During the Dec. 18 village board meeting, trustees forged ahead with the St. Paul's saga when they approved a resolution put forth by Trustee John Watras. "Be it resolved (1) that the board of trustees has determined to utilize the St. Paul's Historic Main Building as a library and community center," the resolution read, and "(2) that the board shall direct bond counsel to prepare an appropriate bond resolution for the issuance of serial bonds of the village for a 15-year period, in an amount to finance the estimated maximum total cost of the project, which bond resolution shall take effect upon the approval of a bond referendum by the qualified voters of the village at a special election."

Watras introduced the resolution to move forward with the decision-making process. He also said he believes that the board, at this point, has enough information. "Get this done once and for all," he said. "We have other issues to deal with."

Watras continued, stating he's not afraid of a vote. "They [residents] might come back and say 'this isn't the way to go' but we don't know this yet," he said. Trustee Peter Negri added, 'I think this is too big an issue for eight people to decide. I think it's only right and fair to let the residents have a say."

Lawyer and First Street resident Tom Lamberti criticized the resolution, which Village Counsel Gary Fishberg drafted, saying, "If the numbers [on the cost of moving the library/community center] were triple checked then why aren't they in this resolution? Why be so ambiguous about it? You cannot ask bond counsel to fill in the blanks," he said. "It is useless to put forward a meaningless resolution. You ought to stop and look at this language. Don't embarrass yourselves and pass it."

Despite Lamberti's free legal advice, Trustees Watras, Negri, Jon Segerdahl and Mayor Barbara Miller voted in favor of the resolution while Trustees Peter Bee, John Mauk, Robert Rothschild and Gerard Lundquist voted against it. Following the established voting procedures of the Incorporated Village of Garden City, Mayor Miller, as the tie-breaking vote, again voted in favor of Watras' resolution.

Jon Schwieger, Estates Property Owners' Association president, wanted to make sure the final bond resolution is extremely clear as to the scope and future tax burden on homeowners. Mayor Miller assured him that the board would carefully review all aspects of the proposal before it was presented as a bond resolution to the public.

Believing the public deserves to know all of the information before voting, Schwieger said, "The board needs to clarify and dimension what community center facilities will be available. Do we need to increase the scope of the plan to meet the community center needs?" he asked. "We still encourage the village board to utilize the expertise in the village to help formalize its proposal. This may be accomplished in a one-time meeting to put together questions and issues that the board may want to consider in its final review. An independent assessment may be helpful with the village board being so divided."

Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) President James Carney agreed, stating "The EPOA supports the panel of experts. It's worked in the past, for instance with the school bond, and it can work again. Ask yourself, is this option in the best financial interest of the village's taxpayers?"

Resident James Kenny disagreed. "They want technical experts? We had them. We'd be impugning the integrity of the leading architects and the people who climbed all over that roof. Time, if it continues to pass, means destruction of the building. We have a village champing at the bit to vote," he said.

Trustee Negri, who first suggested moving the library into St. Paul's a year ago, said library officials have never been an advocate or a critic of the idea. They did however state that if the move could enable them to better serve their patrons, they'd be in favor of it. "Did they call for this? No," Trustee Negri said, "but they have voiced concerns."

Kingsbury Road resident Brian Pinnola, president of the Garden City Historical Society, is in favor of the resolution because it's an opportunity to breathe new life into the building. "This is more than economics. We have a chance to put this to good use," he told trustees.

Central Property Owners' Association President Bob Nouryan, who told trustees that the association has been supportive of the library/community center idea for almost two years, applauded trustees for having presented the resolution because it cuts to the chase. "We eagerly await the voice of the people," Nouryan said.

Mayor Miller, in hearing differing views on the resolution, said, "We bought the property through a binding bond resolution and we should do the same here. This is probably the biggest decision this village has ever made...I do have a roof report that states it's in dire straits and I think if we don't move on with preserving it, it will fall down," she said. "We've been talking about the same two options of public and private and we've gone no where in one year." Mayor Miller added that if the public does vote this referendum down, the board could certainly look at the "other options out there."