Hudson staff propose citywide community calendar; Hudson Community Foundation to operate if council agrees

City staff presented a plan on Oct. 28 for a single, community-wide calendar that would consolidate municipal meetings, school events, nonprofit activities and other public events onto a single platform operated by the Hudson Community Foundation.

The proposal calls for the foundation to purchase and host the service and for the city to donate the first year’s operating cost so the calendar can launch as a pilot for the 2026 calendar year. Staff recommended using a vendor called Localist after comparing multiple commercial platforms that ranged from about $1,500 to $24,000 per year; staff said Localist provided most of the higher-end features at a moderate price point and that the expected cost is about $12,000 for the first year.

Why it matters: Councilors and staff said the community lacks a single comprehensive place to find events. The city already maintains a municipal calendar for meetings and permitted special events; staff told council that the new calendar would broaden coverage to include school and nonprofit programming and would reduce duplication of data-entry across many organizations.

Details: Staff described a governance model in which a core group of organizations — initially the Hudson Community Foundation, Hudson City Schools, the Hudson Library & Historical Society and the Chamber of Commerce — would participate in the calendar and the foundation would be the final approver of content to maintain legal separation from the city. As staff put it in the presentation, “The Hudson Community Foundation would purchase and operate the calendar.”

The platform features staff highlighted include mass import and RSS feeds (so the city’s existing calendar could feed into the new calendar), unlimited users and events, mobile-friendly display, searchable filters (by organizer, event type and date) and back-end support and training. Staff said the calendar could also host optional future features such as ticketing and reservations.

Council reaction and next steps: Councilors expressed support with conditions. Councilor Skyler said, “I actually think this fills a huge void,” and Ms. Sheeter said she was “very excited” about the proposal, while some councilors asked for explicit draft agreements and clarity on how taxpayer funds would be used when the city provides startup funding to a third party. Staff confirmed they would draft membership agreements, governance procedures and any draft contracts and return those documents to council for review. No formal vote or appropriation was recorded at the workshop.

Staff timeline: If council directs the city to proceed and the foundation can finalize agreements, staff said the vendor can stand up the calendar quickly and staff would aim to populate events for the 2026 calendar year. The city would return to council with draft agreements and a more detailed financing approach detailing cost-sharing options for future years.