The issue of whether or not the village would purchase 100 feet of 114 Sixth Street and the premises at 116 Eleventh Street was raised once more at last Thursday's village board meeting, in the wake of a public hearing being called for March 27 to consider the acquisition.

The meeting was scheduled at the last meeting before the reorganizational meeting in April, when the new board members take over. Mayor Harold Hecken was not present, so Deputy Mayor Robert Lewis, who will take over as Mayor in April presided over the meeting. Trustee Gerard Lundquist was also absent from the meeting, leading the board to postpone a vote about the zoning code changes until "a full complement is present."

The issue of parking was first raised when Trustee John Mauk made a motion to hold this special meeting, which will take place in the lower level of the library. Mauk read the motion, though the legal notices announcing the hearing had already been sent out. Trustee Peter Bee said that this was a clarification, and Village Counsel Gary Fishberg explained that this motion was read to ensure that proper notice was given.

Torino stated that this motion came about because he made a complaint that the issue of the public hearing was first brought up at the March 8 budget session where he said the resolution was out of place and could not be brought forth because it had to be done at a meeting of the board. The resolution was then passed at the March 10 budget work session. Torino said that the board was not made aware, ahead of time, that this meeting was going to be a special meeting. In light of these complaints, Mauk put forth the motion at Thursday night's public meeting. Torino stated that he wanted to be sure that they "play by the rules."

Torino then went on to say, "The speed by which this issue is being brought forth and the manner in which it is being brought forth in contravention of policy until someone else tells them quite forcefully, is quite irritating." He added that he decided to bring this issue up now, rather than waiting until a later date so that the entire process would not have to be redone.

Following these statements, the vote was taken, with Bee, Mauk, Trustee Brian Murray, and Lewis voting in favor of the hearing and Torino and Trustee Dr. Barbara Miller voting against it. According to village law, the two board members not present count as negative votes which left the vote tied. After consulting a legal text, Fishberg announced that the acting mayor broke the tie, so the motion was passed.

In the midst of the discussions about the public hearing, Village Administrator Robert Schoelle and members of the board of trustees, and members of the public thanked Torino, who has chosen not to run for another term, for his service. Schoelle stated, "I want to extend my sincere thanks to Trustee Torino, you are going to be missed."

Mauk then echoed Schoelle's statements about Torino and said that during his year on the board, he found Torino's guidance "invaluable." Bee noted that though he and Torino have not always agreed on certain issues, he believes that Torino, "has always acted on what he believes is in the best interest of the public." Bee added that such an accolade is the highest compliment that can be given to a public servant. Murray also thanked Torino for his service and added his thanks to the mayor, who was not present. Miller stated, "I want to thank Bruce for a year of mentoring. I know he will be missed but I am confident that Trustee Torino is not going away." Lewis then spoke about Torino's commitment and said that Torino, has a tendency to go home and not sleep but rather to work on various ideas that he would forward to the other trustees by the next morning. He said Torino, "Put a great amount of effort in and worked very diligently."

"A scant four years ago, my position as trustee, for want of a better term, was born out of a crucible of conflict. We were at that time facing the Danth Report and what the experts at that time predicted," said Torino. "So upon entering village service, I had a somewhat jaundiced first step." He then went on to thank each of the department heads for their help during his four years on the board.

"Since I am born in conflict, I will leave in conflict," said Torino. "It is a conflict that is not finished and I will leave it to another board to decide. However, it is a conflict that we should all learn from and more importantly that we understand how it is we resolve the issue before us." Torino noted that at an early age, people learn that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and compared the parking strip buffer plan issue, which has been voted on four times in 11 years to the St. Paul's fields, which have had no champion fighting for their rehabilitation, an issue that has been around for almost the same amount of time. "I think the difficulty we have, more often than not, is that we are long in criticism and short on leadership. Our long-term planning is sometimes negligible, going from one disaster to the next. Our reaction is but to the immediate and we fail to see to the long term. Whether it's a reflection of society, or a reflection of ourselves, we expect more of others then we expect of ourselves. I've always been of the opinion that the officers lead the charge, but unfortunately I haven't seen that of late." He encouraged those in municipal service to defend and support those who have no voice or who do not have the ability to mount a campaign and to look outside the envelope for win-win situations for the residents, businesses and customers in the village.

Following the reports of the board, residents also added their accolades to Torino for his service. Nick Episcopia, vice president of the Eastern Property Owners' Association thanked Torino for his service and commented on the large role he played in defeating the Simon Property proposal to move Saks to Roosevelt Field two years ago. Mort Yuter, a resident who attends every board meeting addressed Torino, stating "You are fair, accurate, and lengthy in your speeches."

Eileen Murphy said of Torino, "I have never seen a more imaginative, creative, unique mind on this board."

Wayne Muscarella vice president of the Central Property Owners' Association also commented on how much Torino would be missed before remarking on the fact that the board deferred an item on the agenda because two trustees were not present and yet they still voted on the public hearing. Torino said that though he disagreed with the ultimate conclusion of the vote, it was necessary that the defective prior vote be ratified.

Susan Williams Furey also spoke about how much Torino would be missed, before questioning the details of the public hearing. In response to her question about whether there were any restrictions, Torino answered that anyone can speak. Fishberg noted that the purpose of the hearing would be for the residents to comment on the purposes of the proposed acquisition and the question of whether benefit assessment is a proper vehicle to use with regard to that proposed acquisition. The particulars of the benefit assessment such as who is in the benefit assessment district and how much those property owners will be paying, according to Fishberg, will not be discussed at that hearing, because those things happen after an acquisition.

When Furey questioned when a vote about the acquisition could take place, Fishberg said that if the board chose to they could vote, in public, on it at the hearing.

Russell Matthews, who at the last public meeting called the village government "dysfunctional" and made other statements of that sort, said he was embarrassed by these statements apologized for his comments. He then went on to speak about Torino, noting that they often did not agree, but commending him for his efforts to stop the expansion of Roosevelt Field.

Maureen Valente thanked Torino for his service and then questioned why all noninvasive measures, such as those detailed in the consultant's report, have not been acted upon. She noted that the planning commission's report said that the board should attempt on all noninvasive measures before considering property acquisition. Lewis noted that the report is a suggestion, but that the board is not required to follow their recommendations.

Valente then questioned the responsibility of moving ahead when these noninvasive measures have not been acted upon and it has not yet been determined which property owners would be paying for the expansion of the parking fields. She also commented on the fact that 1000 Franklin, one of the buildings which proponents of the acquisition of 116 Eleventh Street said is suffering because of the lack of parking, is 100 percent rented, and that the owner is receiving a high rent for these offices.

Trustee Brian Murray said that he does not want anyone to be left with the impression that re-striping will not take place, but, according to Murray, that it won't be enough to solve the parking problems, calling the parking availability in that area, "woefully atrocious."

John McKay, from the CPOA parking subcommittee, questioned the house acquisition, asking, "Are we presenting real solutions or just buying time at the cost of a house?"

The public hearing will take place at 8 p.m. on March 27 in the lower level of the Garden City Library, to consider the acquisition of 100 feet of 114 Sixth Street and the premises at 116 Eleventh Street and the addition and improvement to Parking Fields 5 and 10W, the cost of such local improvements to be borne wholly or partly at the expense of the owners of the lands benefited by the improvements.