James Carney, Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) president, urged trustees to pay close attention to the St. Paul's survey results, which indicated that 40 percent of respondents opted for private use of St. Paul's with either condominiums and/or an assisted living facility. "This survey points out that residents, when asked, do not encourage going forward with a plan for a library/community center," he said. "Trustees should take these results to heart."

The survey, which was mailed to Garden City households back in April, asked residents to respond to various alternatives for the future use of the St. Paul's Main Building as presented in the village-published October 2003 Village Facts.

A committee of 12 directors who are on the boards of the village's four Property Owners' Associations (POAs) initiated and authored the study, which enabled two adult heads-of-household to respond individually.

The St. Paul's Survey Committee was selected by the respective POAs back in February to represent them in the design and implementation of the survey. The Committee had the guidance of representatives of both the Office of Research, Assessment and Planning and the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, at Adelphi University and the support of University President Dr. Robert Scott.

Despite criticisms that the survey was not scientific and omitted significant bits of information, which some felt biased the results, Nick Episcopia, also from the East, said he was proud to serve on the poll committee. "The POAs wanted to be fair and we believe the poll accomplished this ... The time has come to get home rule."

Trustee John Mauk echoed Episcopia's remarks, telling fellow trustees that the survey results speak for themselves. "We need to stop spending money, time and effort," he said.

Fellow Trustee John Watras applauded the survey, although he doesn't believe it's inclusive. "I still believe this should go to a referendum," he admitted.

Members of the Committee and the offices they held in their respective POAs are identified as follows: Central Property Owners' Association (CPOA) James T. Byrne, Jr., former director and treasurer; Robert Nouryan, director and past president; and Jane Simpson, president. Eastern Property Owners' Association (EPOA) Dennis Donnelly, director; Nicholas Episcopia, director and past president; and Stephen Ripp, director. Estates Property Owners' Association (Estates POA) Thomas O'Rourke, president; Richard Schrafel, director and past president; Jonathan Schwieger, past president; and Manuel Velez, director. Western Property Owner's Association (WPOA) Robert Bolebruch, president; and Ken Rode, vice president.

The above-named residents ask that Mayor Barbara Miller and the board of trustees consider the survey's findings as a non-binding referendum of a significant number of their neighbors and to utilize it to guide their future actions regarding the disposition of the St. Paul's Main Building.

Surveys, which had to be returned before April 30, were sent to a Post Office Box in the Garden City Post Office, which was under the exclusive control of Adelphi University. Further, the surveys were opened, tabulated and analyzed by Adelphi's PhDs and their staffs. Survey results were first released to the Committee and then, simultaneously to the Garden City board of trustees and the Garden City Life. A copy of the original survey and the results was also given to the Garden City Public Library.

				Adult A	Adult B
Number responding:					2,818		2,214
Future use of building if final decision made today:
Public use - stabilization					4.2		4.0
Public use - threshold use				6.8		7.0
Public use - library/community center		15.2		16.7
Private use - condominiums/assisted living		40.1		38.2
Demolition							24.5		23.3
Other								9.2		10.7
Would accept an increase in yearly taxes of:
No increase							38.2		37.8
No more than $75 per year				20.6		19.2
No more than $150 per year				16.6		16.3
No more than $300 per year				11.4		12.6
No more than $500 per year				7.2		7.3
More than $500 per year					6.0		6.8