From The Mayor's Office
By Gerard Lundquist

ST. PAUL'S - AN UPDATE
As reported at the October 6th Board of Trustees Meeting, six RFPs were returned for the Historic Main Building at St. Paul's. Trustee John Mauk, Chairman of the St. Paul's Committee reported that the Committee will spend four to six weeks evaluating the complex proposals, including an interview process with the leading candidates. A time-line will then be established by the Board including public comment and participation by each property owner association before a decision is made by the Board of Trustees.

New York State Village Law prohibits the expenditure of Village money that would be used toward conducting a public referendum. It is anticipated that a public opinion poll regarding the final decision relating to the Historic Main Building at St. Paul's will be conducted.

GRANT APPLICATION - EMPIRE STATE DEVELOPMENT CORP.

In my last column I spoke about the special meeting that was held with regard to a Public Hearing required in conjunction with the Village's grant application to the Empire State Development Corporation for the Historic Main Building at St. Paul's under the Restore New York Communities Initiative. As stated at the beginning of this Public Hearing, the purpose of the Public Hearing was to determine if a particular property should not be listed on the grant application. There were no negative comments received during the hearing. Mr. Gould from Port City Preservation, who is a part of a team that responded to the RFP, was a speaker at the Public Hearing speaking in favor of the Board's attempt to secure funding for the Historic Main Building at St. Paul's. Additional written comments would be welcomed. It would be inappropriate for a responder to the RFP be given a public forum without offering it to all who submitted responses to the RFP.

FIRE PREVENTION DAY - SUNDAY OCTOBER 15, 2006

The annual observance of Fire Prevention Week in Garden City is October 8, through 14, 2006. All residents and friends are invited to attend the Annual Inspection and Open House on Sunday, October 15th at 12:00 p.m. The program will be conducted at Fire Headquarters and in the employee parking field, located on the west side of Village Hall on Stewart Avenue.

Your Fire Department does an outstanding job to protect our lives and homes. Please stop by to show your support for them. I'm sure that your entire family will enjoy the program.

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE

ANNUAL "FALL FESTIVAL STREET FAIR" AND HOMECOMING PARADE

Please mark your calendar for Saturday, October, 28, 2006 as it will be a very festive day in our Village marked by the Chamber of Commerce's 27th annual "Fall Festival Street Fair", combined with the annual High School Homecoming Day Parade and the annual Street Fair. Bring your family and enjoy the community spirit and fun.

The Chamber's Street Fair on Seventh Street and Franklin Avenue is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and will run through mid-afternoon. Seventh Street, between Franklin and Hilton Avenues, will be closed to all traffic from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. For your convenience, please use the Hilton and Franklin Avenue entrances to Parking Field 7-S and the Stewart Avenue entrances to Parking Field 7-N. The High School's Homecoming Parade will step off promptly at 12:15 p.m. from the most easterly end of Seventh Street and proceed west along Seventh Street to Cathedral Avenue, north onto Stewart Avenue, west to Oxford Boulevard and north to the High School parking field. The Homecoming festivities and football game will follow the Parade at the Warren King Field.

S.T.O.P. PROGRAM

The Town of Hempstead Sanitation Department will conduct its monthly S.T.O.P. (Stop Throwing Out Pollutants) program on Sunday, October 15, 2006 the program, which is being held at various locations throughout the Town of Hempstead, will make hazardous waste facilities accessible to as many residents as possible.

This Sunday's program will be held at the Valley Stream State Park, Parking Field 1 in Valley Stream. The hours of operation will be 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Under the S.T.O.P. program, residents are able to take polluting materials to the facility and have them disposed of by a registered professional disposal company, free of charge. The facility will not accept the following materials: Ammunition, Explosives, Fireworks, Infectious or Medical Waste, Propane or Oxygen Tanks, Radioactive Materials, Unlabeled Materials and Fire Extinguishers.