Village Denied St. Paul's Grant
By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

The Village of Garden City has been turned down for a grant to do maintenance work on St. Paul's, announced Village Administrator Robert Schoelle, Jr. at the Nov. 2nd Garden City Board of Trustees meeting.

The Village currently spends $100,000 a year for building safety and maintenance. Mayor Gerard Lundquist has said that a new, $4-million roof may be needed in the next few years.

The program, called Restore New York, is a governor's initiative administered by the state agency Empire State Development Corp. The Village applied for the maximum grant of $5 million in September.

Even though they were denied during the first round of review, it is possible for the Village to reapply during the second round. "Anyone can apply for the next round of funding through the Restore NY Initiative," explained a state source familiar with the grant in an e-mail to The Garden City News. "The original appropriation was for $300 million, of which $50 million was awarded in this round. No date for the next round has been established as yet, but is projected for spring."

Trustee Thomas Lamberti took the opportunity to remind the public that he said from the time the Board grappled with whether or not to submit an application at its meeting on Sept. 14th that he did not think Garden City met the criteria. Lamberti said the Village received a letter from the state listing eight reasons why the Village did not make the first round, and said primary reasons given were that the Village did not have a plan or project. Lamberti continued further by asking residents to not "rush to judgment" and to "get all of the facts" before forming their opinion on the future of the Historic Main Building.

At the Sept. 14th meeting, Trustees John Mauk and Nicholas Episcopia also questioned how the grant applied to Garden City. The grant information provided on the state's Web site specifically stated that "special consideration will be given to projects located in economically distressed urban areas, Brownfield Opportunity Areas, Quality Communities or Empire Zones; those affected by recent and unusual flooding in June 2006 and designated as a federally declared disaster area; and communities with severe economic distress and/or dislocation."