Friday March 22, 2019
Vol. 95, No.26
FOUNDED 1923
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LOCALLY OWNED AND EDITED
It’s showtime! PAGE 8 n Election results PAGE 3
Residents hear consultants discuss St. Paul’s Centre
ST. ANNE’S AT ST. PAT’S
BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
St. Anne’s School was well represented at the Nassau County St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Above, members of the band get ready to march. See page 59
Residents press board for referendum BY RIKKI N. MASSAND
At the joint meeting of all four Garden City property owners’ associations with the Sports Facility Advisory group and the village’s Board of Trustees last Wednesday, some residents at the meeting asked the trustees to consider holding a public referendum on the proposed multimillion-dollar Centre at St. Paul’s recreation and cultural complex. Several trustees stated to the audience of 125 residents that they would support a referendum in
the community, while the mayor of Garden City, Brian Daughney, remained quiet in the back of the room. Garden City Mayor-elect Theresa Trouvé came under scrutiny when Leo Stimmler of Huntington Road said it was a good idea for residents to work with their respective POA’s to get their feedback on St. Paul’s across to the village and to SFA. “When the final development plan for St. Paul’s is known by the Board of Trustees there should be a village-wide referendum.
I am very disappointed, Deputy Mayor Trouvé because you said at a trustees’ meeting not too long ago that this may cost $100 million. We shouldn’t go forward without the best community input. When everything is set and established there should be a referendum,” Stimmler said, bringing on loud applause from several audience members. Trouvé held a microphone as she stood at her seat in the fourth row, and soon responded to Stimmler. See page 45
With more consultants arriving to assist the Village of Garden City as it ponders what to do with the St. Paul’s building, the Board of Trustees and village residents debated the best and most practical steps forward. At the March 13 joint POA meeting on the Centre at St. Paul’s concept, attendees heard from Evan Eleff, COO of the village’s consultants Sports Facility Advisory group (SFA) speak about the firm’s projects across the country involving sports and community uses. Trustee Louis Minuto says SFA is on board in Garden City, to provide the village with strategic planning for recreational and activity spaces. But to many in the audience and to the trustees, upon hearing several concerns, it has become apparent that time is running out to formulate a viable future for St. Paul’s. Deputy Mayor Theresa Trouvé believes better ideas would be brought forward for St. Paul’s now with SFA on board. Her main suggestion for community input into uses for a future Centre at St. Paul’s is to have small groups of residents gather with SFA personnel in “small cluster discussions to explain what they feel would benefit Garden City the most. “We are trying to slow down on the St. Paul’s project but what we need now is your (community) input, and not by a referendum or not in a traditional-type survey. Tonight people are here explaining what they feel and what their instincts would say to them about how we should go about this project. I think we should do something untraditional, and the Board of Trustees would be able to slow down the process -- the way to do this is to use your POA’s. Take a map and look at each neighborhood, break it down into small segments. Have smaller POA groups meet three times and take their information back to the president of the respective POA. We can keep doing this to gather much direct and sincere information, then we can move forward with St. Paul’s in a more secure way. It was clear this evening that residents feel they were See page 44
GC Basketball players honored at Nassau County dinner PAGE 66 GCHS’s production of “Play On” impresses audiences PAGES 50-51