Email: editor@ gcnews.com

Community Agreement Prevailed

To the Editor:

Thank you to the residents who came out to vote for the four candidates whose names were on the ballot for Village Trustee in the General Election on Tuesday, March 18th. The Community Agreement prevailed!

On Sunday, the l6th, rumors surfaced there would be a "write-in" vote at the General Election. It was not until Monday afternoon when it was learned that a campaign was underway to elect Eileen Collins by "write-in" votes, and that she was an active participant. This gave us two days to make calls to let people know what was happening. Obviously, people didn't like it.

Although a "write-in" vote is legal, it is an absolute attack on the Community Agreement which has been in place here in Garden City since 1919. The Community Agreement is the mechanism in each of the property owners' associations which nominate trustee candidates for the Village Board and the School Board, in order to maintain equal representation from each of the four geographic sections of the Village.

Each of the four POA's has a nominating committee that interviews interested residents for the position of Village Trustee and/or School Board Trustee. Either by POA newsletter, and / or by Nominating Committee article in the Garden City News, residents in each section are invited to submit nominees for Trustee. By the same method, they are notified when the nominee or nominees are running for candidacy at their respective Electors' meeting.

There is a procedure followed by each of the four POA's which allows for anyone else within the section where he or she lives to place his or her name in as a nominee at the Electors' meeting which is held on the same date in January in all four sections of the Village. All that is needed is fifteen signatures to place another name in nomination. When, and if, that happens, there is an election in that section two weeks from the date of the Elector's meeting, and whoever wins that election is the nominee from that section.

What happened at the General Election on the 18th is Eileen Collins decided or agreed to do a "write-in" campaign to oust John Mauk who was the duly nominated candidate for Trustee from the Estates section. The word went out that people should vote for the other three candidates and write in her name. She lives in the Western section, and if she had prevailed, it would have deprived the Estates section of one of two representatives on the Board of Trustees.

This was a flagrant disregard for the Community Agreement that has served this Village so well for so many years. If someone wanted to run against John Mauk, there was ample opportunity to do so within the established rules.

I am dismayed that Eileen Collins, who is a former Village Trustee from the Western section who most certainly understands the Community Agreement, would seek to destroy the process.

Jerie Newman

What Is Happening?

To the Editor:

What is happening? Just what is going on?

It has been written that one hundred and sixty-three hooded, caped, furtive, vicious and sneaky citizens were secretly and selfishly seeking to destroy one of the pillars on which our Village rests!

Hoods and capes, furtive activities--this is better than what is found on the library's mystery and thriller shelves. Who said suburbia is boring?

And just what was the purpose of these sordid activities by this substantial number of formerly upstanding citizens? Why, it turns out, the preservation of a decrepit, old schoolhouse that has long outlived its time and purpose.

This is what the St. Paul's schoolhouse dispute has led to. How much lower can we go? Well, observing happenings in general, a lot.

Before we get there, consider a happy alternative. Fifty total acres of undeveloped land, no schoolhouse, no structures, no congestion, no additional traffic, just a unique open space to be enjoyed by our children and ourselves in perpetuity.

As for those one hundred and sixty-three miscreants, a scarlet brick from St. Paul's on each of their lawns.

Vincent J. Maroney

Information

Web Site

To the Editor:

www.GardenCityInformation.com has been established as a public information exchange for Garden City residents. On the website are all 7 proposals for the residential redevelopment of St. Paul's received on October 5, 2006 in response to the RRP released on July 19, 2006. With these proposals are the correspondence between the Village, its consultant K. Backus, and each developer.

The designs and utilizations were drastically different. Most stayed within the boundaries of the RFP, while some were "determined to be substantially noncompliant with key requirements of the RFP". Between the 7 proposals, the project costs varied from $25 million to $132 million. Layouts ranged from a 50 unit complex to 113 units. New Construction was limited or nonexistent in some proposals while others created over 125,000 square feet of additional new residential development. Some utilized underground parking to maximize greenspace while others created terraces on the roof between peaks. Some created scenarios where the property was still under village ownership but residents (taxpayers) were required to subsidize the cost of the redevelopment while others justified the cost by 'selling' units on land leased from the Village.

The Village purchased the 48.6 acre property in 1993 for $7,235,982. Since then, residents have proposed the GCHS, Library, and Village Hall be relocated to St. Paul's only to discover the high restoration cost needed for public use.

My only goal is to help inform in hopes the debate focuses on the merits of each issue instead of the decision makers and residents who have dedicated thousands of hours over hundreds of meetings.

