POUGHKEEPSIE – A special meeting of the Poughkeepsie Common Council meeting called for Thursday night to discuss purchasing the Italian Center was canceled when the offer to purchase the landmark building adjacent to the city hall was withdrawn by the organization.
The city administration had proposed spending approximately $2.2 million to purchase the building and two parcels in hopes of creating a “campus-style” government complex.
Mayor Rob Rolison was disappointed in the center’s withdrawal.”
I believe that the Italian Center may have seen the clearly political statements that were made in a press release from the council leadership along with councilperson Menist and saw that the chances of it passing were slim to none.”
Rolison added that “the center, like many affected by the pandemic, have their own fiscal concerns, and they need to get a deal done so they can look at an alternate property. If they have other people interested in purchasing that property, then that’s probably what they are going to do.”
City Administrator Marc Nelson had said that several uses were possible for the new facility. One proposal included moving the DPW administration offices and the Section 8 office to the building, eliminating the need for DPW to be housed in a trailer and Section 8 would no longer be in rented space at 1 Civic Center Plaza. An alternative called for the city court to be moved to the Italian Center, allowing DPW and Section 8 to move their offices to city hall.
Councilmember Natasha Cherry had planned to vote in favor of the purchase. Cherry is the former chair of the council and had said, “As a long-serving member of the Finance Committee I am convinced that the opportunity to purchase the Italian Center makes good sense. Even after considering the cost of bonding for the purchase, we will see annual expenses fall at the same time as we put a valuable asset on the City’s balance sheet.”
Council Chair Sarah Salem was opposed to the purchase and in a news release denounced the proposal. Salem said the proposal “demonstrates a lack of fiscal restraint, a lack of respect to our taxpayers, and is a misuse of city resources at a time when the city is faced with a dire financial outlook as we enter what is predicted to be the worst economic downturn in our history.”
Councilman Chris Petsas, who represents the area where the center is located is disappointed by the decision. “The property posed some great opportunities for the city to consolidate services and save taxpayer money.”
