Public Input Sought

To the Editor:

AvalonBay agrees with your January 11, 2008 editorial which stated that the decision on which course of action to take on a plan to preserve St. Paul's "should be governed by reason and logic," and that sufficient project-related information must be "in the hands of the people."

AvalonBay was pleased to receive a conditional designation by the Village Board last October to redevelop and preserve St. Paul's. We fully appreciate the urgency and importance of saving such a unique and historic structure that means so much to the Village and its residents.

Over the years, extensive discussion has taken place on various ways to save St. Paul's. At this point, AvalonBay, with the concurrence of the Village, has begun an extensive outreach process to help gain consensus on the details of a plan that will save the building. Even with a brief hiatus for the holidays, 17 outreach sessions and briefings - including presentations before three of the Property Owners Associations just this week - have been conducted so far. They have been very helpful to us in gaining a more thorough understanding of what is important to the residents. More sessions will be scheduled.

AvalonBay will be guided by the common goals articulated through the outreach process, and our ongoing discussions with the members of the Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's. Through this process we expect to develop a more refined conceptual site plan, and fill in the important details for a redevelopment, including, among other things, plans and locations for necessary additional development on the site, public space, and return to the Village. Once such details are produced, they will again be brought to the public for scrutiny and comment. We expect this kind of open dialogue to lead eventually to a plan that will preserve St. Paul's and its legacy.

Since AvalonBay will be constantly seeking input, we'd like to assure the residents of the Village that the outreach sessions that have been held thus far are only the beginning. There will be ample opportunity for public discussion before AvalonBay has a final conceptual site plan in place, and before any action is taken by the Village Board.

Matthew B. Whalen

Vice President,

Development

AvalonBay

Communities Inc.

What Constitutes Support?

Printed by Request:

Dear Senator Hannon:

I strongly believe it is your utmost responsibility to immediately inform the residents of Garden City your methodology to determine if there is "Wide-spread Public Support" for Home Rule legislation for the St. Paul's property as you have been quoted in the past.

It is my understanding that a referendum may not be conducted with taxpayer dollars to poll the residents for their preference. If this is true and if you are not clairvoyant I sincerely hope you have developed a strategic plan, which should be publicly disclosed. This should not be done in a vacuum or at the 11th hour. More importantly, please don't tell us the Board of Trustee's vote, the Property Association's vote, the Chamber of Commerce's endorsement, the Mayor's vote, the internal Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's vote equals "Widespread Public Support" because they absolutely don't.

You are charged with a politician's ultimate conundrum wherein disclosure is required on a very controversial issue based on your countless assertions of adhering to "Widespread Public Support." It may be advantageous to ex-plore the possibility of the POA's financing a referendum, which may not be considered as taxpayer funds. It is also paramount for you to ensure that all relevant facts are made known, e.g., the Village will not receive any financial disbursements whatsoever from AvalonBay for the lifetime of the lease of the property, etc.

As an elected official and village resident you owe the community a timely response to a reasonable and noteworthy question. We all look forward to hearing from you sooner rather than later as your creditability is clearly on the line.

Michael L. Ryder

Information Needed

To the Editor:

-Don't put the cart ( the residents' decision) before the horse (the final Avalon plan).

-Buyer beware.

-Look before you leap.

-Ready- aim- fire -- NOT ready- fire- aim.

-Trust, but verify (spoken by Pres. Reagan to the Soviets).

All of these slogans apply to the residents of Garden City as they consider their

opinions on the Avalon Bay proposal to redevelop the St. Paul's main building and campus. It is obvious to me that Avalon and the John Mauk-led Trustees are putting on a hard sell to gain a consensus of opinion so that Senator Hannon can present Home Rule legislation in Albany to allow public property to be used for private purposes.

But how do the residents form opinions when there are more unanswered questions than facts that are known and acceptable. In effect, we are being asked by Avalon and the Trustees to vote yes without FULL knowledge of the project. We cannot let this happen. We are more intelligent than to vote for what amounts to a "black box" of unknown contents.

There are dozens of key unknown facts. I will only highlight a few:

1. How will a consensus of the residents be determined? The December 2007 "Village Facts," page 12, states... "a measure of public sentiment will be taken before the issue is referred to the Board off Trustees." WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? No poll of the residents? The Trustees will decide without an objective public opinion poll? This would be grossly unacceptable and outrageous!

2. We need to see a financial plan -- especially re taxes to be paid by Avalon, by GC residents and "rent" paid to Avalon for public use space.

3. How much space will be allocated to public use -- and where will it be located?

4. What will the additional construction (about 37 multi-story town houses) look like?

Will they fit aesthetically and architecturally with the main building? Recently I asked Avalon's chief architect and was told there were no plans at all of what these structures would look like.

5. Presently, the Avalon plans are premature and in a state of flux. Negotiations with the Trustees, the Committee to Save St. Paul's, and other residents are far from final.

Thus we are many months from a final plan that all parties can debate and accept (or reject) and produce the clear consensus that is necessary before Senator Hannon can take the proposal to Albany for legislative action.

In sum, the many presentations thus far by Avalon Bay to the residents cannot possibly create a consensus because they are not showing the final, full details of the plan. In the final analysis their spokesman, Matthew B. Whelan, will have to repeat his "road show" in the spirit of full disclosure. This project is too important to be decided by limited and tentative information.

George M. Salem

Lack Of Tolerance

To The Editor:

I am writing this letter in regard to the article printed in the Garden City News, which I have enclosed. I am deeply disturbed by Mr. Ryan's views and extreme emotions pertaining to the winter festival. To educate an uneducated Locust School is not a Catholic or private school; it is a public school with various denominations of children with different religions. A Christmas tree, Christmas bells, Christmas wreath and Christmas holly are all symbols that are implicated with the Christian religion. Nobody call them Hanukkah bells, wreaths, holly or trees.

To request that a menorah be removed because there are no Christian symbols located in the school seems to be quite drastic. What symbol would Mr. Ryan portray in the school to represent the Jewish children, or would he rather not include any at all? Mr. Ryan seems to be anti-Semitic and at the same time quite ignorant.

In this day and age there is an immense lack of tolerance and understanding for individuals and their religion that one can only look at Mr. Ryan with disgust.

Fiona Budin