Tom Weille

www.GardenCityInformation.com

Points To Consider

To The Editor:

With all due respect to this paper, it is somewhat difficult to follow the developments of l'affair St. Paul, partly because of the cacophony we hear from committee to Save St. P's, which it turns out is disproportionate to their electoral support (losing two to one in the last election).

The Committee seems to want to develop this property as green space with taxpayer money. Perhaps they ought to recognize that in this conservative Village, the public resists a minority asking the majority to pay for their collectivist concepts, no matter how idealistic the concept. Yes, it would be great if we could preserve history, as they do in Europe, and allow people to enjoy the ecology, but Europe has budgets for these things at the federal level and tax their citizens heavily for the privilege of shared human space. In our American localized democracy, we must fend for ourselves, and recognize the constraints of local finances as well.

In spite of what might amusingly be viewed as guerrilla tactics, for which and for their passion we must give them credit, the Committee does have one valid point. One million dollars upfront plus $200,000 annually seem awfully low as remuneration for the right to develop such a valuable property. In the Village report on this project, December 2007, one notices a glaring gaffe: in more than one place the Village helplessly acquiesces in the unique position afforded AvalonBay, "they are the last best hope" we are told. I am not sure if our Village elders would pass a course in negotiation with that kind of pre-deal talk.

In my humble opinion,

1) The historic architecture of St. Paul should be preserved to the maximum extent possible. America needs more connection to its past, and reminders of how we became who we are, to assure its future with strong roots.

2) Public use is probably not an economic option to be financed at a local level. Clearly, the public has indicated their cost-to-value calculus in this regard in several elections: they are not willing to pay additional taxes for either history or additional greenery. We should at the same time be grateful that we have plenty of the latter in GC, and that the St. Paul fields are excluded from this deal and will always remain a natural playground for our children.

3) We should accept the election messages and work with the Village toward reconciling (1) and (2).

4) The Village should not sell St. Paul's in a fire sale, so to speak. This may be difficult to swallow after 12 years of discussion and debate, but that time is now a sunk cost and irrelevant to what happens in the next 99 years.

5) We should try to earn annuity revenue from the property, even under a lease agreement with a developer, in some amount commensurate with the tax revenue forgone were we to have allowed normal residential or commercial development of the site. Absent the recognition of this opportunity cost, the residents would be subsidizing the financial interests of the developer.

6) The revenue in (5) should be indexed against the average assessment increases for the like property in Nassau County to account for the decrease in the time value of money over the long lease period. Alternatively, the lease term should be shortened.

7) Kemp Hannon should introduce the bill-in-waiting to remove the public use restrictions from the property. Our State Senator should respect the result of the last election as the will of the people. Leadership is understanding what the people want and getting out in front of them, not waiting to get behind a poll of an illusory "consensus". Before there were such things as polls, democracy was the only determinant of the people's will.

8) The Village should use the reduction in commercial risk resulting from (7) to negotiate a better deal for the taxpayers. With the risk profile altered favorably, we ought to insist on more competitive responses from a larger set of bidders.

This Village is too small for the controversialists in the minority to force a deal that we, as residents, and our children might regret for the next 99 years. It also boasts a preponderance of professionals who lead their respective fields. An eventual deal should reflect that surfeit of talent.

Michael Avari

Disastrous Plan

Published By Request:

The Honorable Mayor Peter Bee

Gentlemen:

After attending two AvalonBay presentations in January, and following the extensive St. Paul's development coverage in the Garden City News, we have become very concerned about the direction this project has taken.

What started out as a community supported preservation of the St. Paul's main building has morphed into a high density rental complex, totally out of scale on this corner of St. Paul's. AvalonBay's plans include an outdoor swimming pool behind the main building and four-story townhouses along Rockaway Avenue, which may very well obscure the view (heading west) of the beautiful St. Paul's building that we are trying to preserve. The trustee heading the Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's has resigned, due to a possible perceived conflict of interest, and AvalonBay has shown itself for what it really is -- an aggressive residential real estate developer, interested only in maximizing profits by building the highest density possible.

It is of great concern to us, that the profits AvalonBay will earn from this high density rental development, will come at a huge expense to the Village of Garden City, in the form of real estate and sales tax exemptions (for all construction equipment and building materials), as well as pressure on our infrastructure, services and schools. AvalonBay may also receive historic preservation tax credits, which can be sold, and most importantly, the ground lease of the land, on which this project would stand, could eventually be sold by AvalonBay for millions of dollars. Clearly, saving the St. Paul's building provides many benefits for AvalonBay, other than historical preservation on behalf of the Village of Garden City.

