The village board received a letter from Central Business Partners (CBP) Principals Dan Pisark and Lloyd Zuckerberg, consultants trustees retained for the possible establishment of a business improvement district (BID) in Garden City. In part, it stated they're no longer in a position to provide the village with this service because both have become involved in other projects that now "preclude" them from having the time to offer ongoing services for this assignment.

Mayor Lewis, admittedly disappointed in their decision to quit, said, "It's unfortunate and a shock to me as mayor. I thought they signed on for the whole project but apparently you can't force someone to do something they don't want to do. They have withdrawn their services, which puts us behind after spending 20 some odd thousand dollars."

Trustee John Watras made a motion, which fellow trustees after much discussion approved at the Dec. 5 meeting, to call on the Chamber of Commerce for assistance in going forward. Specifically, the board asked that the Chamber send a letter reaffirming its support for the establishment of a BID. Secondly, the board requested that the Chamber "canvas each of the property owners to determine their interest in joining a BID" and report those findings.

Trustee John Mauk wasn't sure why the board would request an "opinion poll," as Mayor Lewis described it, at this time, believing it would only further delay the process. "With all the time we've taken on this thing, it shouldn't be surprising to anyone that Zuckerberg and Pisark withdrew their services. We need to see what can be done now to go forward and maintain what information we've already gathered."

Vehemently disagreeing, Mayor Lewis said, "I don't look at the survey as a delay but as an educational tool that would make the business community aware we're looking to go forward on this," he said. "I certainly don't want to take 20 thousand some odd dollars worth of work and throw it in a garbage can."

Specifically, the survey would ask property owners if they'd participate in a BID and pay so much more money in taxes each year, figures which Zuckerberg and Pisark calculated using square footage and included in their proposed $600,000 plus budget. For example, according to their estimates, The Garden City Hotel's annual assessment would total approximately $43, 744; AAA's building on Seventh Street would total approximately $8,802 while the Bank of New York's assessment would total approximately $1,688.

Noting that the Chamber never discussed the costs with any property owners included on the BID map, Mayor Lewis said that's all the more reason to conduct the survey. Ross Mongiardo, Chamber of Commerce president, confirmed that costs were in fact never discussed with property owners simply because it was premature to do so without a definitive budget in place.

"The mandate that the village board gave consultants was really to assess feasibility [to establish a BID]," he said. The $600,000 proposed budget Zuckerberg and Pisark provided was an "outline," as Mongiardo described it. "Nothing was written in stone."

As far as the board's request to conduct a survey, Mongiardo said, "It's just not feasible. We met with the largest property owners; we met with various retailers and held numerous open forums to enable those who were interested to come forward. Some people are apathetic or too busy, but that's the nature of the beast. I think it's unreasonable to go back and survey our members and I think that's part of a pattern of this current board to not make decisions quickly."

In conjunction with the suggested survey, Mayor Lewis said the board must also review the Request for Proposal (RFP) that was first developed. "Doing these two things simultaneously would be, in my opinion, expeditious. It would also keep costs retained," he said.

The mayor added, "I asked them for a proposal and this is the proposal they gave us. They said they quit. They made a contract with us, an agreement, and we said we didn't want to give them the $40,000 [for their services] all up front and that we'd make it into two separate payments.

"The consultants did the work and said the remaining $12,000 was not enough and withdrew their services. We paid $27,500 for them to do a survey, draw a map and go out and sell it. And guess what, they came back and said, 'Our job is done. The remaining $12,500 is not enough. Personally, I believe we've been schnuckered."

Mauk, speaking on the contrary, said, "I think the consultants feel they were schnuckered because we dragged out their involvement and this isn't the only example. I can call your attention to Einhorn Yaffee and Prescott and what went on there. The agreement [with the consultants] was not to be indentured to us at our leisure for as long as it took us to make a decision. Any consultants I've dealt with have an expectation. They're in the business to make a profit, just as you are and I am and if they see they're not getting that cooperation from people they're not going to stick around."

Mauk added, "I think it's a waste of the consultants' time and it's a waste of village money to approach these consultants in the way we have in the past. I think we need to take a more professional approach. If we want a consultant to study these issues and we want to take some action on them, then let's be professional about it.

"To waste a consultant's time and have them spend a lot of energy on something and in the end say, 'Well, we really don't like what you've done, we don't like what the results are' is absolute garbage. I do think if we're going to do something with this, let's get a formal motion, address it at a formal meeting where we could have the opportunity for all parties to consider it and then take action," Mauk said.

Trustee Peter Bee said he believes the Chamber's last expression to the board was that they still wanted to pursue this. "The Chamber is presumptuously aware of what the landlords are willing to do. The Chamber, I think, is also aware of what the budget was that the consultants proposed," he said. "With the absence of the Chamber coming to us and saying, 'Hey wait a minute, two years have gone by, the budget is bigger than we thought and people who said yes are now out,' I don't know if we should necessarily assume that this is a changing situation. I don't think it hurts to go back to the Chamber to make sure they're still on board."

Bee, who admitted he was never a "big fan" of establishing a BID, added, "We took the Chamber's persistence and retained a consultant, who has now resigned after two years of work. So it's appropriate to go back to the Chamber to ask if they still want it."

Mongiardo said the consultants' withdrawal has nothing to do with the idea to establish a BID in Garden City. "It sounds like they're busy with other projects. From the Chamber's point of view, by no means does this have any impact on the establishment of a BID in this village."

In their letter, the consultants, not wanting to leave the village empty-handed, recommended LTM Associates, a firm comprised of two partners, both of whom have extensive experience establishing and managing BIDs. "We have spoken to Joan Talbert and Ann Lindsey, the principals of this firm, and feel very comfortable recommending them for this assignment," they stated in their letter. "We believe they have the skills necessary to get a BID up and running."

In closing, Pisark and Zuckerberg said they continue to believe that a BID "could serve a very valuable function as Garden City continues to rejuvenate its wonderful downtown."

The board of trustees must enact a piece of legislation to establish a BID. Property owners then vote.