(Editor's Note: The following is a speech Garden City Mayor Peter Bee gave at the most recent Garden City Chamber of Commerce luncheon at The Garden City Hotel.)

"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to discuss the state of our village in 2007.

"Let me start by assuring you that Garden City is in great shape. It is a place where over 21,000 residents are proud to live, where merchants are regaining their reputation for 'destination downtown shopping,' and it is, increasingly, a location for national financial institutions.

"Why? What makes our 5(-square mile village such a special place? There are obviously many answers, but let me highlight a few.

"Our village police department, whose efforts have produced both the reality of a low crime rate, and perhaps equally important - the perception of security in the village. This means everything from an officer walking the downtown business area during the good weather season, to a youth officer who knows and works with our kids and helps head off trouble before it goes too far. In short, it means that all of you get not only the immediate response of a local officer in an emergency, but you get the advantages of fewer emergencies that come from the focus on service.

"Similarly, the village fire department is one of only two on Long Island that includes full-time paid professional firefighters in addition to a cadre of dedicated volunteers. It pays off in training and education efforts second to none.

"Garden City's recreation department manages leisure assets, which are amongst the finest in the nation, boasting everything from the playing fields of St. Paul's, to local pocket parks, to a self-sustaining swimming pool facility, to a state-of-the-art miniature golf course expected to open next month.

"Garden City's School District is, of course, a separate government for whose success I take no credit; however, the positive working relationship between the schools and the village by which we share many services, is an asset of this village which should not be ignored.

"We have a great board of trustees which includes a diversity of experience including four lawyers (me, Deputy Mayor John Mauk, Deputy Mayor Tom Lamberti and Trustee Don Brudie), a banker (Trustee and this year's Citizen of the Year Rob Rothschild), a real estate professional (Trustee Nick Episcopia), an energy engineer (Trustee and former Mayor Gerry Lundquist) and a stockbroker (Trustee John Watras). All of the trustees serve entirely without pay, as do all of the members of the various village boards and commissions.

"And that's another asset of Garden City - our volunteer system affords us the opportunity to avoid many short-term 'political' actions and make policy decisions based on what is best for Garden City in the long run.

"So, even when we on the board of trustees are confident of a long-term strategy, when that strategy is unpopular, it is incumbent upon us to listen to the population's concerns, and either 'make the case' to them for our strategy or modify it. If we do neither, there will be a new board of trustees in short order.

"You as the chamber, and I as mayor, would do well to remember that. If we fail to get public support, we will have little satisfaction in being able to say to Garden City 'I told you so. That project was the right thing to do and you stopped it.' The project will still be stopped.

"This village has thrived on a partnership between its residential and business communities. We have both understood that a well-maintained village attracts commerce, and a well-maintained commercial district is an asset to be prized by the residential community.

"Not only do the commercial properties bring in the tax dollars that help keep home values high but their existence completes the atmosphere and quality of life that have for so long been the hallmark of Garden City.

"In Garden City, as well as elsewhere on Long Island, opposition to business expansion and change is growing rapidly. Garden City doesn't want or need a reputation as being anti-business but it needs to continue to educate and inform its citizens on how cooperation can be beneficial for all sectors in our village.

"It may be frustrating to you to have to constantly re-sell your thoughts about the need for capital improvement of Franklin Avenue, about the advantages of a Business Improvement District, about the need for free parking, about zoning laws needing to match the changing dynamics of what will survive in the marketplace.

"But if you don't, and if we at the board of trustees don't, then Garden City will decline, not overnight, but incrementally and inevitably. And that will not only be the just desserts of a shortsighted public, it will be the just desserts of a business community that forgot that the marketing of its ideas as part of the local political process is just as important as the marketing of its products to customers.

"Let me now take a moment to run through a few of the items which are on my plate, in no particular order, but which I think might be of interest to you as the business community. Because in my view, these matters will have long-term consequences not only on the residents, but on how and why the business community will or will not continue to grow in this village.

"For example, New Housing: There are at least three, and perhaps four, new housing areas on the drawing boards for Garden City. The first, and perhaps most well-known, is the main building at St. Paul's. A village subcommittee has narrowed from seven to three the groups that propose to develop St. Paul's with a combination of residential and public space. With the summer rapidly approaching, it may well be the fall of this year before the committee is ready to recommend sending one or more final developer responses out to the public for input.

"A second area actively moving forward with housing plans is the property at 550 Stewart Avenue, just at the entrance to Roosevelt Field. Following a recent rezoning of the property, a developer has proposed town homes on the site and has had informal discussions with the village but has not yet submitted a firm proposal.

"A third area under consideration for new housing in Garden City is the area bounded by County Seat Drive, 11th Street and Washington Avenue, often referred to as the 'P-zone' because it was previously zoned 'P' for 'public use' only. The area is owned by the county, but located inside Garden City and subject to our village's zoning laws. An activist group is challenging the zoning in the federal courts, claiming that the permitted density is illegally discriminatory. A resolution of this case is some time away.

