The future of the St. Paul's issue has been a point of contention in the Village for the better part of this rapidly concluding decade. Will there be a resolution that satisfies the populace? The problem is that the populace cannot agree on a definition of satisfactory resolution in this issue.

Many residents wanted to see the building become a state of the art high school and even as the Board of Education abandoned the plan, calling it unrealistic, many residents continue to believe that this would be the best use of the property. Many residents look forward to the assisted living residence proposed for the building through a lease with CareMatrix, arguing that the building was once a dormitory and that some day they may find themselves taking full advantage of the services to be provided there in their later years. Still others wish the building to become a community center like the Herricks Community Center on Herricks Road in New Hyde Park.

Residents supporting the latter proposal mentioned have gone so far as to fight the Village in court, claiming that the lease of the property by the Village to CareMatrix is illegal, because the property was bought for public use. If the courts decide in favor of the plaintiffs in what is now called "The Kenny Case," the Village can try to obtain legislation from New York State Senator Kemp Hannon to legalize the lease, as was stated in an interview with the plaintiffs' lawyer, Michael Ciaffa, printed in Garden City Life last week.

The Village has not as yet made an actual request for legislation, known as the Home Rule Request, but has discussed this aspect of the subject with State Senator Hannon, who at the time [1998] requested more information, which was then sent to his office. Once the request became public knowledge, the parties that have filed "the Kenny lawsuit" against the Village protesting the lease then sent their own packet of information to Hannon.

Garden City Life spoke with Hannon in June of 1998 for an article that appeared on June 11 and again last Thursday to help answer the residents' questions about his position on the issue. Last Thursday Hannon noted that as far as he and his office is concerned in the matter there is nothing new to report, despite comments by James Kenny, the plaintiff for whom the case has been called, alleging that Counsel Fishberg had recommended that the Village pursue the legislation.

When asked to comment on the possibility of proposing State legislation on the St. Paul's issue, Hannon said in 1998, "I don't have anything that I could introduce. Concepts were presented, which were incomplete. Frankly, after the story broke in the papers about the Executive Session held by the trustees after midnight, I thought they had abandoned the idea." He stated that he had sent correspondence to the municipal attorneys and has not received any replies. He also commented that he, "got a stack of papers last week from the plaintiffs in the lawsuit; it was an enormous amount of information, and frankly I haven't had an opportunity to read all of it." He said that the Village gave him the CareMatrix proposal when they met in person and have also sent him a tremendous amount of information on the subject as well.

He added that in the matter of investigating all of the details of St. Paul's and examining uses for it, "This is why we have local government. I was aware for a number of years that there was a committee working on this. I, personally, was not up on the details, options, and what may have been needed or not needed." He also said, "What in essence I am being asked to do is ratify what the Village has done. My name goes on the bill and there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. Absolute scrutiny goes into any piece of legislation proposed. Opinions are written by the Attorney General, the Comptroller, and the Governor's people. We have huge municipal associations up here. Before any piece of legislation is passed it goes through an exhaustive process of examination. I don't have a bill to introduce at this point." He noted, "I need to determine what the new thrust of this is. I need to determine if a public trust was created if I'm going to extend the use of power of the Village. There is a clear distinction between a municipal purpose and a proprietary purpose; the municipal purpose is inherent and the proprietary purpose is not. Before I could decide whether or not to ratify a 65-year lease, I need to look into all of this. There are still many unanswered questions. I am taking a balanced approach in this matter."

The attorney handling the case in the courts for the Village is Peter Mastaglio of Cullen and Dykman who took the time on Friday, May 14 to respond to some of the comments made by the plaintiffs' lawyer Michael Ciaffa, which were printed in last week's Garden City Life. Mastaglio explained that the plaintiffs will be deposing or conducting interviews with a witness from the Village. Despite Ciaffa's comments indicating that they plan to depose numerous Village staffers and trustees, as well as members of the Mayor's Committee, Mastaglio says that the defendants have the right to select the best witness and only if that witness is deemed not adequate to answer all of the issues can another witness be deposed.

He argued that deposing too many witnesses would only serve to delay the case and said that he doesn't see that either side would really want that to happen. "It is our intent to get this resolved quickly," he added.

The case will not go to trial before the fall, according to Mastaglio. While Kenny in his public comments noted a December date and said he hoped the Village would walk away from their deal with CareMatrix when December rolls around, Mastaglio says he's uncertain of the significance of the date and that he knows that CareMatrix is still interested in the property.

While Ciaffa said he believes the case will be heard by a jury and hopes that it is, Mastaglio says, "I don't believe that a jury is appropriate in this case; I diasgree that this is a case triable by a jury and I believe this will be tried by a judge." He also said that the case will likely take a week to argue before a judge and that it's possible that the case could be resolved this fall.

He explained that both sides could appeal after the decision is rendered by the judge, but this would only serve to delay things further and says that he feels confident in his case and that the Village will be successful.

As residents argue over their personal beliefs about St. Paul's amongst themselves, and residents act as plaintiffs and defendants in this case as the opponents and Village trustees, this case will be argued in the courts by two Village residents. Michael Ciaffa is a Village residents, as is Peter Mastaglio. Mastaglio's children have all attended Garden City High School and he was the president of the Estates POA in the late 1980s. In fact, Ciaffa and Mastaglio are friends outside of court, and noted that while professionally crossing swords, this is only the nature of their business.