Garden City Mayor Gerard Lundquist announced at the March 16th Board of Trustees meeting that village officials will meet with members of Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi's office to discuss their concerns with the Nassau Hub plan. The plan, which is moving from a conceptual stage to development of the more-detailed Environmental Impact Statement, calls for a transportation link in the center of Nassau County connecting Long Island Rail Road train stations with activity centers. Mayor Lundquist said the village is worried about increased traffic congestion and other issues.

Trustee Peter Bee said the county needs money from the federal government to fund further studies. He encouraged those who oppose the plan to lobby their legislators. According to Bee, Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy is trying to get federal money for the project.

Former Mayor Harold Hecken urged the Board to stay on top of the issue and emphasized that residents do not seem to know enough about the traffic that will be generated if the Hub plan moves forward. Mayor Lundquist assured Hecken that the village will be "very diligent."

Another issue the village is keeping tabs on is the proposed sale by the county of 25 acres of land at 101 County Seat Drive, the site of the former social services building. The Village of Mineola is currently suing the county to block the sale, alleging that they did not provide a plan to replace 1,500 parking spaces on the property. Queens Supreme Court Justice Charles Thomas ruled last week that the county had failed to do an adequate environmental review and ordered the county to provide a traffic and parking impact study.

Gerard Fishberg, counsel to the Village of Garden City, reported at the Board meeting that the county has made some references to move the county's Family Court to the property but the justice found they did not study it adequately. Fishberg expects the county to remedy the deficiencies in the environmental review within 90 days.

According to Trustee Peter Bee, the move is "completely at odds" with comments made in the past by Suozzi, who had emphasized he would work with the village. Mayor Lundquist asked Fishberg to send a letter to the county requesting assurance that the Family Court is not being moved.

According to a report from Trustee Nicholas Episcopia, the owners of the Saks building on Franklin Avenue announced plans at a meeting of the Planning Commission to renovate the property to provide retail space on the ground floor, and a restaurant and office space on the top floor. The basement level will be leased by a wellness center that focuses on sports injury rehabilitation. Episcopia said it is a very attractive proposal.

In other news, the tentative 2006-2007 budget totals $52,503,036, an increase of 3.7 percent from the 2005-2006 budget. The 3.12 percent tax rate increase will require the "average home," which is a home assessed at $13,200, to pay an additional $147.84 in Village taxes per year. Last year the average homeowner had to pay an additional $266.64 in Village taxes per year.

A public hearing on the budget will be held at the Monday, April 3 Board of Trustees organization meeting. After public comment, the Board is expected to vote on the budget. Also at the April 3rd meeting, a public hearing will be held on proposed changes to the village zoning law (see related article in this week's Garden City News) and Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg will give a presentation on the issues of assessment and tax certiorari.