Trustees' Committee Carefully Reviewing St. Paul's Proposals
The following was submitted by the Village of Garden City:

The Board of Trustees' Committee that has been working for many months to come up with a possible solution for restoring the St. Paul's Main Building, says it is continuing its careful and systematic review of the six proposals received by the Village on October 12, 2006.

The Board Committee has indicated that a comparative review of all proposals is the best way of identifying the proposal that comes closest to meeting the Village's objectives for restoring the historical features of the building with minimal risk to the Village, and with little or no additional cost to the taxpayers.

Committee members said, they are working closely with the Village's real estate consultant, K. Backus & Associates, to evaluate and rate each proposal based on the ability of each proposer, to meet specific criteria spelled out in some detail in the RFP. Factors being considered include (1) the past experience of the developer and development team in successfully undertaking this kind of historical development project, (2) the developer's ability to finance and fully pay the project cost without taxpayer expense, (3) the potential for the development to be successfully implemented, and (4) its ability to meet overall Village objectives for development.

The Committee announced last week that it completed its initial review of the proposals, and has issued letters to some of the respondents asking for additional information and clarification needed to complete the comparative review.

According to Trustee John Mauk, Chairman of the Committee, some responders were clear enough in presenting their development concepts, but were vague about the details of how they would undertake and pay for development without unacceptable financial risk to the taxpayers and residents of the Village. Mauk said such detail is essential for the Village to determine if the development proposal is financially sound.

Once the Committee completes its assessment, which is expected to be by mid-November, it expects to present its findings and recommendations to the full Board of Trustees, and the public.