It is interesting to note, that in the Village Facts, May 2006 (Deciding the future of St. Paul's), the Village, in consultation with real estate consultant K. Backus, felt that converting the Main Building to condominiums would be most beneficial, and "restoring the building to the tax rolls would generate an estimated $20 million in additional property tax revenues over the first 20 years." By December 2007, this picture changed dramatically. Again in consultation with K. Backus, AvalonBay, the rental property developer, was designated to develop St. Paul's, and our potential Village revenues dropped significantly. We would receive nothing more than a $1 million "upfront" payment and unsubstantiated PILOT payments.

There would be no tax income paid to Garden City until AvalonBay's tax abatements expire in approx. 35 years. In addition, the Village would have to pay rent for any community space used within the main building. This high density housing project will earn AvalonBay many millions in tax-free rental income annually, and provide no financial benefit at all to the Village of Garden City.

The AvalonBay development plan for St. Paul's does not meet the "Smart Growth" principles that are currently being implemented all across Nassau County. The publications, Getting to Smart Growth, 100 Policies for Implementation I and II (March 2002) describe Smart Growth as the creation of pedestrian oriented development close to shops, grocery stores, restaurants, and workplaces. The development at St. Paul's would not meet these criteria. A resident who wished to walk to a shop, grocery store or restaurant must cross what Smart Growth describes an "in hospitable pedestrian streetscape: at the intersection of Cherry Valley Avenue and Stewart Avenue. This intersection is so dangerous that the Garden City Police report that their police officer/school crossing guards have been hit by vehicles three times. One officer sustained injuries that necessitated major surgery.

The reality is that residents of the AvalonBay development at St. Paul's will have to use cars to get everywhere. Each adult resident will need a car to drive to their workplace, shops or even the railroad station, causing more traffic and cars at Garden City, Nassau Blvd. and Merillon Avenue stations. Cars exiting the St. Paul's property will find it virtually impossible to make a left turn during rush hour, onto Rockaway or Stewart Avenues. They will instead turn right, and drive through residential streets in the Estates (most likely Hampton Road and Whitehall Blvd.), to travel to points North or East on Old Country Road.

It is highly unlikely that AvalonBay can provide enough parking for all the cars that this high density residential project will generate. AvalonBay Glen Cove provides parking for one car per apartment and additional cars must pay a fee or park elsewhere. The AvalonBay development at St. Paul's must also provide parking for their employees (HIDA Tax Exemption Guidelines require 50+ employees) and visitors. Has the Village of Garden City considered how they will stop these additional cars from parking in the FREE parking spots that are reserved for the sports complex, the Senior Center and the Cathedral Nursery School? It will be completely impossible to monitor the parking situation at St. Paul's, thereby causing untold frustration to village residents.

It is unclear to us why the trustees have not provided Garden City residents with a statement, as to how this project will affect our taxes. We have been informed, in the Village Facts (December 2007), that the AvalonBay proposal will have "minimal or no direct expense to Village taxpayers". This is extremely misleading and untrue. A high density rental development of this size will certainly require extra police, fire/emergency and sanitation personnel, which would mean more salaries and benefit payments. It will require extra water, sewage and sanitation capacity, which must be provided for. It will also increase the number of students in our schools (at approx. $15,000 per student). Since approx. 80% of our school taxes are paid by Garden City residents, and only approx. 20% are paid by business, this development will definitely cause an increase in our taxes. It is extremely irresponsible for the Village to support this project without acknowledging the hidden costs.

We do not believe that the Trustees fully understand how negatively this high density rental development at St. Paul's will affect Garden City taxpayers. please do not let avalonbay exploit the preservation of st. paul's for their own profit. This situation deserves to be studied further, before this disastrous plan is approved, to ensure that Garden city is getting its fair share of the profits.

Sonja and William Slattery

Thank You

To the Editor:

In last week's paper I wrote a letter titled "Rinks Robbed" which spoke of the robbery of the roller hockey rinks at Community Park and the events that transpired after. On Thursday March 27, two days after I sent in the first letter, the staff was notified that the village had reconsidered and decided to reimburse the staff for what we had lost. I would like to take this time to say thank you on behalf of the staff to the Recreation Department and the village for taking the time to reconsider their stance on the issue of reimbursement.

Thanks Again,

Brian Johnston

Deserved Better

To the Editor:

As long time residents of Garden City and parents of four boys, we are very angry and confused about the firing of Coach John Dell'olio. As a result of his abrupt release his counterpart on the field Mr. Ed Philips, in a show of support, has resigned.

