St. Paul’s: Is It Demolition By Neglect?




Traditionally, the last Garden City Board of Trustees meeting of the year is one devoid of controversy, and generally consists of warm and happy holiday wishes. This year broke with tradition as trustees once again grappled with what is arguably the most controversial issue to ever face the Village–the future of the Main Building at St. Paul’s.

At its December 15th meeting, the Board voted 5 to 3 to reject an offer made by The Committee to Save St. Paul’s (CSSP) to pay for half of the estimated $11,300 cost for roof repairs. As has been reported, the Main Building roof was damaged in late August during Tropical Storm Irene. Roof damage is evident on the flat roof connecting the main hallway with the west wing. Several tarps that were on the roof are torn and are no longer providing much protection to the inside of the building. The south face of the clock tower has also been broken, leaving the clock no protective barrier from the weather.

Some procedural wrangling preceded Trustee John DeMaro’s motion to reject the CSSP’s offer. The CSSP’s letter containing the offer was listed on the agenda as “External Communications.”

Trustee Dennis Donnelly argued that correspondence is not an agenda item. Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg explained that it while it is correspondence, it is seeking action by the Board.

The Village Administrator can accept unrestricted gifts to the Village with a value less than $1,000. This offer was for $5,650 and was restricted to be used solely for the roof and clock tower repair, so Board action was needed.

Deputy Mayor Watras was not happy with the attempted blockage. “This is an atrocity the way this whole thing has been presented. I’m really serious…I’ve had it up to here with this.”

After he was cleared by Fishberg, DeMaro made the motion to reject the offer. He said there was no health or safety reason to fix the roof and it is not appropriate for the Village to spend the money to repair.

Deputy Mayor John Watras said DeMaro should just say the opposing five trustees have decided that the building is coming down. He said the damaged clock tower looks “atrocious” and the roof has a gaping hole.

Mayor Donald T. Brudie expressed dismay at the motion. “By doing nothing, it is detrimental to the building,” he said. “You have to understand that this is demolition by neglect.”

Second Deputy Mayor Nicholas Episcopia said he was voting to not accept the CSSP’s money because he believes it is not appropriate for the Village to accept money from a private group or individual for that purpose. The building is owned by the Village, and therefore it is the Village that should pay for the repair, according to Episcopia.

“This is an eyesore, I think we should fix it, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “That does not mean that I would think that we are ready to start down some slippery slope down into the massive millions and millions being spent on the interior of the building.” As he has had at previous meetings, Episcopia suggested getting the cost to replace the clock with a facsimile to match the other sides.

Trustee Laurence Quinn argued that the Board should not be permitted to vote on the offer because they have voted not to repair the roof at a previous meeting and therefore the issue is moot. Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg disagreed, saying that this is not the same motion so the Board could vote on the offer.

Tension was rising on the dais, and a tiff arose when Trustee Dennis Donnelly commented that Deputy Mayor Watras was being permitted to speak without first raising his hand to be recognized by the Mayor. After restoring order with his gavel, Mayor Brudie voiced his displeasure.

“Are you gentlemen so afraid of having the truth come out here?” he asked.

In another development, the Board was blocked from voting to accept a donation of $11,300 to cover the repair made by Garden City residents Pat and Bob Kaliban due to a procedural technicality. Trustee Laurence Quinn quickly quashed any consideration of the donation by saying it was new business and therefore needed to be on the agenda. Village Counsel Gerard Fishberg concurred. It is expected to be on the agenda for the next meeting, which is scheduled for January 12.

“We are truly saddened and at the same time incensed that our ‘trustees’ do not see fit to even repair storm damage to the Main Building of St. Paul’s,” the Kalibans wrote in a letter to Mayor Brudie. “It’s difficult to watch an elected group of men dance around the semantics of the situa- tion while allowing water damage to further destroy the interior of so stately an edifice.”

The Board also did not accept William and Mathilde Bellmer’s offer of $100 to start or add to a Village fund whose purpose would be to restore the south clockface. The couple stated in their Dec. 7 letter that the repair should cost an estimated $2,200.

“We would hope that, if you announce the existence of such a fund, others in the Village might also consider it worthwhile to contribute for this project,” they wrote.

The Board voted 7 to 1 (Mayor Brudie opposed) to move the Bellmer letter, along with two other pieces of correspondence, to the “general communications” section of the agenda, so no action was necessary.