"Finally, a fourth area in which we may see new housing is in some circles being called the 'Ring Road' property. Some of you may have read in the newspapers that Nassau County owns a parcel of land at the southeast corner of Roosevelt Field bordered by Ring Road, and is considering the sale of the property. In fact, the county recently received proposals to develop this property through a request for proposals. Although the village has yet to see the proposals, the county's RFP indicates the county would seriously consider what it calls 'next generation housing.' That is, a housing complex with about two-thirds of the units being sold or rented below market rate. Since the village controls the zoning, and the property is currently zoned commercial, any residential housing project would require a change of zone by the village.

"The HUB: Earlier this year, the county government signed a Memorandum of Agreement with a developer formally authorizing the developer to prepare development plans for the county-owned coliseum area. Those plans will eventually work their way through the Town of Hempstead, which is responsible for the zoning in that area. At this point, the village's primary concern is the possibility that a mass transit light rail project connecting the HUB with Mineola would bisect our community. I think the plans currently under study by the county would be disastrous for Garden City, and I am confident that the village will strongly oppose them.

"LIRR Third Track: Arguably related to the county's 'HUB' plans, the Long Island Rail Road has announced plans to construct a third track down the Mineola line. As currently proposed, only a couple of small, unoccupied village-owned parcels would be acquired as part of the project. The main impact on our village is expected to be a widening of the right of way next to homes that would impact them with noise and pollution. Opposition to the entire project is growing, and your board of trustees is actively involved in the efforts of several nearby villages, as well as Supervisor Kate Murray from the Town of Hempstead, to defeat this project. I do not feel Garden City should incrementally evolve into the transportation center for Nassau County. We are, first and foremost, a residential village with a sophisticated but suburban-quality business community.

"Adelphi University Construction: You should all take a few minutes to drive by the Adelphi campus. You will be impressed by what you see. Adelphi is in the midst of a rebirth, and one that will make this entire community, business and residential, proud. In broad strokes, Adelphi is putting up a new performing arts building, sports complex, child activity center, maintenance building and below-grade parking. While there have been some short-term traffic problems, the university continues to work cooperatively with the village to solve as many of these as possible.

"Contaminated Water Plume: Garden City gets its water by sucking it up from the ground through water wells. Unfortunately, however, the pull of the water up through the water wells also pulls contaminants through the soil from surrounding areas. Currently, we are closely monitoring one particular plume of contaminants, which may have emanated from an abandoned facility just to the north of Garden City. This plume is working its way south. We anticipate a significant increase impacting some of our wells sometime in the next several years. Let me emphasize that, at this time, our water is pure, and is expected to remain so into the foreseeable future. And there are technologies that can be used to deal with the contaminants, which are on the way. Certainly this is a topic that should be of immense interest to the business and residential community alike. Garden City will be no one's 'special place' if it cannot deliver pure water to the communities it serves. The board of trustees is committed to doing so, and as of now believes we are on the right course for remediation and reimbursement of our related expenses.

"Building Code Changes: At the request of the village, Garden City's Planning Board and BZA have been working with the Building Department to update and improve our building code. A proposed set of changes has now been developed, and is being distributed to our Property Owners Associations, you (the chamber) and other interested persons. At this point, the board of trustees is only in the listening stage. If you think a change is needed in our Building Code, and we're about to make some changes, get your ideas in now. For better or for worse, it's likely to be a while before we re-visit this topic again. Remember, the residential and commercial interests of this village must be interactive, and the Building Code is where they start to interact. You need to care about zoning for housing, just as homeowners need to care about zoning for businesses. Because just as a thriving business district is good for homeowners, an attractive residential community brings wealthier residents to the business community.

"Budget: Finally, and on a very positive note, the board of trustees last month passed a 'no tax increase' budget. This was not easy to do, and it may prove to have come with a price because surpluses and contingency funds may need to be restored in the future. The trustees and the village administration are constantly looking for cost-effective ways of stretching your tax dollars to cover the type of services you expect and demand. It isn't easy and, contrary to what you may hear, there's no silver bullet. With few exceptions, every idea for savings could mean cuts in service or cuts in the number of village personnel serving our residents. Garden City residents have evidenced no interest in a reduction of essential village services, so every decision is a hard one. But I guess that's why they pay us the big bucks.

"In conclusion, Garden City remains a special place. We have great assets, great services, a great staff in Village Administrator Bob Schoelle and his department heads, and a great group of volunteers setting policy. Still, I hope I have given you a flavor of some of the challenges now facing Garden City, and the reasons why being mayor has begun to suck up my time beyond anything I have previously experienced. But they are exciting challenges, and I look forward to being mayor of this village as it confronts these challenges..."