Criticizing the lack of discussion regarding St. Paul's, on the part of the Garden City board of trustees, Jon Schwieger, Estates POA past president, and Robert Nouryan, Central POA director, questioned why the topic wasn't an agenda item at the Oct. 21 board meeting. "This is something that ought to be addressed at every meeting," Nouryan said.

Their comments sparked a somewhat heated discussion, where, yet again, trustees clashed about home rule legislation and private versus public uses of the historic building. Mayor Barbara Miller said trustees are trying to reach a consensus and she's disappointed the board hasn't found time to meet.

With such a divisive board, Trustee John Watras admitted, "Time might make the decision for us." Trustee Peter Negri added, "At the end of the day, we still have not made a decision ... If we don't take this first step, we're going to study this until the cows come home ... We all voted to save the building but how do we go forward?"

In the name of compromise, however, trustees unanimously approved a resolution intended to bring them closer to finally making a decision. Following an executive session with village counsel, Trustees Peter Bee and Jon Segerdahl jointly submitted the resolution.

Specifically, it outlines four steps the board believes should be taken. Step 1: a needs assessment be forthwith prepared by village staff for use of public building space within the St. Paul's buildings. Step 2: an RFP be forthwith developed, with professional assistance, for private sector residential development for space comparable to the existing square footage of the existing buildings, which RFP will alert responders to any preferences of the village for partial public use. Step 3: steps toward stabilization thereafter be taken. Step 4: that a request for enabling legislation then be presented to our legislators (Senator Kemp Hannon and Assemblywoman Maureen O'Connell) to permit non-public use of the property.

While some appreciated the board's effort, George Salem of St. Paul's Place saw it as a plan for private development. "It violates the residents' poll, where only 40 percent voted for private and yet we're going ahead with it," he said.

The Nov. 4 board of trustees meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m., rather than its regularly scheduled 8 p.m. start time, to enable more time for discussion.