After the Nov. 5 Board of Trustees meeting, it seemed to be the hope of Recreation Commission Chairperson Bruce A. Torino, that any residents who had concerns about the initial concept drawing for the possible future uses of the St. Paul's recreation fields, would attend the Nov. 12 Commission meeting, and would then see the drawings as a jumping-off point for discussion and input and participate at the meeting. Reports from those in attendance at the Recreation Commission meeting indicate that rather than focus on the possibilities for uses the conceptual designs present and the opportunity to collaborate on brainstorming and fine-tuning the plan, the discussion among the members of the commission focused on disagreements on the procedures for introducing the proposals and residents in attendance continued to speak angrily about specific points in the plan. Garden City Life spoke with Trustee Torino in his law offices in Mineola on Friday, Nov. 13 to afford the chairperson of the commission an opportunity to explain the intent of the plan and the reasoning behind various elements of the conceptual designs.

Torino explained that in August, concerned that no plans for the future use of the fields at St. Paul's had ever been officially adopted and implemted, he drafted a letter to each of the Recreation commissioners dated August 21, a copy of which he furnished Garden City Life during the interview. The letter opens, "In order to get the ball rolling, no pun intended, I annex hereto an introductory site plan for the development of the fields at St. Paul's into an integrated Community Recreation Facility." In the letter he explains that he worked with Paul Blake, head of the Recreation Department, and Lou Pascarella, P.E., the Village's engineer to develop a basic draft plan. He defines the purpose of the designs as intending "to preliminarily establish dimensions for the proposed: parking areas; perimeter berm/shrubbery; location of recreational areas including walking paths; location of equipment; consideration of a toddler park; location of restrooms and fencing to be erected around the reoriented parking field."

Torino suggests in his letter that a database be created containing contact information on residents abutting the property, and senior and youth organizations who use the fields. He also suggested contacting the Planning Commission, the Architectural Design Review Board and CareMatrix (the company with which the Village is engaged in due diligence for the leasing of the Main Building) for their input.

He concluded by stating, "It is my suggestion that the Recreation Commission review the attached plans and develop a methodology by which input can be solicited from the Village, its groups and residents and further comment integrated into the development of this plan." The letter also noted, "I have drafted a letter to the representative groups and designed a comment sheet to receive input. I welcome your suggestions on how to refine this plan and the accompanying letters so that we can move forward in the development of this area."

Without receiving any feedback from his fellow Commission members after a month's time, he dated the letter to the various Village organizations Sept. 23 and proceeded to send it out, hoping to receive feedback which he could present to the Commission, explained Torino. The five-page long September letter explains the intent of the diagrams that accompanied it stating, "I cannot stress too strongly that the annexed design is a conceptual drawing and needs your input prior to any presentation to the public or Board of Trustees for adoption and/or implementation." It reemphsized this point saying, "As an initial concept drawing, this document's sole purpose is to suggest preliminary dimensions for the proposed recreation areas and other component parts..."

Anticipating that residents might site the Quennell Rothschild Report of 1994, arguing that it should be implemented, Torino's Sept. 23 letter explains, "It is recognized that we should learn from our past to better plan for the future, and with great appreciation, this Commission extends its gratitude to the efforts of the many individuals who participated in developing the Rothschild Report. The physical characteristics of St. Paul's, with its level treeless plain, places limitations on its development absent a significant expenditure to change its character. The Rothschild report contemplated a vast earthmoving project at a considerable cost. This plan is more modest in its design utilizing its natural charm and grace to promote a balanced pattern of land use that encourages a minimal change to the existing land while taking maximum advantage of the possible uses."

The letter continues, "Since the issuance of the Rothschild Report we are all mindful of the growth of the Village's recreation programs and the pressures that growth places upon our facilities. The Rothschild Report, in its maximum configuration, provided for six playing fields. Presently, the high school and middle school utilize eight full-size playing fields during the day. On weekends in the fall, the youth organizations utilize 15 fields of various sizes. The available parking spaces are insufficient to accommodate the present use and traffic flow needs to be addressed."

