At the last board of trustees' (BOT) meeting Oct. 21, I was asked by a resident why we weren't discussing the fate of the St. Paul's Main Building. I indicated that I was also disappointed that we hadn't continued to actively work on our decision-making process for St. Paul's during the summer and past month.

The reality was that we hadn't had all trustees present at a BOT meeting until that night (Oct. 21). Also, during the summer when we had the report from the cost estimators, we either didn't have a full BOT, most residents were away and this was not the best time for such a discussion, or trustees had scheduling conflicts so a special BOT meeting for this purpose couldn't be scheduled. The reluctance to have in-depth discussion on the fate of the St. Paul's Main Building without a full board present is entirely understandable.

However, I am pleased to announce that after the open discussion at our last BOT meeting on this topic we unanimously agreed to a modified resolution brought forth by Trustees Jon Segerdahl and Peter Bee for a proposed new plan for proceeding which had been presented by Trustee Negri at the meeting; a plan which focused on a compromise - a public/private use rather than just one or the other.

The resolution states:

1. A needs assessment be forthwith prepared by village staff for use of public building space within the St. Paul's buildings.

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.

3. That steps toward stabilization thereafter be taken.

4. That a request for enabling legislation then be presented to our legislators to permit non-public use of the property.

The BOT also agreed to a special BOT work-session meeting following the regularly scheduled BOT trustees meeting Nov. 4, which will begin at 7:30 p.m. rather than 8 p.m., in order to begin the discussion of the public uses for the historic Main Building at St. Paul's. I applaud the BOT for moving forward toward making a decision. I share the frustration of the residents, as do the trustees, that it is taking so long to make a decision. As a resident very eloquently put it "you have all the data you need" make a decision!

As a reminder, the last day for lawn sprinkling is Nov. 30.

Village offices will be closed Thursday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day. For your convenience, correspondence for the village may be placed in the "letter" drop slot at the front door.

There will be no garbage and rubbish collection on Veterans Day. Residents scheduled for recycling on Veterans Day are asked to put their recyclables out Thursday, Nov. 18. Residents in the western half of the village will have their garbage collected Monday and Thursday and residents in the eastern half will have their garbage collected Wednesday and Friday.