Our three older sons were coached in the 8th grade by Mr. Dell'olio and Mr. Philips and we know firsthand what dedicated coaches/teachers and gentlemen they are. They did so much more than just coach lacrosse; they imparted team work, good sportsmanship, respect and life lessons to our sons and hundreds of young Garden City student athletes. These men coach for the love of the game and our kids. They have dedicated many years to our boys. Their support is felt all the way through high school with their presence on the field during many games. The kids are well aware of the camaraderie, continuity and support.

Change is inevitable. Everyone realizes that Coaches Dell 'olio and Philips would not be here forever. BUT to inform Coach Dell'olio, by phone, the day of the first team meeting, less than 2 weeks before the start of the season, is not only reprehensible, but extremely unprofessional. It shows a complete lack of class and character by the Garden City schools. No one deserves to be treated with such a complete lack of respect. John Dell'oilo has not only coached in Garden City for many years, he lives here and his children graduated from GC high.

The stock answer is "we don't discuss personnel issues". Administrators either act like they haven't any idea what went on or they had nothing to do with it. No one is "man" enough to take responsibility and admit a mistake was made.

Sure, a new coach will be hired, but never will you have the dedication and loyalty that Coach John Dell'oilo and Coach Ed Philips gave to our boys. Such thoughtless, classless, behavior has ended an era of lacrosse in our village in such a way that anyone with any manners or professionalism should be embarrassed.

Coach Dell'olio and Coach Philips - Thank you; you deserved much better, we are so sorry. Our sons will always be grateful for their time on the field with you.

Hank and Kathy Harder

Don't Hand

Over Card

To the Editor,

When using your credit card, do not release it to be scanned out of your sight. Let them bring the scanner to you so you may either scan it yourself or witness the card being scanned, with no chance of all 16 numbers being illegally copied. There was a two-month gap from the last charge on the credit card until the incident. When I phoned the establishment informing them of not being allowed to put a charge on said card, due to the credit card company feeling that a theft was in progress, I was told that only the last four numerals appear on the receipt. Of course we all know that when I handed over the card and it was returned to me, there were 16 visible numbers. Copied? Don't hand over your card.

W.T.Gluck

Don't Replace French

To the Editor:

I most strongly disagree with Mr. Brosnan's recent letter suggesting we offer Mandarin Chinese instead of French as a language option in our high school. While I agree that China is a major player on the world stage and even selected Mandarin Chinese as the language I would like to see added to our current curriculum on the language survey, I disagree with Mr. Brosnan's dismissal of French as an unimportant language.

In his letter, Mr. Brosnan cites the declining birth rate in France and the increasing Arab presence there as a reason to discontinue the study of French. Perhaps fewer people in the world are speaking French these days, but even fewer are speaking Latin and I don't see him disparaging and dismissing the study of that dead language. Of course the study of Latin remains important and we encourage our children to learn it because it exercises their minds and improves their understanding of vocabulary. But so does the study of any language. Through the study of French or German or Italian or Spanish young people learn about grammar, culture and history. Their writing improves and eventually, they read literature in the native language which is a very empowering experience and something most would never do on their own.

Yes, the purpose of education is to prepare our children to live in the world. But it is also to expose them to ideas and knowledge that will help them grow as human beings. If we were to limit what we teach in school to only those things we need to exist in today's world, we would also throw out the study of ancient civilizations, esoteric scientific theories, calculus. Would we teach Chaucer, or Shakespeare, or Fitzgerald? Surely we can get along in the world without ever studying poetry or listening to a concerto or appreciating an opera.

I know Mr. Brosnan is not suggesting that we revamp our entire educational system, but I think if we start to eliminate subjects just because they are not as important as they once were, we'll be doing our children a great disservice.

Finally, if Mr. Brosnan thinks French is a dying language, he should take a visit to Monsieur Barr's French class at Garden City High School. The students in this vibrant classroom are being exposed to a beautiful language and a rich culture. I hope our school district continues to allow them this invaluable educational experience.

Catherine Burdi

Don't Eliminate French

To the Editor:

In response to Thomas Brosnan's letter concerning the replacement of high school French classes with Chinese, we would like to say that the idea of removing French language education partly on the basis of a possible war (yet another??) is rather disturbing.

If culture doesn't mean much to you, let's talk numbers. You say that old, "declining" France doesn't match up to Chinese demographics. France currently shares the highest birth rate in the European Community along with Ireland, and in 20 years French speakers will make up the majority of Europe's population (thanks to Arab-French but mostly French-French, if that reassures you). Concerning the slight "arabization" of the language (a bit like Spanish in NY?): it's a good thing! Becoming aware of other cultures and languages opens minds and avoids many unfortunate events.

So let's keep French classes and add Chinese. If you're worried about the budget, let's take out... study hall??

Joanna Shore

(GC High School class of '96)

Christophe Quesnel,

Paris, France