The Village Board of Trustees have provided the following statement to update the public regarding the St. Paul's property, and to respond to some recent statements made about the property and the status of negotiations with a private operator.

Approximately 2 1/2 years ago, James and Helen Kenny and Lawrence and Barbara Rafferty filed suit to prevent part of the St. Paul's property from being leased to any private entity including an operator of a senior assisted living facility in the absence of approval by the State Legislature. The case is currently scheduled for trial on June 19. The underlying question to be decided, however, is whether this Village, through its elected officials, will have the right to determine the appropriate use of the property for the greater benefit of all Village residents.

The Village Trustees proposed leasing the historic main building and no more than 8-10 acres of the 48 plus acre site as a means of acquiring private funding and resources to help preserve and restore the entire property. If the court agrees with the Kennys and Raffertys and decides that the Village lacks authority for such action, the State Legislature could emerge as the only entity with sufficient authority to legislate a solution for the future of St. Paul's property. We are of the firm opinion that a matter of such local and immediate importance should be resolved in Garden City; not in Albany.

Every resident of the Village should be distressed by the consequences of the protracted litigation. The litigation has prevented serious negotiation and agreement with any financially sound operator. It has extended the time by several years that taxpayer money must be spent on basic maintenance of the buildings. The historic main building has remained closed and continues to deteriorate while the litigation is pending. It has forestalled the time when any part of the property will generate revenues to help offset the cost of repairs and the payment of interest on the bond passed by residents to acquire the facility. Indeed, it has cast doubt over the very ability of the Village to develop and implement a workable approach for managing the future of the property.

Either directly or through their property owners' associations, the majority of the people in the Village have expressed a desire to have the St. Paul's property managed with two primary objectives in mind: (1) to maintain as much of the open space as possible and keep it available for recreational and other uses, and (2) to ensure the preservation of the most historic and architecturally distinguished structures on the property. Those objectives have remained of paramount importance in trying to chart a course for the future of St. Paul's.

Unfortunately, as we all know, St. Paul's is an old facility. All of the buildings have suffered the ravages of time. An independent engineering study determined that the historic main building is structurally sound, but in a state of steady decline. Extensive and costly maintenance and repairs have been needed simply to prevent further deterioration of the building. The Village has allocated $1.2 million for maintenance this year alone, and the cost and extent of repairs is expected to increase each year, with no end in sight.

It was initially hoped that a way would be found to maintain and preserve all of the property for a municipal/public purpose. In this regard, serious consideration was given to converting the buildings for a new Village Hall. The school board also considered using the historic main building for a new senior high school. Ultimately both alternatives were rejected as prohibitively expensive. Several other educational entities came to a similar conclusion. The hard fact is that restoration of the historic main building and a return to its original magnificence will never be achieved without a tremendous expenditure of money. Achieving that requires either a substantial - and unacceptable - increase in resident taxes, or the infusion of funds and assistance from some other source.

A more onerous solution to this matter, but one that would definitely curtail the increasing flow of public funds to maintain the property, is to raze the buildings. Such an unfortunate and radical approach would be taken as a last resort. If the implementation of workable alternatives for preserving the primary structures are continually blocked and demolition becomes the only alternative, we think, it will cause part of the history and vital character of the Village to be destroyed.

In the face of this bleak scenario, a distinguished Committee of Village residents was charged by the Mayor in 1993 with investigating possible uses for the historic main building, including the possibility of attracting private funding to support restoration and repair. The Kennys and the Raffertys seem to forget that the plan to lease the buildings and a small portion of the property for a senior assisted living facility only surfaced after years of effort by the Mayor's committee which concluded that this option holds the most promise for satisfying the objectives for the use of St. Paul's.

In a recent letter to this newspaper, Mr. Kenny would now have us believe that his litigation prevented the Village from entering into agreement with a lessee who may be financially incapable of completing the project and that he and his group, thereby, saved the Village from having to endure uncompleted and unsightly "skeleton" buildings. This is a boast without foundation or basis in fact.

The trustees have been aware for some time, and without Mr. Kenny telling us so, that CareMatrix - the primary candidate at the moment for creating the senior assisted living facility - has serious financial problems. We have no intention of entering into an agreement with any entity that cannot meet stringent financial qualifications. We are also sensitive to market conditions and would consider other options for development if circumstances warrant. Before the first shovel full of dirt is turned, any operator will be required to post a bond to ensure that a project would be completed regardless of any later financial problems that may be experienced. Other operators are already waiting in the wings, and have expressed their readiness and financial capability to undertake a project if CareMatrix can't do so. At the moment, however, the litigation serves as a barrier to taking any decisive action with respect to CareMatrix, with respect to any other prospective operator, or with respect to the property.

Mr. Kenny and his followers maintain that the trustees have violated the public trust by seeking to lease part of the property to a private sector entity. Neither he and his group, however, nor anyone else, has been able to come up with a viable alternative that would preserve most of the property for public use without placing an undue burden on the taxpayers. They have been content, instead, to suggest, somewhat wistfully, that there must be a better way.

It's easy for any of us to speculate about more desirable approaches for preserving the site. But time and analysis have demonstrated that few options are realistically available. We think that many residents and trustees who have struggled long and hard in search of a solution to "the St. Paul's problem," have found the better way. They appreciate the value and benefit that will accrue to the property as a whole and to the Village by allowing the considered development of a largely unused portion of the site.