The town of Hudson has a deal to purchase Sandy Beach for more than $9 million dollars, making the waterfront public for the first time in years. The 35 acres would finally be open to visitors, if residents approve the deal. The beautiful green space along the shores of Lake of Two Mountains has been off-limits for a very long time. Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison says developers have now offered to sell the lots. “The net taxes brings it up to $9.2 million, but there’s also financing costs. So right now, we estimate the full cost of that purchase to be $9.6 million, which is what we’re looking to finance over different ways,” she says. She’ll host an information session on Wednesday for residents as council is preparing to adopt a loan bylaw to finance the purchase, which is conditional on public approval. “If there are 491 signatures or more, that triggers a referendum where all people who have the ability to vote should certainly come out and vote for or against the project,” she says. The Editor-in-Chief of local newspaper The 1019 Report, Branda O’Farrell, crunched the numbers and points out that the proposal would cost per tax-payer would be approximately $100 a year for the next 40 years. “For things like garbage collection or what you call rolling stock, the town’s vehicles, what are you going to be paying for the next two years? I’m telling you, it’s just a fraction of those regular expenses,” says O’Farrell. Hudson is also hoping to secure a $2 million grant from the Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal. It would bring down the price, but would open the area to all visitors, not just locals. Elements like security and control of crowd sizes will also have to be discussed within the community. Ultimately, the citizens of Hudson will be the ones to decide what happens to Sandy Beach.
