg and Skylar Sutton said was too high. Sheridan told council at a follow-up discussion on Oct. 22 that he believes he can reduce it down to $100,000.

The initial five-year plan also included a $100,000-expenditure in 2027 for replacement of benches in the downtown area. After council also questioned that cost, Sheridan came back to them on Oct. 22 and explained that “public works is going to sand them down and repaint” the existing benches instead.

“So we’ve been refurbishing them, and it was just one of those things [that] we had out five years ago, and we’ve been working on them ever so slightly, and we didn’t look out to [20]27 to see that item,” Sheridan said.

In addition to the golf clubhouse and public works building, other big ticket items include $1.9 million for widening the turnpike bridge on Prospect Street, $900,000 for construction of a multi-purpose trail on Prospect,  $1.2 million for a 10-foot trail along Boston Mills Road, and $540,000 for the purchase of Norfolk Southern’s abandon railway near Veterans Way.

Griffith said a $1.8-million expenditure related to construction of a bridge over the Hines Hill Road railroad crossing was moved from the five-year funding timeline until the city finds out if a federal grant will be awarded for that project. 

Seasonal needs

As part of its legislative agenda, council also passed a resolution accepting a $18,686 grant from Hudson Kiwanis for installation of a shade sail at the Veterans Way Park splash pad and a resolution authorizing a contract with Hudson-based Kurtz Brothers for the 2024 leaf disposal.

Comeriato retirement

Council and staff thanked and bid good wishes to Assistant City Manager Frank Comeriato who is retiring. Comeriato joined the started his career at the city of Hudson in 1987, working as a maintenance technician for the cemetery department. He was was promoted to public works superintendent in 2002 and director in 2011, overseeing notable public project such as the Town Hall building restoration, relocation of Hudson Public Power and construction of the bus garage and Koberna Salt Storage Facility. Comeriato became assistant city manager in 2016.Accepting an honorary resolution to honor his 30 years of service, Comeriato said, “This is a great organization, and I am very lucky to be a part of it. … It’s still my hometown, no matter where I go.”