The Garden City Board of Trustees voted 7 to 1 in favor of submitting an application for a New York State grant to be used for maintenance work on the Historic Main Building at St. Paul's at its Sept. 14th meeting. Trustee Thomas Lamberti voted against the grant.

The program, called Restore New York, is a governor's initiative administered by the state agency Empire State Development Corp. The village is applying for the maximum grant of $5 million to do much-needed maintenance work on St. Paul's, including roof work, masonry and plumbing.

"Obviously, this amount will fall far short of the need but there is a possibility of additional grants in future years," explained Brad O'Hearn, Village spokesman. "There is also a possibility of more than $5 million in this round if there are insufficient meritorious applications."

Peter Negri, president of the Committee to Save St. Paul's, had notified Trustee Donald Brudie at a CPOA meeting about the grant. Trustee Brudie then told Village Administrator Robert Schoelle, who looked into it further by contacting Senator Kemp Hannon.

After contacting Sen. Hannon and being encouraged to file an application, Schoelle discussed the issue with Mayor Gerard Lundquist, who agreed and asked that it be brought before the Board. After some debate, trustees voted to go ahead with the application. Trustees John Mauk and Nicholas Episcopia argued that the grant is for inner cities and does not apply to Garden City.

Trustee Robert Rothschild said that there is no risk in applying since the Village does not have to accept the money. If the Village receives and accepts the grant, it will have to match 10 percent of the funds awarded.

Time was of the essence as the grant application deadline was the next day, Friday, Sept. 15th. There are several requirements for a successful application, including newspaper publication and a public hearing. Trustees have scheduled a public hearing for September 28th at 7 p.m. at Village Hall. Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg will review the grant documentation to make sure the Village is in compliance with the other requirements.

In other St. Paul's news, Trustee Mauk announced that the Village has already received seven to nine responses to the Request For Proposals (RFP) issued in June for development of the Historic Main Building at St. Paul's. The deadline is October.