By Stephanie Mariel Petrellese

Although many Garden City children are waiting for Dec. 25 to arrive, adults are counting the days until Dec. 18, when it is possible the Garden City Board of Trustees will decide the fate of the historic Main Building at St. Paul's.

"There's eight people on this Board," Mayor Peter A. Bee said at the Dec. 4th Board meeting. "I'm not going to say it's carved in stone. I don't know what discussions will take place between now and the 18th. I hope that we have some kind of an answer for you by the 18th."

Since Oct. 2nd, when the Board voted to set a decision date of December 18th, overflow crowds have filled the boardroom and many unfamiliar faces have come forward to share their views on one of the most controversial issues to ever face the Village of Garden City.

Expecting a capacity crowd once again, the venue of the Dec. 18th meeting has been changed to the Middle School auditorium. The meeting will begin at 8 p.m.

At the Dec. 9th meeting of the Central Property Owners' Association, Trustee Thomas Lamberti announced that he plans to introduce two resolutions for the Board's vote. The first will involve terminating the Memorandum of Understanding between the Village and AvalonBay. The CPOA board of directors voted unanimously in favor of this resolution.

The second will likely prove much more controversial as Lamberti intends to ask the Board to adopt a bond resolution to demolish the building. Although some members of the CPOA board of directors expressed concern since the CPOA has publicly stated they are against demolition, the CPOA took no official action.

The bond resolution to demolish the building will require a Village-wide public referendum, which will take place on a date selected by the Board. There are several other legal requirements associated with bond referendums which Village staff members are reviewing in the event Lamberti's resolution passes.

Patricia DiMattia, president of the CPOA, said she would like the Board to vote solely on whether to terminate the MOU with AvalonBay on Dec. 18 and let the community "settle down" for a while. A CPOA resolution requesting the Board of Trustees to take no further action for at least 60 days was debated among the CPOA's board of directors but ultimately was dismissed before a vote.

Also at the CPOA meeting, Peter Negri, president of the Committee to Save St. Paul's, expressed concern that the Board may be "rushing to judgment" by choosing to make a decision on Dec. 18th: He said the poll showed that more than half of the residents want to keep the building, when you combine the totals of those who selected mothballing (37.1 percent) and those who prefer development by AvalonBay (17.4 percent). He believes the poll results also show that the majority would support some expenditure of money. He said "there's a good chance there will be a challenge" if the Board chooses demolition.

In an e-mail to the Garden City News, Negri responded to Senator Kemp Hannon's recent comments [see related article in this week's issue] and also criticized the Board for, in his opinion, not taking an active enough role in gauging public sentiment: "Senator Hannon's recent statement on the future use of the St. Paul's property suggests that he sees no consensus for any one option. With such an overwhelming percentage of residents opposed to private development, there is no need to pursue state legislation.

"The senator does say it is essential that the community works together in considering the next steps. Therefore, the Committee to Save St. Paul's believes the trustees should not rush to fulfill a self-imposed December 18 deadline on the disposition of St. Paul's, but should consider working with the community on a solution. The Board of Trustees has not sought input on a regular basis throughout the entire 3-1/2 year period from the engagement of Backus and Associates to the present. There is an opportunity to do so now, and the Board should make the most of it."

When the Garden City News asked Mayor Bee about Negri's accusations, the mayor responded: "In saying that 'the Board of Trustees has not sought input' from the public on the St. Paul's question, Mr. Negri is seriously mistaken. Community input on St. Paul's has been more than sufficient; it has been voluminous and compelling. It recently culminated in a very substantial turnout of village residents in a POA-sponsored poll, the results of which (as Senator Hannon noted) clearly showed a lack of 'broad community support' for the AvalonBay proposal (a condition for obtaining necessary state legislation to pursue the proposal). Moreover, that poll was a culmination of the work of volunteers going back over years. The majority of the members of the Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's were community volunteers who worked countless hours to examine the alternatives and come up with a well-reasoned report. They never recommended adoption of AvalonBay's proposal, but they did conclude AvalonBay was the best available alternative for any developed use.

"The Village consultant, Backus & Associates, made two full-scale presentations to the Board and the community and AvalonBay had more than a dozen community meetings. Each of the property owners' associations has dealt with the issues repeatedly and forwarded to the BOT the comments of its residents. Hundreds of e-mails have been received at village hall. At its own meetings, the Board of Trustees has listened to countless community members, some at great length, since the Mayor's Committee issued its report. In my 16 years as a trustee, I can't think of another issue on which the public has had more opportunity for input."