Submitted by the Committee to Save St. Paul's

More than a decade ago, the entire St. Paul's school property was purchased with taxpayer money for the benefit of Village residents. Consistent with the intent of that purchase, The Committee to Save St. Paul's believes that the historic St. Paul's school building should be dedicated and preserved for public use. We oppose the current plan to give away our "Village treasure" to a private developer. The proposed 99 year lease to AvalonBay would eliminate all possible future public uses of the Main Building; it would include extensive additional development on the site, and would saddle taxpayers with millions in added costs. Here are the Committee to Save St. Paul's major reasons for opposing AvalonBay's plan:

* AvalonBay's plan contemplates virtually no public use of the historic Main Building. While earlier plans called for the creation of a community center on the first floor, in the most recent plan, 12,500 square feet of dedicated community space is gone-except for token use of the chapel one day a week.

* The size of additional construction on the St. Paul's property has risen from 3 to 4 stories, from 48,000 to 78,000 square feet. This massive new structure will house at least 46 apartments, in addition to 62 more in the Main Building. No environmental study has yet been made to evaluate the impact of such massive development on the site.

* The Village, the School District, the Town, and the County, will not be receiving real estate taxes for the development for 20 years! Instead, under a proposed IDA-approved PILOT (Payments in Lieu of Taxes) program, AvalonBay would be receiving a $27 million tax break! Furthermore, during the first two years AvalonBay would be paying ZERO! In the next seven years it would be required to make just $198,838 in PILOT payments to all the taxing jurisdictions (an average annual payment of just $28,405). At a time when taxpayers in this Village are typically paying annual taxes of $15,000 or more for their homes, how can the Village justify asking AvalonBay to pay yearly PILOTS in this minimal amount when it will be getting the right to build more than 100 new housing units?

* Apart from the token PILOT payments, AvalonBay will be paying NOTHING for the property. That's right, NOTHING. No lease payments are required. No payments are to be made for the term of this proposed 99 year lease. Although a token "profit share" program is outlined, there is little likelihood that the Village will see revenue there.

* The give-away includes the loss of acres of green space. The area immediately behind the Main Building is frequently used for special event parking for athletic events and tournaments. Where will residents park for such events? Will Soccer-fest have to be moved? What will happen the day of the Turkey Trot?

* Seniors will get almost nothing from the plan. Perhaps a few will choose to rent a high-end apartment. But wouldn't it be better if seniors could have a really nice community center in the Main Building, instead of just a few little rooms on Golf Club Lane and in one of the cottages?

* The claim that the AvalonBay plan is fair and equitable, like the claim that the plan is the only way to save the Main Building, hinge upon a suspect appraisal. Whereas the property was appraised in 2005 to have a value of approximately $20 million, the Village now wants us to believe that the property has a value of "negative" $14.1 million. In other words, that the property is less than worthless. We don't believe it. The property is priceless. It cannot be replaced. It would be wrong to give it away. It would wrong to abandon it. It would be wrong to demolish St. Paul's.

In closing, The Committee to Save St. Paul's believes it's time to focus on truly saving St. Paul's for the community of Garden City. It's time for preserving the building and for residents to come together on a plan that will continue to make Garden City stand out as an exceptional place to live, work and play, now and for future generations. CSSP calls on residents to make their feelings known and insist that their Trustees fulfill their duty of preserving this valuable asset for all generations.

Sincerely,

Administrative and Communications Director Maureen Traxler for

The Executive Committee

to Save St. Paul's