A Word From The Publisher

In discussing the AvalonBay St. Paul's project this week, someone commented to us that the developer probably has great concerns over the parkland designation of the property, and may not want to devote a lot of resources to beginning the design process until it seems clear that that hurdle can be cleared - and that can't be cleared until the public appears ready to embrace the concept. Unfortunately, this leads to a catch-22 situation, since the public needs design details before making a decision.

We are glad to hear that the Village is close to reaching a memorandum of understanding with AvalonBay regarding the re-development of St. Paul's main building. While the document won't be legally binding, it will serve to set forth the goals of both sides of the negotiation and (hopefully) provide enough of an outline that the public can judge whether the project makes sense.

We have to disagree with the spirit of a comment made by Trustee Tom Lamberti at the most recent meeting of the Board of Trustees. He commented that the Village will be giving the developer seven acres of land "at no cost". While the actual amount of money which will be paid by AvalonBay is still under negotiation, one has to remember that the company will also have huge expenses to refurbish the building. It's not exactly in "move-in" condition. And one also has to remember that if the alternative is demolition, the Village will not get any money and will also lose a beautiful building.

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Our apologies to any residents who tried to attend the AvalonBay meetings on "Wednesday and Thursday" January 15 and 16. The announcement was submitted with the error, and we did not think to double check the date vs. the day of the week. For what it's worth, it caught us by surprise too.

Meg Morgan Norris

Publisher