By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese The large group of passionate residents who spoke at recent meetings of the Garden City Board of Trustees did not go unnoticed by AvalonBay representatives, who announced at the Board meeting on Thursday evening that they have took some of their concerns to heart and have made several changes to their St. Paul’s proposal.

“We listened very carefully to the comments made by both Village trustees and residents at recent Board meetings and have sought to accommodate as many of the suggestions made as possible,” said Matt Whalen, AvalonBay’s vice president for development, in a statement released to the press after the meeting. “We understood the concerns raised and firmly believe that our enhanced proposal for St. Paul’s provides additional financial guarantees and incentives that will benefit the Village and its residents as we save and preserve a unique building.”

Their altered proposal will:

-Accelerate and increase PILOT payments to the Village. -Mitigate the potential impact on local public schools of school-age children living at St. Paul’s by reducing the number of two- and three-bedroom units by a total of eight and increasing the number of one-bedroom units while keeping the overall number at 108. And, set aside 20 of the 108 units for seniors 55 years of age and older. Garden City residents will get preference on the age-restricted units. -Provide $1 million to the Village for improvements at Cluett Hall and/or Feringa Field House. The Village will decide upon the improvements to be made and AvalonBay will do the work. With AvalonBay doing the work as part of the St. Paul’s project, the value of the improvements could be as much as $2 million due to economies of scale. -Provide full-time public use for Village residents of the chapel along with the West Parlor located on the first floor. AvalonBay will make the improvements to both spaces, totaling approximately 5,000 square feet, at no cost to the Village. The Village will have full control and use of the facilities. -Underwrite the cost of providing 120 new parking spaces for the ball fields without taking away any of the field space. AvalonBay could assist with the planning and construction of the new spaces, which will accommodate the overflow that occurs informally near the Main Building on busy “athletic” weekends. -Provide the Village with additional controls in writing over any potential sale of St. Paul’s after AvalonBay completes its $54 million preservation plan. The protections will be the same as those agreed upon by AvalonBay with St. John the Divine Cathedral in Manhattan for a recently completed project.

The changes will not affect the scheduled Dec. 2nd opinion poll, according to Dennis Donnelly, president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association. Residents will still be asked to select one of three propositions: AvalonBay, demolition or mothballing.

Donnelly said he asked AvalonBay representatives to submit an addendum to the Mayor’s Committee report detailing the changes so the public can review them before voting. Copies of the Mayor’s Committee report are available at Village Hall, at the Garden City Public Library and on the Village Web site, www.gardencityny.net.