I heard this yesterday and immediately fired off my request to get a copy (tho I neglected to request the equally interesting term sheet). Here’s the story according to Council President Mark Clear. Looks like he’s doing the Mayor’s work for him yet again and of course deferring to him instead of advocating on behalf of the council. I sure hope they don’t have the Board of Estimates and Landmark’s meeting both on the 10th! And, I’m wondering why he didn’t just send the application to the council, even if the analysis isn’t done. Poor Joe is probably going to get a lot of requests for it today, to add to the ones he already got yesterday.
Joe Gromacki tells me that the application and term sheet were received this morning and he and other staff are doing their analysis and vetting work. That will take several days, after which the application and analysis will be available in Legistar for introduction at the May 4 Common Council meeting. They will not be able to complete their work in time for the council agenda packet, so the introduction will be made from the floor.
Obviously there is a great deal of interest from the public and the council in this application, and I’ve asked Joe to notify the council as soon as it is available for our review.
The normal course of events would put the matter before Board of Estimates on Monday 5/10. As you probably know, that is the same time that the Landmarks Commission is scheduled to hear the project’s revised application for a certificate of appropriateness.
Recognizing that many alders and members of the public may wish to attend both meetings, while at the same time acknowledging that schedules are tight and moving a meeting can create more problems than it solves, I would like to know your preference on whether to keep BOE at its original schedule or try to reschedule. The results of this poll will be provided to the Mayor (as chair of BOE, the decision to reschedule or not is his).
