Initially during the portion of the Village Board of Trustees Meeting in which residents are free to speak on any subject of concern to them, Mort Yuter broached the topic of the future use of the St. Paul's property by requesting an update on the negotiations between the Village and CareMatrix, the company seeking to lease the property for an assisted living facility. Mayor Tauches stated that all he could say was that Garden City and CareMatrix are still engaged in the "due diligence" stage, explaining that this means that each entity is doing "a full study and analysis to see if [a deal between the two were] brought to fruition, that this would be financially viable and that the terms will be renegotiated in the best interest of each side." Tauches added that the "negotiations are continuing in good faith." Yuter commented that while reading the health supplemental in a recent issue of Garden City Life, he noticed that there seem to be a considerable number of assisted living facilities either built or being built around Long Island and questioned if this would impact CareMatrix's interest in the St. Paul's building. The mayor simply replied that negotiations continue.

William Haynes approached the podium shortly thereafter to voice his concerns about the preliminary plans for the future use of the St. Paul's playing fields. Haynes stated that at a recent WPOA meeting, the plans were presented and he had felt "shocked and hurt" by the plans which he called, "extremely narrow in their scope" with "no real validity." He argued that the Rothschild report was developed as a baseline for the Village and that in light of the community effort in putting together the plan and the Village dollars spent on it, that it ought to serve as the jumping off point for park plans, rather than the newer proposals from the Recreation Commission. He added that he hoped to see the use of parks by adults in the community taken into consideration, as well as playing space for kids, which he stated he believes "the Village has enough for playing fields already."

Arnold Finnemore stated that he was speaking to "reinforce" Haynes' comments and said that the newer proposals "set a bad precedent" because he feels the plans "show the possibility of non-public use of public lands." He asked that these proposed plans be "revisited immediately by the Recreation Commission.

Mayor Tauches began to explain that the plans in question were taken from a "bottom-up approach" and that when the Village staff put the plans together they were meant to serve as "a starting point" for discussions. They were not meant to be presented as a conclusive plan, merely as a beginning point for input and ideas from the community, Board of Education, and athletic groups. Also, he added that the trustees have the final say in the matter, not the Recreation Commission, and explained that they were simply attempting to begin the discussion process.

Trustee Bruce Torino, the Board's liaison to the Recreation Commission, then asked to comment by the mayor replied, "You may not have considered the five-page letter which accompanied the plan." He explained that the letter, which Finnemore stated was not presented at the WPOA meeting, explained that the plan was a draft in the roughest sense and sought to encourage input and ideas from the community, which he said was "valuable." Torino continued, "You are leaping to a conclusion and are leaping so far off the plateau" and suggested that they "scurry back home and [review the material in question in order to] put your feet back on solid ground. Why don't you just come to the Recreation Commission meeting next Thursday [Nov. 12]?"

Mayor Tauches, sensing the heating of tempers in the room, declared, "I'm going to end this here."

Bob Rothchild, president of the Estates POA, approached the podium and said he wanted to speak in "support" of Trustee Torino's presentation and commented that when Torino presented the plans to the Estates, Torino "presented it as a preliminary plan for the POAs to review. Each of the POAs got the five-page letter and should have read it at their meetings with the presentation of the plan." He added that he disagreed with the argument that the Rothschild Report should be used as a starting point in the plans and added, "a lot of it [the Rothschild Report] should be thrown out the window."

Trustee Judith Asselta commented that the Rothschild Report had come "with a price tag of $6 million or so" and "with that kind of price tag, to think about putting that kind of burden on our taxpayers at this time -- I don't think it's feasible." She explained that this was why the plans needed to be revisited and this sparked the development of the preliminary proposals in question.

Dr. Barbara Miller, president of the CPOA, also spoke out to support Trustee Torino and said that he "explained the entire thing" and that the CPOA "thinks it's a great starting document."

Torino later apologized for his choice of expressions with the "scurry" comment, and stated that he hopes that people will feel free to attend the Recreation Commission meeting on Nov. 12 to discuss the proposals for the St. Paul's playing fields and wants to make it clear that this was only a starting point for discussion and looks forward to receiving more public input.

