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Letters To The Editor On October 5, 2006 the Committee to Save St. Paul's submitted a proposal, in good faith, for the redevelopment of the St. Paul's Historic Building and the immediate surrounding property. Since then, the Committee to Save St. Paul's and our development partner, Canus Corporation, have submitted three additional responses to your consultant, K. Backus, and met on one occasion with the Board Subcommittee. As we approach one year since that proposal was made, we believe that the Subcommittee and full body of elected officials have sufficient information to move forward. In the same spirit of good faith, a status report on your evaluation of our proposal and a realistic timetable for the Board's decision is warranted. While we appreciate Trustee John Mauk's statement that a report will be made to the full Board and public by mid to late October, we are very concerned by his further comment that there is a long road still ahead. We sincerely hope he is not implying a long road to the designation of a developer. Indeed, the prudent time to act is now, because there is a lengthy State process that needs your attention. Navigation through the political reality on the State level for "public trust" and "parkland" designation relief will require diligence, experience and skill, not to mention time-consuming effort. Research tells us that a parkland alienation package must be accurate and fully documented in order to achieve review and determination within the regular State legislative session. Meeting these state criteria is possible if the Village and the community unite behind one effort. We have every confidence that the CSSP/Canus team has proposed the most credible plan, which accomplishes the Village's objective to use the historic building for housing purposes, while at the same time offers residents 14,500 square feet of community space-all without additional development on the site. We also believe that our proposal has the best chance to win community support and, with Senator Kemp Hannon's assistance, achieve State approvals. The Committee to Save St. Paul's urges you to finalize your reports and present your finding. We are ready to meet with you at a mutually convenient time to prepare a public presentation. Lastly, designate an appropriate developer within the shortest timeframe your schedules will allow. In our dual role as responders to the Request for Proposal and residents of the Village, we believe that after 14 years our community deserves a plan that enhances the beauty of the site, preserves the historic building, and provides additional recreational space for all residents. Sincerely, Peter Negri President "Glitch" In STAR Program To the Editor: This year, New York State will be sending checks to residents enrolled in STAR. Enhanced STAR enrollees should have already received their check, and those in Basic STAR had applications mailed to them on September 24. It has come to my attention the Office of Real Property services had a "glitch" in their system resulting in 1,151 Nassau residents not receiving their Enhanced STAR rebate check or their Basic STAR rebate check application. If you are in Enhanced STAR and did not receive your rebate check, or if you are in Basic STAR and did not receive the application, please call my office at 516-739-1700. We have rebate check applications available for those who receive Basic STAR and can help you to get a check if you are in Enhanced STAR and should have received one. This "glitch" is one of the reasons why I supported a rebate check program which sent checks to residents automatically and did not create so much red tape. Unfortunately, Governor Spitzer insisted on running the program this way. I hope he will choose a better way if we are able to run the rebate check program in the future. I will fight for a rebate program next year; and one with no application process and less bureaucracy. Kemp Hannon, New York State Senator
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