The board of trustees will be conducting work sessions to review the proposed 2008/09 Operating/Capital Budgets Thursday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, March 1, at 8:30 a.m. These sessions will be held in the board room at Village Hall. Please note that the next regularly scheduled board of trustees meetings will be held Thursday, March 6, and Thursday, March 20.

The annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on Long Island, organized by the Irish-American Society of Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, Inc., will be held in Garden City, Sunday, March 2.

The parade will assemble at noon in the parking field opposite Ninth Street and will step off at 1 p.m. proceeding north on Franklin Avenue. The parade route will be from Ninth Street, north on Franklin Avenue to Old Country Road, east on Old Country Road to County Seat Drive, south on County Seat Drive where the parade will disband. The reviewing stand will be on Old Country Road in front of the Nassau County Office Building.

The annual village election will be held Tuesday, March 18, from noon until 9 p.m. at Village Hall, 351 Stewart Avenue. Village residents will be voting for the following candidates:

John L. Mauk Trustee - 2-year term

John J. Watras Trustee - 2-year term

Nicholas P. Episcopia Trustee - 2-year term

Donald T. Brudie Trustee - 2-year term

Since the incorporation of the village in 1919, members of the board of trustees in Garden City have been elected by a non-partisan vote of residents in accordance with the policies of the Community Agreement.

Absentee ballot applications to be used in conjunction with the general village election March 18 are available at Garden City Village Hall, 351 Stewart Avenue. The village clerk must receive applications by March 17 if the ballot is to be mailed. For personal application, the deadline is March 18. Now that the initial public outreach effort has concluded, and at the request of the Mayor's Committee on St. Paul's, AvalonBay representatives are working to develop more detailed options for the possible redevelopment of the St. Paul's Main Building. In response to comments received during the public outreach, AvalonBay has indicated that none of the options it is presently working on include tiered parking. The committee and AvalonBay have targeted late March as the time when the detailed development options will be ready to present to the public. I encourage residents to periodically utilize the village's website for information regarding the village's operations, as well as items of seasonal and special interest. The address is www.gardencityny.net. Also please be aware that I have a village email address and would be delighted to hear from village residents about their concerns - it is as follows: MayorPBee@gardencityny.net.