Also on the agenda was an item to reject all of the bids for the renovations to the ladies' room at the Garden City Pool, because all of the bids received exceeded the budgeted amount. Trustee Asselta noted that this situation paralleled the problem the Village encountered with the Franklin Avenue Streetscape Beautification Project when all of the initial bids came in at least $1 million over the budgeted amount. She said that it had been explained to the Board in both cases that "the construction industry was in a bit of a boom" and suggested that the Village keep a watchful eye on this situation as it plans its future work.

Village Administrator Robert Schoelle said that the Village will remain "mindful" of the situation and added that his second call after the "Franklin Avenue bids came in over budget was to the architect for the Village Hall project" to make sure that everything was still on track and he said he was assured that everything is still "in budget" on that project.

In other matters of importance to the Village, Mayor Tauches said that he and the POAs met to discuss plans to oppose the further development of the Roosevelt Field Mall. He said that the expansion would have a significantly negative impact on the Village and urged everyone to "work together to overcome this." The Town of Hempstead Zoning Board of Appeals will hear the lawyers for Roosevelt Field's plea for a variance to build the expansion for Saks on Nov. 18 at 3:30 p.m. at Town Hall in Hempstead. All residents are urged to attend and present a united Village force against the variance.

Trustee Jenkins expressed sympathy for the family of Lillian Chiarello and expressed condolences to Bob Brosner of the Garden City Fire Department whose mother also recently passed away.

Mayor Tauches, who served as the president of the Nassau County Villages' Association last year, had worked diligently with his fellow NCVOA members to obtain shared sales tax for the villages of Nassau County. Nassau County Executive Gulotta had included a measure into the County's budget to provide the villages with money from sales tax revenue, but the Nassau County Legislature removed this item from the budget before passing it last week. Mayor Tauches said that all of the County's 25 mayors were in attendance and had spoken on behalf of their cause, which they believed was still included in the budget until Lisanne Altmann a legislator from the North Shore made a comment in opposition to the removal of the item from the budget. Tauches stated that, "Every mayor was outraged. If not for her comment, we wouldn't have even known it was taken out. All of the mayors held a meeting earlier tonight and we all feel that this is an affront to the villages." He said that despite meeting with Legislator Vincent Muscarella, he too voted for the budget without the money for the villages. Tauches says he hopes that Garden City's legislator will see that "he made a mistake and will make it right." Tauches urged residents to support this measure that would help all residents of villages in the County.

Russell Matthews of the Albanese Development Corporation announced that Renaissance Development Corporation, the joint venture between Albanese and Castagna Realty, has signed a lease with Smith Barney for 26,000 square feet at 855 Franklin Avenue, but this will leave a vacancy at their present location across the street. With similar shifts made by Merrill Lynch and soon to be made by Astoria Federal, it fills large spots in office space within the Village, but leaves noticeable first floor storefront vacancies along Franklin Avenue. He said that they are working to fill these vacancies and urged the Village to develop a BID quickly and suggested the development of a subcommittee.

The mayor replied that materials have been distributed to the trustees and they will be prepared to discuss the development of a BID at the first December meeting. He added, "I don't want a subcommittee" and said "we're doing more things than simply the streetscape." He noted that while the shifts of offices from storefronts to office buildings within the Village left vacancies on Franklin Avenue, it also presented an opportunity to attract retailers to these locations and further develop a strong shopping district.

Dorothy Episcopia urged the Board to include the POAs in their discussions regarding the development of a BID, explaining that the POAs could provide support, making the BID that much stronger. She added that out of discussions with the POAs some "good suggestions" might come and that "there's a lot of brainpower in this Village."

A $20,000 donation from Adelphi was made in lieu of taxes and was accepted by the Board. Also, Lord & Taylor was granted permission to conduct a menswear fashion show in Parking Field #12 on Saturday, Nov. 14 from noon to 4 p.m. and the Automobile Club of New York, Inc. was granted permission to hold a members only used car sale in their private lot at 1415 Kellum Place on May 15-16 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Turkey Trot is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 26 and the Irish American Society was granted permission to hold their Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade up Franklin Avenue. Trustee Hecken asked how much the parade costs the Village in overtime from the police department, which Commissioner Cipullo explained totals about $3,000 to $4,000.

The next Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for Nov. 19 at 8 p.m. in Village Hall and the public is invited to attend.