Published August 7, 2024

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A motion by the town of Hudson to invoke its right of first refusal on the sale of a vacant lot on Main Road that was once the planned site for the proposed Villa Wyman seniors’ residence failed to garner enough support from council Monday.

The move only received two votes against, but that was enough to block it at a public meeting where half the councillors were no-shows.

Councillors Benoît Blais and Douglas Smith voted against spending $575,000 to purchase the 37,000-square-foot lot as part of a plan that would see the town donate the property to Toit d’Abord, an independent non-profit that aims to build affordable housing in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region. Councillor Reid Thompson cast the only vote in favour of the proposal.

In introducing the motion, Mayor Chloe Hutchison outlined that part of the plan would see Hudson apply for a grant from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, which, if successful, would cover up to 20 per cent of the project’s value. The next move would then be to change the zoning of the site, from exclusively for a seniors’ care facility to be able to permit a multi-unit dwelling that would not provide care nor be restricted to seniors only.

During a suspension of the meeting, Hutchison said she was very disappointed the proposal was voted down.

“It’s unfortunate we did not have a full table,” she said, referring to the absence of three councillors.

Explaining his opposition, Blais said council did not have the time to get the needed details to make a fully informed decision on the plan.

“I’m voting the same way as if I was investing my own money,” Blais said, adding that as much as he would like to support the idea of creating affordable housing, too many details involving Hudson’s risk were not known.

In an interview yesterday, Smith echoed the sentiment, saying: “I don’t like 11th-hour deals. Council never discussed this.

“How do you sign off on something when we don’t know what the final financial commitment for Hudson would be?” Smith added. The town faced a tight deadline to invoke its right to first refusal to buy the property, having received notice that the owners of the lot had secured an offer of purchase on June 6, triggering a 60-day period for the town to decide if it wished to apply its right of first refusal. That period expired Monday, the same day as the council meeting.

Scroll to Top