The Committee to Save St. Paul's, a group of local community activists who are fighting the Village of Garden City to preserve the historic main building for public use, responded to last week's decision dismissing their lawsuit to block the Village's pursuit of a possible sale by accusing the Village of withholding information from residents.

According to a statement issued by executive members of the committee, Peter Negri, President; Thomas Poole, Secretary; Edmund Keating, Treasurer; and Eileen Collins, Executive Director, with the case dismissal also came the revelation of evidence which the committee claims the Village had been trying to suppress.

The committee claims that in a confidential report to the Board of Trustees last November, consultant Karen Backus recommended leaving the building faade but demolishing the majority of the structure. She further recommended building a new "C" shaped building to replace the current "E" shaped footprint. The group claims that the consultant also considered building a fifth floor. Allegedly, Backus advised the trustees that only the C plan was likely to succeed and that development within the existing "E" footprint was deemed highly risky and likely to fail.

"Absolutely no recommendation was made by Karen Backus on the C option," responded Village spokesman Brad O'Hearn.

The reason no recommendation was made at the December presentation could be because of e-mails made from Trustee John Mauk, second deputy mayor and chairman of a mayor-appointed committee focusing on the St. Paul's issue. The Committee to Save St. Paul's has copies of e-mails sent from Mauk to the consultant in early December instructing her firm not to mention the C plan.

In an e-mail dated December 5, 2005 at 6:32 p.m., he instructed those participating in the presentation to "not breathe this as the direction for the future." At another point he tells them, "We don't even want to mention the C option" as part of the public presentation, but does instruct them to "plant the idea for now that some minimal new construction may be required."

Mauk told The Garden City News that he sent the e-mails but denied any attempt to conceal information. He said he also wrote in the e-mail that he wanted to wait until the consultant gathered more information from developers before putting the C option before the public. After conducting market research, Backus said at the June 15th Board of Trustees meeting that most developers were interested in building substantially within the existing framework. Mauk also said that a background which includes mention of the C option will be provided to developers in the Request For Proposals (RFP).

O'Hearn issued a statement from Mayor Gerard Lundquist, dismissing the e-mails as "informal comments":

"The Committee to Save St. Paul's had every opportunity to make its outlandish claims to a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. This impartial judge rejected every claim and dismissed its lawsuit.

"What matters here are not informal comments made in the very early stages of the Village's effort to save St. Paul's. What really matters to our residents is to find a productive use for it, at little or no cost to our taxpayers, the signed, sealed and delivered proposals we will receive in October and whether they meet the Village's needs. If The Committee to Save St Paul's is able to produce a credible alternate proposal, the trustees will, of course, carefully examine it.

"While there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for every one of the so-called charges leveled by the committee with respect to the appraisal, design approach, etc., we are disappointed to have learned from experience that the committee is not interested in dialogue, understanding, nor the process and approach that we are taking."

The Committee to Save St. Paul's also alleges that according to an e-mail from Karen Backus in October, members of the Board of Trustees had received an appraisal from a "prominent real estate firm" which valued the historic building and seven surrounding acres at $20 million. According to a statement issued by the committee, Board members tried to hide the figure from residents because "they didn't want people to know how much of a steal the sale of St. Paul's would be for a developer if he could get his hands on it for much less than market value. They also knew that this appraisal of $20 million will be a major issue in dealing with the Parkland designation of the property."

O'Hearn denied the claim, saying, "The Village never received the appraisal because it was never completed." Mauk added that it was not valid and complete because it was missing several factors. He said, for example, the many encumbrances on the land, including parkland designation and the need for home rule legislation, were not taken into account when determining the appraisal. Home rule legislation will be necessary if condos are to be developed. At the December meeting, Trustee Mauk said the legislation was a major hurdle that would have to be dealt with by the legislature.

The committee also claims that if the Village does not obtain full, fair market value from the chosen developer, taxpayers will have to make up the difference if the Village wants to obtain legislative approval under the New York State Parkland Alienation guidelines. Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg refuted their claim, telling The Garden City News that preservation of the historic building may be enough quid pro quo under New York State Parkland Alienation guidelines.

Michael Ciaffa, an attorney who represents the Committee to Save St. Paul's, said that there is nothing in the guidelines and he knows of no judicial opinion which states that preservation would satisfy the quid pro quo requirement. Further, his client believes that legislative approval would most likely not be granted because the faade would be restored for a private residential purpose and not for use by the public.