BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

After years of planning, the proposal to build an 18-unit seniors’ residence in Hudson has been shelved, with the project’s board of directors and the mayor trading barbs as to who bares the blame.

According to a message sent to the town on Dec. 9, the board of directors of Villa Wyman, which had been planning to build a two-storey subsidized seniors’ residence on a lot next to the former Wyman Memorial United Church on Main Road, decided to abandon the project after Hudson municipal council earlier in the week rejected its request to modify the layout of a parking area proposed for the site. The modification had been requested after the board of directors discovered the initial plan for parking, which the town had approved, encroached on the former church lot and it could not reach an agreement with the new owners of that property to permit a right of way.

In a statement to the town, the Villa Wyman board of directors blamed the town for what it called “untenable” delays and revision to its plans.

“After eight years since the inception of this project we lack the confidence in the town of Hudson to facilitate the timely completion of this project,” the board wrote.

In a written response to the board, Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison said: “I am surprised by this sudden decision and disappointed that you are opting to place the blame on council for not completing the project.”

In rejecting the modification, council recommended a reduction in the number of parking spaces and that they be moved to the rear of the site, behind the proposed building.

“We did not sense that this ask would represent a risk to the project,” Hutchison told the board.

In an interview last week, Hutchison went further: “I didn’t feel the reason that was given to us is the real reason.” She speculated that the increased cost of construction of the project due to the current inflationary economic climate, could be a factor.

The town had only learned of the board of director’s failure to obtain a servitude to allow the originally proposed parking plan in September, she added, pointing to the fact that the town had approved that plan back in October 2022.

“They were in full control,” Hutchison said, explaining the board of directors could have obtained a servitude at the time of the sale of the church building, and then failed to negotiate a deal with the current owners.

“They are a bunch of amateurs,” Hutchison said, referring to the board of directors. “Put it in the hands of people who can get it done.”

In a statement to The 1019 Report yesterday, the board of Villa Wyman wrote: “We have faced one refusal after another, one change after another…. With each change, the project was delayed, added costs were incurred for the engineering and architects, while interest rates went up and materials skyrocketed.  And yet we persevered because we felt the project was important to Hudson and so did the federal and provincial government who backed our project.”

The church was sold in 2020. In June of that year, the town granted the proposed seniors’ residence a 10-year exemption on its municipal tax bill, a move that helped the board secure funding for the facility. In early 2022, the project received a $4.2-million grant from the federal government to help build the affordable housing complex.