After Mayor Peter Bee finally regained order following a heated argument between Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's members John Mauk (chair) and Tom Lamberti on Feb. 7, trustees approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the village and AvalonBay that essentially provides a "roadmap of what each party's responsibilities are."

Specifically, according to Mayor Peter Bee, the document asks AvalonBay a series of options for development that reflect some of the concerns trustees have raised in AvalonBay's meetings with the property owners' associations and other local groups. Those options will be presented to the community as soon as they are finished, sometime in the next two months."

The MOU does provide for a termination clause, enabling either party to walk away. Mayor Bee admitted it's "improbable" that the final results will match the RFP but the village will still negotiate to that goal.

Trustee Lamberti, who, along with Trustee John Watras, voted against the village agreeing to the MOU, questioned Chairman Mauk's actions during the process. He alleged Chairman Mauk asked him to resign, excluded him from a subcommittee meeting and denied him his right to speak with special counsel.

"I had the opportunity to comment. I made comments. Some of them were accepted. Some of them were rejected. As the process moved forward, I insisted on some of my comments and as a result of that, the chairman took exception to my process of commenting and objecting. At some point in that dialogue, he sent me an email that I should resign from the subcommittee. My motives were questionable. I was wasting people's time. I was causing unnecessary expense...

"I replied that I wasn't going to resign. However, before I replied, he disenfranchised me. He actually scheduled a meeting of the subcommittee and excluded me ... This was not an accident ... No one should be removed for dissent. That's not what a chairman's power is... In polite terms, I've been called a liar and I don't take that kindly from an adult male lawyer who should have some self-control ... I have not misrepresented a single fact. I was disinvited from a meeting. I was denied access to counsel ..."

Chairman Mauk shot back, calling Trustee Lamberti a liar. "All I have to say Mr. Lamberti is there you go again Tom. There you go again with the 'Tom truths,' which are not true. You really have crossed the line tonight and really are telling absolute untruths. The reason we have difficulty proceeding is because you take misinformation and distort it and present it as though it's factual when it's absolutely not. Anybody who attends these board meetings on a regular basis has seen Mr. Lamberti demonstrate that he must have the last word and that he must review everything that is done by counsel, he must review everything that is done by staff and he needs to make a determination that he personally agrees with what's being done. This is Mr. Lamberti's behavior. Mr. Lamberti is the sort of person who likes to stand on the corner as the parade marches down the street and throw rocks at it because he wasn't selected as the bandleader," he said to rousing boos.

Chairman Mauk continued, despite the public outcry for him to stop, "Mr. Lamberti had the opportunity, as everyone did, to participate in drafting this Memorandum of Understanding ... Mr. Lamberti was provided a copy of the Memorandum of Understanding in early December and he was requested to provide comment. He didn't do so. He was requested again to provide comment and finally on the last day he was requested to provide comment and he did. Modifications were made to address the concerns that Mr. Lamberti raised as well as concerns that were raised by other members of the Mayor's Committee ... Mr. Lamberti, however, is upset that some of his comments weren't addressed...

"Whether you agree or not, it's been very systematic. We've involved consultants, we have a financial analysis, we've done a very thorough examination of soliciting proposals and examining those proposals ...You may not agree with the selection of AvalonBay but it was based on hard cold analysis and hard cold facts ... As the mayor once said, if you're not working to help us try and get an agreement with AvalonBay you're working to tear down the building..." Chairman Mauk, who told Garden City Life that he did in fact ask Lamberti to resign, said.

The MOU specifically states that the village and developer are entering into the understanding to establish a framework for "informing village residents about details of the proposed project and receiving resident feedback, for negotiating the developer lease and other instruments required to consummate the transaction, to allow for the performance of any environmental, structural and other investigations that may be required and for undertaking various planning, design, engineering and other related activities."

It goes on to say that the developer "acknowledges that the proposal has not been formally accepted by the village board of trustees, and that it remains subject to further discussion and negotiation. It is the parties' intention to negotiate and reach understandings on the primary business issues contained in the proposal on or before Feb. 29, 2008 and memorialize such understandings in an addendum to this MOU."

Further, the MOU states, the "developer acknowledges that the paramount objective for the village in any redevelopment is to restore the Main Building's historic exterior and other distinguished features to the extent possible, and provide for its long-term maintenance at minimal or no direct cost to village taxpayers. Any private redevelopment or use of the Main Building that does not achieve these minimal objectives is unacceptable."

Likewise, the village "acknowledges that the developer has advised it that while the developer is prepared to discuss and negotiate the terms of the proposal, developer has certain minimum economic thresholds it must meet and, accordingly, it may be limited in making changes to its development proposal. In any event, as set for in Section 4.1 hereof, either party may terminate this MOU at any time."

Robert Vassalotti of Brixton Road, a member of the Committee to Save St. Paul's, urged trustees to continue thinking about other options. "What happens when 18 months, 24 months down the road AvalonBay decides to walk away? What do we do to protect ourselves? We are not the only ones who could walk away from this and if they do I don't want to hear trustees say demolition is the only option..."

The Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's will continue negotiating with AvalonBay to arrive at a proposal that board members hope will save the historic St. Paul's building and provide a residential community that will enhance Garden City.

The MOU is available for public review on the village's website, www.gardencityny.net, at Garden City Village Hall as well as at the Garden City Public Library.