Torino explained during the interview that the needs of the various youth athletics organizations have grown significantly over the last four years since the Rothschild Report was first drafted and presented. In order to meet the demands of the ever-growing youth population, the amount is playing space for soccer and lacrosse had to be expanded beyond what was first allocated in the Rothschild Report. While Torino credits the intial report with developing a beautiful plan, he noted that it is "grandiose" and unrealistic in terms of the Village's budget, as its implementation would come with a $6.6 million price tag.

Torino also explained that the fields often become "burnt-out" from heavy use by the Village's athletic organizations. One sports field runs north to south, while another runs east to west; with this in mind, he designed the playing fields so that they could be divided into various rectangular sections, almost like a patchwork quilt, and the uses could be alternated from patch to patch. One year field #1 could be a soccer field and then the following year it could be used as a lacrosse field while field #2 then became the soccer field, for example. Also, Torino says that he had looked into the possibility of using water runoff from Cluett Hall, which could be collected in a water recharge basin, as a means of watering the fields, which Torino says are often in desperate need of watering. He says that with improved irrigation and alternating the uses of the fields, the quality of the fields could be improved.

He joked that the designs illustrate "How I spent my summer vacation" as he dedicated the summer months to brainstorming on ways to meet the needs of the youth organizations, the neighboring homes, and the Village at large. He added that by developing the conceptual designs with the help of Blake and Pascarella, he feels an important message was illustrated -- outside consultants do not always have to be hired. He noted, "We can do a lot of things in-house."

In order to make the fields truly usable, Torino noted, "the long jump track and the backstop would have to be removed." He describes their condition as "decaying" and explained that they interrupt the natural pattern of the land for use by teams. A berm, or grassy mound with shrubbery at its top, is proposed to run around the playing fields to prevent balls from landing in neighboring yards or the street. He explains the controversial 12 feet of space between the fences of the adjacent homes and the berm as having simply been the result of contemplating how much space would be needed to get one of the Village's mowing machines through to keep the lawn there maintained.

The proposals call for restrooms to be installed, greater definition of the field areas to make locating children easier for parents, benches for sports enthusiasts to rest, a walking path of "a gentle winding nature" with woodchips, a paved path for roller blading or cycling and emergency vehicle movement, a toddler area with pre-school equipment, a pastoral area for the enjoyment of residents of all ages, and an attendant area with storage areas and telephones, and security services. Torino has also drawn in shade trees to help mark the corners of each playing field and to provide shade for the players. The Rothschild Report, a copy of which Torino also furnished Garden City Life, provides little space for playing fields, and allocates the majority of the land to an open meadow, a pond, and a small amphitheater area. The lack of athletic fields had been a point of contention with "soccer moms and dads" and the athletic organizations throughout the Village. The athletic fields of the Garden City Schools is insufficient to accommodate all of the sporting events that take place every day, particularly on the weekends, according to the arguments made at the time the Rothschild Report was released, and the population of children playing sports in the Village has increased significantly since that time.

Torino stresses that no land is being ceded to the property owners adjacent to the fields, and that the amount of space between the berm and the property line was simply a suggestion. In fact, he stressed throughout the interview that the entire plan was intended to serve as a suggestion and he is not "wedded" to any point in the plan. He says he only intended to present these suggestions to solicit input from the residents of the Village. Suggestion sheets accompanied each copy of the letter, and he urges letters to be sent to: Recreation Commission/ Village of Garden City/ 351 Stewart Avenue/ Garden City, NY 11530. He emphasizes that his sole intent in all of the work that he has put in on these plans as a volunteer is to get things moving to make the conditions of the fields better for everyone and to get people involved in the process. He concluded, "Sending the letter out to the POAs, school district, and athletic organizations was only part of the preliminary stages of this process. This stage was just to ask for input. Nothing has been adopted or made official; none of this is set. These drawings were meant to get people thinking about the current needs of the Village." He noted that because nothing had been done in the four years since the Rothschild Report, he felt it was time to at least bring the issue out and get people working together to actively work on the matter.

Suggestions are still not only welcome, but sought. All input should be addressed to the Recreation Commission for their review, as this is still in its preliminary stages and is not an agenda item before the Board of Trustees yet.