By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

Despite attempts by the mayor to gently encourage the public to comment on other topics, issues surrounding the future of the historic Main Building at St. Paul's were once again the major focus at the August 21st Garden City Board of Trustees meeting.

According to the agenda, the Board was set to authorize the Village to solicit public input via a vote to be coordinated through the Joint Conference Committee of the property owners' associations. The public would be given two options: move forward with the AvalonBay proposal or demolish the building. However, at the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Peter A. Bee removed the item, saying the Board was "not quite ready for a vote."

"I am strongly inclined at this point to make any decision to bring this to closure," he said. "It seemed to me at the time that I requested that item be put on [the agenda] that the idea of those two choices brought the matter to closure. I thought then, and think now, the matter needs to be brought to closure."

Mayor Bee was not the only one who expressed that sentiment. Brian Daughney, president of the Estates POA, said his POA's board of directors supports the opinion poll and believes residents should be given two options: the AB proposal or demolition.

"My board is communicating through me that this issue needs finality," he said. "It needs to be resolved, solved and ended. It is taking up too much time and creating too much animosity. My board believes that people are either sick and tired of it, or just want a resolution one way or the other."

Paul Muscarella, president of the Western POA, agreed that residents want a decision. However, when it comes to the poll, he said his POA board of directors wants multiple questions providing residents with several possible solutions.

Dennis Donnelly, president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association and chair of the Joint Conference Committee of property owners' associations, said the EPOA board of directors is "overwhelmingly" in favor of a poll that asks the public to vote on private development or demolition.

"We're trying to do something that is fair and final," he said. The JCC sent a letter with 18 questions regarding the AvalonBay proposal to the Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's. They have already received a response from AvalonBay, and are trying to determine "what's real and not real." The response, which was coordinated on behalf of the Mayor's Committee by Village Administrator Robert L. Schoelle, Jr., can be found in this issue of the Garden City News.

Peter Negri, president of the Committee to Save St. Paul's, a community group which advocates public use of the building, suggested that residents should just vote on whether or not to go forward with the AvalonBay proposal. Demolition should not be an option. "Let the AvalonBay proposal stand on its own," he said. "Don't have the threat of demolition or some other option that's never been vetted or aired in public be presented on that poll. I think it's going to do more harm than good."

When reached after the meeting through spokesperson Maureen Traxler, Negri emphasized that "the Mayor's Committee was charged to deal with AvalonBay consistent with the guidelines established in the Memorandum of Understanding, and chose AvalonBay's option 1 plan to be presented to residents for review, comment and vote. The Central and Western POA presidents indicated support for a decision to be made 'for' or 'against' AvalonBay. Is AvalonBay afraid of a simple vote?"

"People I talk with in the Village say that after 15 years it's time 'do something' with St. Paul's," responded Matthew Whalen, AvalonBay's development vice president. "In January, a Village Facts stated that 'The [conditional] designation of AvalonBay marks the start of a final process to determine whether the Main Building will be saved or demolished.' The 'process' lead to the Mayor's Committee report. Since the report stated that the huge expense of 'mothballing' St. Paul's would be a 'waste of time and money,' it seems that a two-question ballot would be an efficient, one-step assessment of residents' opinion that will provide Village officials with clear direction on what to do with St. Paul's."

Michael A. Ciaffa, an attorney in the Mineola firm of Meyer, Suozzi, English & Klein who represents the Committee to Save St. Paul's, said the Board should seek a compromise that includes some private use, public use and preservation. "We've been living with this too long to have hard and fast lines in the sand drawn by people who believe in good faith that their solution is the only one...The only way that this issue is going to be brought to closure is if there is a true compromise."

Another St. Paul's issue that incited a lengthy debate involved a proposed amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding between AvalonBay and the Village. Deputy Mayor John Mauk said he received a letter from AvalonBay requesting that an amendment be made to the provision which requires "any press release, advertisement, literature or material of any kind" that refers to the proposed development to be approved in writing by both sides. AvalonBay asked that they be allowed to distribute materials without Village approval. Mauk agreed, and argued that the Village has become a censor and should allow AvalonBay to respond to misinformation that has been disseminated, including in Letters to the Editor that have appeared recently in the Garden City News.

Trustees Donald Brudie, Thomas Lamberti, Gerard Lundquist and Nicholas Episcopia were against amending the document. Trustee Brudie said the Village has an obligation to monitor AvalonBay. Although agreeing that there is "a lot of misinformation out there," Trustee Episcopia said the Village has a responsibility to residents to approve what AvalonBay wants to distribute.

As chairman of the Mayor's Committee, Trustee Lamberti said that the committee has caught several factual errors while reviewing AvalonBay materials and the Board should be very cautious to amend the MOU, which was carefully crafted by special counsel. The Board had a tie vote, and Mayor Bee broke the tie in favor of looking more carefully at the MOU to see if an amendment is needed.

However, by the end of the evening, Whalen, AvalonBay's vice president of development, said he thought the matter "had been debated a little bit too much by the Board" and withdrew the request. "We're not trying to break any of the rules or we're not asking the trustees to protect us," he said.

"St. Paul's is an emotionally charged issue and a lot of people have varying opinions, as we can see that tonight," he said. "Unfortunately there is misinformation and I take my company's reputation very seriously." For example, claims of overcrowding in Suffolk County schools due to additional schoolchildren from AvalonBay communities are false. Whalen said that in one AvalonBay community with 450 units, there is under 45 children in the school system.

"The real risk in this whole process is that there is no decision," he said. He added that he has received a fair amount of positive feedback. "The number one feedback that I get is: do something with St. Paul's."