Fifth Ward Supervisor and former Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera and Tom Swope, Executive Director of the GalVan Initiatives Foundation, presented a plan to the Hudson Common Council, Tues., Mar. 21, to design and build a new facility to house the Hudson Police Department and City Court, located at the corner of Fourth and Columbia streets in the city's Fourth Ward. The plan, called the Civic Hudson Project, is co-sponsored by developer T. Eric Galloway's Lantern nonprofit corporation and the GalVan Initiatives Foundation. The project will be funded using private investment funds and tax credits. In addition to a police facility and city court, the 46,995 square-foot structure will contain 33 units of "permanent housing for formerly homeless adults," on the building's top two floors. The City of Hudson is under a consent decree by the New York State Department of Justice and the Third Department to improve conditions of its police station and courthouse. According to Tom Casey's account in the Register Star the plan was praised by several in attendance at the meeting, including Mayor Bill Hallenbeck. But Hudson Police Chief Ellis Richardson, commenting on the decision to mix municipal and residential uses in a single structure, said,  “Although this particular project seems to be financially attractive...one of the biggest concerns I have is homeless housing coexisting with municipal functions.” The design-build project calls for the city court and police to lease space from GalVan. A special meeting of the Common Council will be held Thurs., Mar. 29, to discuss the project. Read the full story online at the Register Star and The Gossips of Rivertown. (Image of the Civic Hudson Project, 25 N. Fourth St., courtesy GalVan Initiatives Foundation.)