Eileen Murphy, immediate past president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association, at the July 22 Village Board meeting posed the question to the trustees, "If circumstances were different and the Village were able to move ahead with the lease for assisted living with CareMatrix for the St. Paul's Building, is it accurate to say that they would then be absorbing all of the costs for rehabilitating and maintaining the building?" Mayor Hal Hecken replied, "You raise a good point. If we had gone ahead with the lease, CareMatrix would be doing the repairs to the building right now." Murphy followed her initial question by asking, "So if the suit [Kenny lawsuit to prevent the lease] ends and CareMatrix goes ahead, we may not have to fund these repairs, but if we are not able to go ahead because the case holds up the Village in court or whatever, then we'll have to find out what we have to do to mothball St. Paul's?" Mayor Hecken answered, "You're reading my mind."

This line of dialogue was sparked at the meeting by the unanimous vote by the trustees (with the exception of Trustee Judy Asselta who was unable to attend the meeting) to engage the engineering firm of Polise for what is called Phase I, or the process of providing a proposal for the "stabilization" of the St. Paul's building. This consulting firm will examine the structure and then draft recommendations for the best and most economical ways to save the building. As Village Administrator Robert Schoelle explained, "We're talking about keeping it in its current status, unused, but making it safe."

Upon hearing that the Village will need to spend a figure not to exceed $25,000 for a consultant simply to explore how to essentially mothball the building while the Village continues to fight the Kenny case, currently being supported verbally and financially by the Committee for the Public Trust of St. Paul's, residents in attendance (according to comments made during post-meeting dialogue) became very concerned about the lawsuit's impact on their taxes. Residents questioned how much of the quarter billing cost of $110,633.43 by Cullen and Dykman, the Village's law firm, was related to litigation. Village Auditor James Olivo explained that approximately $64,000 of the total amount covers the costs of counsel on the Kenny case, fighting the Albanese Development Corporation's suits over the Park/Buffer Plan, fighting Roosevelt Field Mall's plans to expand, the LIRR, etc.

Mayor Hecken referred to the full-page ads that have been placed in the local papers for several weeks by the Committee for St. Paul's, which claim that the property will be devoured by a new wing proposed by CareMatrix, to be added to the rear of the building. The mayor expressed his concern about what he termed "misleading information" and "misinformation" and said that the Village will be preparing a Village Facts to update the residents on the current situation with the property. Hecken also referred to two letters written by residents addressing issues raised by the Committee. The letters were sent to the Village newspapers, but were held by Garden City Life in light of discussions with the authors, in an attempt to select a week in which the letters could be highlighted. Now, in light of the mayor's comments and the concern of residents, the authors of the letters and Garden City Life have chosen to include them here.

Hamilton Smith, immediate past chairman of the Planning Commission, wrote regarding recent petitions circulated by the Committee for St. Paul's around the Village, and, in a controversial move, at Soccerfest 1999. Smith addresses some of the suggestions made in the petition for uses of the property, all of which would result in tax hikes, made by the Committee and James Kenny himself before the Board of Trustees. The suggestions all essentially equal a new community center within the Main Building in the fashion of the Herricks Community Center or Mineola's new Village Hall in the old Nassau Lutheran building.

Smith writes:

"The Mayor's Committee investigated in-depth, relocating the Village Hall to the Main Building, found that it would not utilize all available space and considered programming the surplus for auxiliary uses such as relocating the senior center, a portion of the library, and a club with rooms for various community groups. The problem then, and now, is not space, but, rather, prohibitive costs.

"There appear to be fortunate Village residents who need not blink an eye at a tax increase to support another big bond issue. Unfortunately, we are not all in the same position.

"Groping for a collection of small tenants to fill the Main Building is no more than blowing smoke in an effort to legitimize criticism of the proposed senior living facility.

"Those who sign a petition opposing a senior living facility, automatically become members of the Main Building Demolition Team. They must be anticipating a celebration at the site, with cheerleaders, on the day the wrecking balls begin to swing."

William A. Bellmer wrote addressing the issue of the ads placed by the Committee in the papers and their claims about the size of the structure proposed. CareMatrix has planned a new wing in the rear of the Main Building, or on the west side of the property, which will be placed where the center wing is currently located. It has been determined by construction/engineering experts consulted that the center wing and Ellis Hall are too damaged to save and the Village will have to demolish these structures whether the property is leased or not.

Bellmer writes:

"The ad headline is 'So Just How Big is Big?' but the ad text does not discuss the maps to show why the proposed addition is so 'big' with relation to all the other buildings. Comparing one map to the other with different scales is difficult, and the legend is unrelated to the maps. But a close look shows that the addition does not even extend north of the Village-retained Field House and would not be visible to anyone passing on Stewart Avenue. Moreover, although the addition would be as high as the Main Building, its plot area can be seen to be offset by the elimination of the cottages, the Main Building center wing, and Ellis Hall to the east of the Main Building. The area from north of the Field House to the boundary of the proposed property division, just north of the cottages has no structures proposed. Suffice to say, that if the maps provided by the Committee in this ad do not even support the text, why should any of their claims be taken seriously?

"Although this map data was presented by the Mayor's Committee more than two years ago, residents have probably forgotten it by now and could be misled by vague ads that appear to be only in favor of spending more tax money. Hopefully a Village Facts will be produced soon with a legible map that residents can use to walk the property and see for themselves what is proposed. Some stakes put in the ground to relate the property and building addition boundaries to the actual site would help."

The Village has not yet decided on any course of action beyond hiring Polise to examine the building, analyze the data, and construct a proposal. Phase II will be determined after a report from Polise is obtained. Peter Mastaglio of Cullen and Dykman is still working on behalf of the Village on the Kenny case. As long as the case is tied up in the courts, the lease of the property to CareMatrix cannot take place.