Mayor Donald T. Brudie, Deputy Mayor John Watras and Trustee Andrew Cavanaugh have consistently been the three who vote along the same line. The remaining five trustees, Second Deputy Mayor Nicholas Episcopia and Trustees Dennis Donnelly, Laurence Quinn, Brian Daughney and John DeMaro have a differing opinion of what should be done with the Main Building.

Peter F. Negri, the CSSP’s president, expressed his disappointment in a telephone interview the day after the meeting. “The same 5 to 3 vote to refuse our offer leads us to believe that they have no interest in seeing the repairs made,” he said in a statement provided to The Garden City News. “The refusal to consider an offer to pay for ALL of the repair cost by a concerned resident, and falling back on ‘it was not in the proper format’ would suggest the same conclusion. If it’s not money, and since they have not ok’d the Village expenditures to fund the needed repair, we can only assume that the ‘demolition by neglect’ theory is in fact valid.”

“I heard of comments like it’s not appropriate to use funds from a private group; the motion was already dead; there was no health or safety issue involved, suggests that they continue to ignore the wishes of the people (as expressed in the 75 percent vote against the demolition bond.). The building is still standing and remains a part of the inventory of buildings that the trustees have a responsibility to, at the very least, address basic needs.”

Negri’s referenced the “75 percent vote” against demolition. On April 27, with a vote of 3,290 to 1,120, residents voted not to approve the use of bonds to finance the cost of demolition of the Main Building and Ellis Hall at the former St. Paul’s School.

“Regardless of the obstacles placed before us by the five trustees, we remain committed to doing all that we can to get this issue before the public in a referendum,” Negri said. “Let their voices be heard.”

In a Dec. 7 letter hand-delivered to the Mayor and Board, Negri and Albert F. Intreglia, president of the Garden City Historical Society, say they will not be amending their proposal. In October the group had said they would amend the proposal, but now they claim attempts at arranging a meeting with the entire Board have failed. “…without clear direction from the Board and a willingness to sit down and attempt to reach a compromise, it just does not make sense to suggest any modifications to our plan now. We continue to stand by our October 9 proposal, with the addition of the fact that longer term (30 year) financing would very likely be available with legislative support. This would reduce the annual cost to the taxpayers even further.”

This letter was also moved to the “general correspondence” section of the agenda witha7to1vote.Justlikethe Bellmer donation letter, this move meant the Board did not have to take action on the item.

Thomas Lamberti, a former trustee and chair of the Mayor’s Committee on St. Paul’s, said the Board should move on to other issues. Lamberti has argued at prior meetings that the CSSP’s plan does not meet the requirements set forth by Erwin-Lobo-Bielinski PLLC in Appendix M of the FEIS, which was accepted by the Board of Trustees on Feb. 3 with a vote of 5 to 3. The document presented a series of possible alternatives for the disposition of St Paul’s, among them demolition, rehabilitation and reuse as a community resource or commercial development.

The FEIS included a review of the CSSP’s June 2010 proposal, which was similar to the group’s current proposal in that they both call for preserving the building exterior, portions of the first floor and second floor chapel. It noted the project was costly, and also found that it was “(i) under estimated; (ii) would be largely wasted if a reuse option is implemented; (iii) defers the cost of full stabilization, restoration and renovation; (iv) requires a significantly higher initial Village expenditure than demolition; (v) requires continued annual funding; (v) is insufficient to avoid future deterioration of unused portions of the building; and (vi) relies on funding to complete the restoration from a yet to be defined future reuse.”

“I think it’s time for the Committee’s proposal to be rejected,” Lamberti said. “You ought to move on, otherwise we are wasting more time after spending 18 years.”

Francine Ryan, a founding member of the Eastern Property Owners’ Association group working to save St. Paul’s, said she was appalled that five trustees continually are going against the 75 percent of residents who voted not to demolish the building. “Here’s the thing guys,” she said. “You guys are elected. You are not crowned princes….You have to think about what the constituents who you represent really want, and they really want the building to be saved.”

Brian Pinnola, former president of the Garden City Historical Society, said if the Village Hall or gazebo was damaged, he is doubtful the Village would wait to fund repairs. Pinnola claims the $11,300 needed to fix the roof and clock tower is a “miniscule repair” and should be done immediately.

“I just think it’s deplorable that we are here wasting all of this time on this,” he said.



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