Putting up a 950-space parking garage in Mineola on the south side of the tracks near the Long Island Rail Road station sounds conceptually like a great idea. However, there is a catch. The Village of Mineola stands to lose $285,000 annually in tax revenue from the project.

Mayor Jack M. Martins and the village board of trustees held a public hearing on the intermodal facility, a four-story parking garage that will be built using federal, state and MTA funds in the parking lot of the KeySpan building, located at 250 Old Country Road, between Third and Fourth Avenue.

The facility would be a public parking garage near the tracks and would be built where the KeySpan parking lot is currently located. The deal initially sounded like a winner as Mineola would get a parking garage with 660 spaces for the public since about 290 would still be required for the KeySpan building. When it comes to costs for the parking garage, the project would not cost the village any money. The supposed $40 million price tag will be picked up by a $25 million federal grant, some state grant money and the rest by the MTA.

The parking lot would probably service railroad commuters and alleviate some of the parking in Mineola's downtown area. In addition, the bus depot would be moved toward the platform and there would be a pedestrian overpass from the parking garage across the tracks. All this without any costs to the Village of Mineola.

Sounds like a great deal for the village? Maybe not. That's because the MTA threw a wrinkle into the deal when it announced its plans to purchase the KeySpan building and perhaps eventually move the Long Island Rail Road headquarters there. If KeySpan and the MTA can't agree on the purchase, the MTA, being a governmental entity, can take the property with its condemnation powers.

If and when the MTA takes over the property, the village stands to lose the tax revenue it currently collects from the property. The village currently collects $220,000 per year in tax revenue from the KeySpan site. However, if the MTA takes over the property, the village would not have the ability to tax the MTA since the MTA is a governmental entity.

The Village of Mineola became a part of the mix after the MTA experienced difficulty with the Town of Oyster Bay when the MTA originally wanted to build the garage in Hickville. The town board voted not to accept the $25 million grant money to build the garage. The MTA then turned its attention to Mineola and in December 2000, the village board voted to accept the grant money.

By accepting the grant money, the village opened the door for the project. However, at the time of the vote, it was not indicated that the MTA planned to purchase the KeySpan building and thus the village board was not aware that it could lose $220,000 in tax revenue. It wasn't until the end of March of this year that the MTA decided to purchase the KeySpan building.

Trustee Lou Santosus, who was deputy mayor in December 2000 when the village board voted to accept the grant money, said there was not supposed to be any lost taxes because it was understood that KeySpan would continue to pay taxes on its building and on its parking, which would be on the bottom of the parking garage. "We were not going to lose one dollar in taxes," he said.

Former Mineola Mayor John P. Colbert said that if the purchase of the KeySpan building was part of the plan, he would have walked away from the deal.

However, the MTA announced plans after the village entered into the mix that it planned to purchase the KeySpan building. By then, the village had already welcomed the idea of the parking garage. Some residents recently spoke out that they did not trust the MTA and the chronology of events concerning the project certainly hasn't helped the MTA's image in the eyes of the residents of Mineola.

"None of this is good for the people of Mineola. We get nothing out of this," said resident Sal Cataldo.

Mineola Civic Association President Bill Urianek was annoyed that the village did not hold a public hearing back in December 2000 when the board voted to accept the federal grant for the construction of the garage. "The people of Mineola did not know about it and that's not fair to the public," he said.

In addition to losing tax revenue from the KeySpan building, the village stands to lose $65,000 in revenue from parking meters that will have to be taken away to make the bus depot.

The village board at the time it was presented with the idea welcomed it, believing it would alleviate parking problems and congestion. The board even amended its code to allow for the construction of the garage only to find out the MTA later would negotiate with KeySpan for the purchase of property the village is receiving tax money from. "I had a complete misrepresentation of what this is," said Trustee Linda Fairgrieve.

Aside from the monetary issues, which cannot be overlooked, there stands to be some benefit from the parking garage. The garage could alleviate congestion and traffic in Mineola's downtown area by taking the parking congestion off the downtown area including Mineola Boulevard, Third Street and Second Street and putting it into a parking garage. "Therefore, there would be a better opportunity for our businesses in those areas to develop," said Mayor Martins.

However, the mayor acknowledges that the MTA threw a wrinkle into the mix when it announced plans to purchase the KeySpan building. However, even if the village opposes the purchase, it cannot prevent it. "That is the sad reality and that is the reality we find ourselves in today," Mayor Martins said.

While losing tax revenue is a major concern, there is little the village can do to stop the project as the MTA is ready to go forward with the plan. The question the village board must ask is whether the village would be better off as an adversary to the plan or as a partner in the plan. It may be beneficial to the village to cooperate with the plan. This way, the village could negotiate with the Long Island Rail Road to perhaps get some benefits that would offset some of the lost tax revenue. Village attorney John Spellman said he would continue to negotiate with the parties involved to get back as much for Mineola as possible. "We're trying to find some creative ways that are in compliance with the law," he said.

One way in which the village might have offset the revenue loss was if the MTA agreed to give the village a payment in lieu of taxes. However , that is no longer a possibility. The village and the MTA could also agree that the village would police the parking garage so the village would get the revenue from parking violators. However, whether that would be financially beneficial is not certain. One resident suggested initiating a village parking tax.

Mayor Martins said the village would continue to negotiate and come up with ideas for revenue sources so the burden won't be passed on to the taxpayers.

The village board will eventually have to vote on a Memorandum of Understanding that will indicate whether the village wants to cooperate in the project.

Trustee Fairgrieve said that she would like to know how the residents of Mineola feel about the possibility of losing a significant amount of tax revenue.

Despite protests from local delis and restaurants such as Kuck's Deli, Massaros and Second Street Deli, the village board voted 3-2 to amend the special use permit given to Subway at 113 Mineola Boulevard so that Subway can have eight seats in the establishment.

The original permit came with a condition that the Subway could not have seats. However, the owner of Subway said he was losing business from patrons who wished to sit down.

The argument against the request was that allowing customers to sit in Subway would increase the traffic in the area and increase the problem of parking. However, Mayor Martins and Trustees Larry Werther and Steve Franzini, who voted for the request, felt that only eight seats would not have a significant impact on the area since the majority of patrons for the establishment are perhaps pedestrians. Trustees Santosus and Fairgrieve, who voted against the request, felt that the establishment should remain takeout only.

The mayor and the village board may discuss in the future a policy dealing with the use of village vehicles. The policy would deal with the appropriate use of village-owned vehicles by employees and volunteers who used them and set a protocol for personal use of the vehicles.