Our condolences go out today to the priests and parishioners of the Church of St. Anne and to the many Garden City residents who knew him and now mourn the tragic death this week of Msgr. William Costello. He was an inspiration to all who knew him.

After considerable discussion and careful preparation, K. Backus & Associates sent Requests for Proposals to developers to convert the St. Paul's School into upscale condominiums. The board of trustees will also consider proposals received with ideas for a private/public or public use alone. The proposals are due back in October.

The board of trustees decided to explore a private option after studying a number of other options, including public use. However, all of these other options would have resulted in substantial property tax increases. That's something our residents have emphatically told us they do not want.

We hope private development will provide an opportunity to save St. Paul's, put it to productive use at no cost to our taxpayers and generate a significant stream of much-needed tax revenues for our village. We hope it proves feasible, although our consultant has said that the costs of repairing and renovating the building are considerable and may not make the project doable. The returned proposals will answer that question.

As I explained to those opposed to this option at recent trustees' meetings, the village is certainly willing to entertain realistic and financially sound proposals from them for public use. They will have the same amount of time as the developers to prepare a proposal for us to consider.

Village Parking Field 7S, located to the south of the shops and businesses on Seventh Street, is one of the parking fields that is most frequently used by village residents for their daily shopping, banking and personal service needs. Improvements were included in this year's Capital Budget and the board of trustees awarded a construction contract to Carlo Lizza and Sons, Inc. for $578,942.

The project commenced July 24 and will be completed in September. This time period was selected because it will have the least impact on residents and businesses. This is not to say that there will not be inconveniences to all, but steps will be taken to keep inconvenience to a minimum and to keep the project moving to meet the completion date.

Village Department of Public Works personnel from the Parks Division are currently pruning the honey locust trees in the center of the parking field to reduce stress during the construction. Unfortunately, several of the trees are in severe decline and are in jeopardy of being lost. Naturally, replacement trees will be planted if necessary. Once completed the field will provide additional parking spaces, new lighting, improved drainage and a new surface.

During the early phases of the project contractors will be working in sections of the field and will block off parking spaces to do the preparation work, including drainage repair, replace concrete and effect base repairs to the surface of the parking field. During the majority of this work only 20 percent of the field will be closed. Subsequent notices will be issued when more of the field will be closed to allow for the milling of the surface and repaving.

Merchants and businesspersons are being encouraged to seek alternate available parking during this project, including Village Parking Field 7N on the north side of Seventh Street. Police personnel will maintain aggressive patrols of Field 7N but will relax time restrictions during the period of construction.

Questions on specific problems relating to the project should be directed to Robert Mangan, director of Public Works, or Village Engineer Chris Markin at 465-4004 or Carlo Lizza at 938-2566.

During this week (July 24 through July 28) the approaches to the grade crossing will be re-paved (weather permitting). Work will be done between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and a minimum of a single lane of traffic will be maintained for both directions.

Detour routes are as follows: northbound traffic - left onto St. James Street South, right on Washington Avenue, right on Stewart Avenue, left on Clinton Road; southbound traffic - right onto St. James Street North, left on Washington Avenue, left on St. James Street South, right on Clinton Road.

Persons wishing to communicate with the Mayor's Office via e-mail may do so by using the following e-mail address: Mayorsoffice@gardencityny.net. Long Island Blood Services, in conjunction with the employees at Village Hall, held a blood drive Tuesday, July 25 in the second floor meeting room of the Fire Department Headquarters Building on Stewart Avenue. The need for blood has again reached a critical level so please consider donating. Did you know that over 800 units of blood are needed each and every day of the year to meet the needs of patients in Long Island's 43+ hospitals?

This week's program (at the Village Gazebo, located on the Village Green) will feature Vincent Roccaro singing Bobby Darin.

The program will begin at 7:15 and admission is free. Please bring your lawn chair or blanket and enjoy a very pleasant evening. In the event of inclement weather, the concert will be held at the Cultural and Performing Arts Center at Cluett Hall at the St. Paul's School. Please contact the Recreation Program Line (742-5888) with questions pertaining to the concert.