Jammel Cutler is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Hudson Common Council Wed., Dec. 28, adopted a new local law taking the first step toward the creation of a sidewalk improvement district that would be subsidized by a fee assessed to residents. At the special meeting held to discuss the city's deteriorating sidewalks Wednesday, the Council immediately went behind closed doors for 25 minutes to discuss with legal counsel the proposed local law that would create a sidewalk improvement district. Elected officials were working under a January 1 deadline to act on the resolution or face an undetermined penalty for noncompliance from the state. Under the measure the annual maintenance feel for undeveloped lots and sliver lots is zero; for low-foot-traffic lots it is $100; and for all others is $200. The frontage fee will be $30 and the square footage fee is 15 cents per square foot. The fees will be reviewed annually by the council. Fees will be determined by the property classification. Common Council President Thomas DePietro said he was pleased with the meeting's outcome. “After a bumpy start with the council, we cleared up all of the misinformation and arrived at unanimous support for moving this forward,” he said. Note: DePietro is a volunteer WGXC on-air host. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.